If my Father really wanted to get under my skin, hed call me a Hillbilly. He did it with relish because, try as I might to hide my irritation, I was never completely successful: that word always got a rise out of me. There were probably a couple of things at work here. First of all, my complete rejection of the culture I was born and raised in was, by extention, a rejection of HIM: that had to be hurtful on some level. Secondly, he was probably also concerned that my pretending to be something I was not could be a recipe for disaster later on in life: Youre just crusin for a bruisin, he would say. This culture clash came to a head at least once a week when he would exercise his postion as bread-winner to insist that the television be tuned to the variety show Hee-Haw. (He referred to it as Hee--Honk, which drove me even crazier.) The thing was, although I would never let him know it, I was never able to reject the music. I could not escape my appreciation for the brilliant playing of Buck Owens and Roy Clark, The Dillards, and others. The humor, the playing to sterotype, really bothered me. It wasnt until later on in life (much later, unfortunately) that I realized that the ability to see ones own absurdity, to laugh at yourself FIRST, is the perfect armor against the mockery of others. Mark Twain knew this; it just took me a lot longer to figure it out. Later on in college, hiding beneath my cloak of intellectual sophistication, (fooling no one but myself) I was much taken with Theatre of the Absurd. Thats not surprising because it was the hot trend in Educational Theatre at the time and one of my professors was a particularly strong adherent. I went home for the weekend and found myself watching Green Acres. The show was in its last season by then and though it had started out as standard 1960s sit-come fare, I realized it had become, perhaps, the most in-depth exposure American audiences would ever have to Absurdist Theatre. In that particular episode, Oliver and Lisa are planning a trip to Washingotn. Upon hearing this, all of the seconday characters keep mentioning the Eiffel Tower, which drives Oliver bonkers. Of course when they finally arrive, from the balcony of the hotel, Oliver sees that decidedly French landmark. Perfect. Suddenly, it all came together for me and, later that night, without being asked, I turned the channel to Hee-Haw.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 11:50:55 +0000
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