February 16, 2008

• Every day is a beautiful day

  

  I recently watched Harvey again and I just love it so much I had to write about it.  We all have a beautiful simplicity as children, a heart of imagination, and the assumption is we grow up, get serious, and face the real world.  Harvey is the argument that it doesn’t have to be this way. 

  I don’t think that it does have to be that way, a world where the assumption of the masses is irritable cynicism.  I am on the conveyer belt of aging, helplessly being forced into adulthood.  But I am not being helplessly forced into thinking that just because of this fact my imagination must be supressed, my regular face in public must be serious and composed, and my daily attitude must be that life is like going through a lawsuit.  Memo to the adult world: the imagination and cheerfulness do not have expiration dates.  Their operation may be implemented in full force at any time. 

  But of course there are serious elements to life.  But while life’s content may seem to us painful and important, it does not preclude that we can be cheerful through such times and even sometimes laugh at our misfortunes.  In fact, because of this dual nature to life, I think it is best to describe life as an extremely serious sitcom. 

  Here Dr. Chumley is a psychiatrist explaining to Elwood P. Dowd that his sister Veta was trying to have him committed for treatment:

  Dr. Chumley: This sister of yours is at the bottom of a conspiracy against you. She’s trying to persuade me to lock you up. Today, she had commitment papers drawn up. She has your power of attorney and the key to your safety box, and she brought you here!
  Elwood P. Dowd: My sister did all that in one afternoon. That Veta certainly is a whirlwind, isn’t she?
  Dr. Chumley: Good heavans, man!  Haven’t you any righteous indignation?
  Elwood P. Dowd: Oh, Doctor.  Years ago my mother used to say to me, she’d say, “In this world, Elwood, you must be” – she always called me Elwood – “In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.”  Well, for years I was smart.  I recommend pleasant.
  

  • 10:36 pm
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