There is a simple elegance...

...in the Muppets.

I know. Seems odd, doesn't it? My last post was about cartoons. This is about Muppets. What am I, 12?

But no. I have been watching quite a bit of The Muppet Show lately. And thinking about the basic ideas in life that we can glean from it.



Sometimes progress is not always in the right direction. Just ask Dr. Bunsen Honeydew. Perhaps it's because your gorilla detector doesn't work. Perhaps it's the fact that exploding hats are fairly impractical. Maybe some clown put the all purpose softener on your table. In any case, we learn that progress is only worthwhile when it points us in a better direction. Countless studies about the television watching habits of albino squirrels do us no good. Not when there's cancer to cure, correct? And in a more literal sense, we see that pointless progress can have an immediate detrimental effect to those around us. Even those loyal and caring towards us. Right, Beaker?



Being different can be an incredible struggle. Now, if this were typical children's television, there would be a lesson about acceptance in here. But sometimes, there just isn't. Sometimes, you are always different. And sometimes, it's something that can't be fixed, and the best you can do is like yourself for who you are. Take Gonzo for instance. He's a...well no one is really sure just what the hell he is. Frankly, he manages to be weird in a world where everyone is weird (and things like Sweetums exist). He's wierd. And really, he constantly has to deal with the fact that not everyone accepts him. That he often sticks out and is single out for it. But, in the long run, he learns that loving yourself is the only way to be loved by others. And isn't that universal? Isn't the most important love the one we have for ourselves?



Comedy is hard. And this applies not just for comedy, but in a larger sense, for any time you have to put yourself out there and hope that people like you. Maybe it's a presentation at work. A marriage proposal. A seduction. A class. A performance. We learn hard and fast that selling yourself is a difficult business. And no one showed us this better than Fozzie Bear. Fozzie put himself out there night after night. And night after night, his act died in the front row. It was cathardic for us. Being able to watch another suffer and laugh because of it. We saw ourselves in every presentation. Every failed romance. We saw ourselves failing in front of a crowd, and were finally able to laugh because it was someone else. And the most fabulous thing about Fozzie was that he show that a true performer never dies. That as many times as he failed, it just made him more excited to try again the next night. Always deterimed to knock 'em dead.



Sticking to your beliefs, right or wrong, is difficult in a troubled world. In our world today, we have a lot of people on opposite sides of issues. But often what we don't see is that there are many many people stuck in the middle. Choosing neither right nor wrong. Here nor there. People who are afraid to commit themselves to a decision. Afraid to stand up for an ideal. So it is noble to see someone who sticks to their guns and fights for their beliefs, even if you don't agree with their position. In a world full of liberalism, romance, chaos, and confusion we find Sam the Eagle. Pillar of conservatism. Made a bufoon by his hatred of all "wierdos". And yet there is something respectable about him. Sam does fight hard to maintain order. And he does it for all the right reasons. His love for the United States, his undying patriotism pushes him to action at all times. Of course, Sam also teaches us a lesson we here in America have sorely learned: blind patriotism can be a dangerous weapon. For there are those that would strike down the "wierdos". Who would rid the country of liberalism and confusion. Who would lead the patriotically blind into the depths of conservative hell rather than concede one point to the left. So Sam is someone to be respected and feared. Watched carefully. As long as he is a buffoon, what is the harm? Unless, of course, you elect that buffoon to president, hm?



Friends come and go. But when one sticks around, keep him till the end. Relationships don't last forever. Marriages don't (half, anyway). Jobs fail. Hell, whole economies fail. You may lost your wife, your house, your truck, and your dog (and end up in a country song), but chances are great that you'll never lose that friend. That person who sticks by you through thick and thin. We all have one. Haven't talked to them in two years? Just call them up. It's like you never stopped. Need a helping hand? A kind ear? A shoulder? There's someone there. And chances are, that person's just like you. So if you're a crotchety old curmudgeon, chances are, that person is to. Just like Statler and Waldorf. Funny enough, these two hecklers are two of the most popular and widely recognized muppets in creation. Perhaps it's because friendship truly is universal. Who among us hasn't sat with our friend and bashed the rest of the people we know. Our spouses. Our family. Our bosses. With this friend, we are safe in our lasting connection. That no matter what happens, we'll always have one person to call on. To sit in the balcony with and laugh at the comedians.



Love is painful. Hearts are broken easily. We find early that the only thing harder than comedy is love. And that first pain is always the most difficult. Love is always a struggle. People are different. People change. Hearts are always in motion. How can you maintain love with so much instability? But sometimes it happens. Sometimes it works. Sometimes you push through all the difficulty and all the pain and all the emotional baggage and you latch on to (and sometimes karate chop) the one you love. It's difficult. Difficult enough for people. Imagine if you aren't even the same species? Like Kermit and Miss Piggy. He pushes her away. She is overbearing. He is too focused on work. She spends to much time worrying about her looks. But how is that any different than all of the petty crap we do to the ones we love? How often do we treat the other like crap, even knowing that we love them? How often do we push them away, knowing that if they really left, we'd be heartbroken? How often do we focus on ourselves, hoping that the other will focus on us too? Love is hard. But if they can do it, why can't the rest of us?



And Finally...



It's not easy being green. I know. I ripped this one straight from Kermit's froggy lips to the page. But he said it better than i could, so it was no use trying to improve on it. Sometimes, you have to sit and think about your priorities. Maybe you have a great job. A lovely spouse. Fame. Fortune. Recognition. But even the best get lonely. Even the most celebrated can feel alone. Sometimes you have to sit and puzzle about it all. About how you fit in the universe. We all can find the peculiarities in ourselves. We can all see how we are different. Sometimes, that feels like a good thing. Sometimes, it just doesn't. Sometimes it feels like the barrier that prevents us from connecting to the world around us. Even if our unique qualities have their good sides, it is sometimes hard for us to see them past all the bad things.So we have to sit. Evaluate. Admit, once and awhile, that it's hard to keep going. That this can be a lonely world. And hopefully, at the end of that reflection, we come to realize that we aren't as alone as we thought we were. That we really are connected to the universe by our unique traits. That's what most of the versions of this famous song leave us with. Kermit, happy and content, knowing that green can be a great thing, and it's ok. But there's a reason I posted the version I did. Because sometimes, we come to the end of our reflection and realize that we are different. That sometimes we have issues no one can relate to. That the best we can do is open ourselves to our friends and loved ones, even if they don't have a solitary chance of understanding what's really going on with us. Sometimes, you go on because that is what's called for. You reconnect with the world because you have to. Sometimes you don't end up happy, but you hope for the future.

That's life. And that's the Muppets.





Till Later.


--Paul