Look what we can do

I have a new computer. An iMac, AKA, a Special Computer Designed for Idio... Mommies and Daddies.  

Among other things, this means I now have access to all my old Apple TV shows, stuff i bought and watched and forgot. Which, i mean, no bad thing. The entirety of Luther from the BBC, all of Leverage and The Librarians. And Sports Night. Late 90s sitcom from Aaron Sorkin, pre West Wing. Also, the Thundercats Reboot, which did not get as far as I hoped it would but it has Wil Friedel as Lion-O, and that makes me happy. 

Sports Night. I ignored it when it was on TV. I am not a sports guy. Which, i mean, in my family, was an unforgivable sin. I wasn't interested in Baseball or Football. I tried, lord knows i tried. I played little league Soccer for six years; my final year, my team was undefeated. But that was the wrong sport, not really played in the USA, so it didn't count. I played little league basketball for 2 years. I sucked at it, despite brother Mike being my coach (one of them). In fairness, the whole team I was on was ... not top shelf. Not the bottom the barrel, as our coach said (we were one victory away from being the 4th place team out of five). But not great.

The point being, I have never been exceptionally good at competition, and I don't care that much about most professional sports. Contrast this with my parents whose media consumption was 90% ESPN. Golf? Tennis? Bowling? As long as it was sports, it was on. And I just ... did not care, did not want to have to pretend to care. I mean, I did, I did pretend, but I am pretty sure I wasn't fooling anyone. 

And then... Sports Night. A sitcom about a sports show. Why should i care? 

But someone somewhere somehow, I watched some of it. And I realized, it was not really about sports. It was about people. It was about family and relationships and society and fairness and being a human. It was about all the stuff Aaron Sorkin cares about (or, rather, cared about in the late 90s). it was shamelessly liberal. it was ... probably even more sexist than i think it was, think it is. Because it is Aaron Sorkin, and for all his virtues, he did write women a particular way (or so I have been told, and I can see the arguments supporting that point of view). 

The point is. Rewatching it, I am reminded of why this show is awesome. Like the lin- (entry paused for Mandatory Cuddle Time, as required by Aglaia) -ne "look what we can do". We, humanity, can ascend Everest. We can help a South African School teacher go from being unable to walk without a cane to breaking the worlds record in the 10k Meter race. We can stand up against people with enormous power for those who have none.

Look what we can do. 

it is the thing that I love about the Olympics. I watched bits and pieces. Things like Speed Climbing, where they go up the walls at speeds that would shame Spiderman. Or Breakdancing, where they move in ways that defy all known physics and anatomy. Or Rugby, where women made entirely of Iron* move with the grace of Lions. Or shot put, where they are hurling lump of iron that weighs as much as a bowling ball the distance of a basketball court. Or any one of literally hundreds, thousands of other moments where we see, on display, the best of humanity. Not just the competition, the camaraderie. The support, across teams and countries. How people celebrate their own victories, and support the victories of their opposition. 

Look what we can do. 

Another fucking school shooting. And it not sooner happens than the same goddamn things are trotted out. "The problem is not guns! It's mental Health Crisis! It's Video Games! It is Literally Everything Else or Anything Else!!" We can do so much, but this? We, Americans, seem determined NOT to do anything about this. Because... apparently, any restrictions on the ownership of guns is too high a price to pay for the safety of our citizens. At least, according to the very few people with an absolutely obscene amount of money, who maintain the lobbying for anti gun regulation. 

Look what we can do. 

I don't really have anything to say, about comedy or sports or gun control that has not been said before, and probably better. But this is my space to at least first draft some thoughts about some things. And maybe, someday, put those thoughts into action, to make this world a little better, to leave this world better than I found it. if only a little. 

 

* I had the privilege of having a local professional rugby player on my massage table, once. She was among the most challenging deep tissue massages I have ever performed, up there with the professional tree climber and the woman who ran ultra marathons.