Too many children grow up without fathers, wander aimlessly for years, get in trouble, don't know how to sacrifice to get ahead and anchored in life, have a grudge against their father, their mother, themselves. Once things get bad enough, they are in the system. Then, and along the way, there are some common father figures these aimless individuals encounter, mostly men perhaps, though the gap is narrowing between men and women.
THE BARTENDER: Many men don't get much advice or sympathy other than from a bartender. Crying in their beer, bragging about their exploits, having nothing better to do. The bar is a realm where a person can take a break, take a load off, peruse one's thoughts and feelings, drown your sorrows and get kicked out at closing time. The bartender is a parent of sorts that sets some limits, but not many. Sometimes they are the last one to provide advice before someone chooses to go off the deep end!
THE POLICEMAN: Policemen set and enforce limits, can take you off the streets if your behavior gets too wild, give you warnings when you're going too far, take you down and handcuff you when no good alternative is available! And, they put you in a small box you can't get out of until you calm down - a jail cell!
THE LAWYER: The lawyer defends you AFTER you've screwed up pretty good - to what extent protecting you is possible. You'll probably plead not guilty even if you aren't. According to Attorney Alan Dershowitz, a lawyer's job is to get you off (acquitted) whether you are guilty or not. The lawyer doesn't judge, just defends. He might try get you a good deal too. The lawyer comes in because there wasn't a "stitch in time" that would have saved nine!
THE JUDGE: The judge pronounces the sentence - the punishment - which can last up to a lifetime, can be severe or give you another chance. LIke the scale of justice, your value as a human being is weighed against the protection and peace of the community.
All these are father figures, sometimes the only father figures some people know at a certain stage in their life. The father sometimes left along ago. Some fathers cause enough damage to the soul of their children that it's almost inevitable they'll get in trouble or get addicted to drugs or beat up the people they profess to love and care for. Society provides these four father figures, often because the actual father has failed in some fashion, though not always. Sometimes these officious father figures can guide a person back to the straight and narrow path; other times they just try to control or contain the damage.
In toto, these toys provide a way to talk about the hard grit in someone's life - who they turn to when they get in trouble, why they have no other support system, why they need to be locked up and how they got that way. When you work in a prison, you recognize their father influences pretty quickly. Makes me think of the young man who was sentenced to attend outpatient sex offender treatment and in the waiting room ran into his father, also sentenced to treatment, much to his surprise!
Contrast these with stick-around-father, Homer Simpson, who may seem like a goof,, but ends up doing a fair amount of fathering in the good sense of it. Homer, consciously or unconsciously, knows about protecting children (his hazard suit he wears at work at times), just that he gives what fathering he's got to give, lame as it might seem at times. It's not about ideals, but about reals - real life where as a parent you stumble as often as you succeed or triumph!
The movie, SLEEPERS, is a great exploration of these themes and the effect of sexual/physical abuse on the lives of young men. Sometimes the protective reach of these [seudo father figures expires once you enter a locked facility where you are exposed to either the inmates or the guards or both and whatever afflictions they have that can impact your life!
Too many children grow up without fathers, wander aimlessly for years, get in trouble, don't know how to sacrifice to get ahead and anchored in life, have a grudge against their father, their mother, themselves. Once things get bad enough, they are in the system. Then, and along the way, there are some common father figures these aimless individuals encounter, mostly men perhaps, though the gap is narrowing between men and women.
THE BARTENDER: Many men don't get much advice or sympathy other than from a bartender. Crying in their beer, bragging about their exploits, having nothing better to do. The bar is a realm where a person can take a break, take a load off, peruse one's thoughts and feelings, drown your sorrows and get kicked out at closing time. The bartender is a parent of sorts that sets some limits, but not many. Sometimes they are the last one to provide advice before someone chooses to go off the deep end!
THE POLICEMAN: Policemen set and enforce limits, can take you off the streets if your behavior gets too wild, give you warnings when you're going too far, take you down and handcuff you when no good alternative is available! And, they put you in a small box you can't get out of until you calm down - a jail cell!
THE LAWYER: The lawyer defends you AFTER you've screwed up pretty good - to what extent protecting you is possible. You'll probably plead not guilty even if you aren't. According to Attorney Alan Dershowitz, a lawyer's job is to get you off (acquitted) whether you are guilty or not. The lawyer doesn't judge, just defends. He might try get you a good deal too. The lawyer comes in because there wasn't a "stitch in time" that would have saved nine!
THE JUDGE: The judge pronounces the sentence - the punishment - which can last up to a lifetime, can be severe or give you another chance. LIke the scale of justice, your value as a human being is weighed against the protection and peace of the community.
All these are father figures, sometimes the only father figures some people know at a certain stage in their life. The father sometimes left along ago. Some fathers cause enough damage to the soul of their children that it's almost inevitable they'll get in trouble or get addicted to drugs or beat up the people they profess to love and care for. Society provides these four father figures, often because the actual father has failed in some fashion, though not always. Sometimes these officious father figures can guide a person back to the straight and narrow path; other times they just try to control or contain the damage.
In toto, these toys provide a way to talk about the hard grit in someone's life - who they turn to when they get in trouble, why they have no other support system, why they need to be locked up and how they got that way. When you work in a prison, you recognize their father influences pretty quickly. Makes me think of the young man who was sentenced to attend outpatient sex offender treatment and in the waiting room ran into his father, also sentenced to treatment, much to his surprise!
Contrast these with stick-around-father, Homer Simpson, who may seem like a goof,, but ends up doing a fair amount of fathering in the good sense of it. Homer, consciously or unconsciously, knows about protecting children (his hazard suit he wears at work at times), just that he gives what fathering he's got to give, lame as it might seem at times. It's not about ideals, but about reals - real life where as a parent you stumble as often as you succeed or triumph!
The movie, SLEEPERS, is a great exploration of these themes and the effect of sexual/physical abuse on the lives of young men. Sometimes the protective reach of these [seudo father figures expires once you enter a locked facility where you are exposed to either the inmates or the guards or both and whatever afflictions they have that can impact your life!
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