Monday, June 2, 2014
My Latchkey Summer
'Twas the summer of 85 (or was it 86?) and I was 12 (or 13). My parents (Dad and Stepmom) wanted a slice of that money pie and worked long hours to have a chance at it. By the time they got home (late at night) they were tired and generally pissed off so I made myself scarce. I spent most of the time in my room waiting for them to go to sleep.
The daytime was another matter. The daytime was mine. While my peers were spending their summer break on vacations with their families or participating in organized activities with other kids, I was locked up and isolated in the house.
This is not an allegation of abuse. My situation was not dissimilar to other children of the time. Maybe the intense isolation was a bit excessive - but it was the tail end of the greedy 80's. Money was king. Marriages were more business partnerships than loving unions. Besides Ronny Ray-gun busted unions - didn't he?
I was tasked with 3 things during my while away hours.
- Clean the house/keep the house clean
- No friends over
- Don't watch too much television
Our television cabinet looked like this...
It was VHS mania. People were obsessed with recording everything. Television shows, movies from cable (OnTV?) - even other VHS tapes. Why rent when you can tape?
Most of the tapes were my Dad's westerns. Not "The Searchers" or "Judge Roy Bean" or even "Jeremiah Johnson"... no, crusty westerns where the actors were too clean shaven, too clean in general.
Some of the tapes were my Stepmother's. Mostly "Dynasty" or "Falcon Crest". A few beauty pageants. The latter being not enough to aid in my emerging masturbatory hobby - another way I whiled away the hours. If they had a porno collection - I never found it. I was stuck looking for pantyhose ads in "Good Housekeeping".
Hidden among the cluster were 4 tapes. These tapes belonged to my Stepbrother who came to live with us during the various declining periods of his fortunes and failed business ideas. These were legion.
The 4 tapes were...
I watched each of these movies more times than I can count. I was 12 (maybe 13) and most of these films had material that was way beyond my maturity level. Maybe under adult supervision - but isolated for 12 to 13 hours at a time...
I credit these 4 movies and my excessive viewing of them (which rapidly reached OCD levels) for making me the person I am today. All were watched on a diet of Ramen Noodles & sugary/kaleidoscope colored cereals.
Let's cover a few of the topics woven through these tales and why they disturbed me so.
I always liked to take classes with eccentric professors. If I heard some scuttlebutt about a particular professor being obsessed or acting weird, I immediately signed up to take a class with them. Their eccentricities vibed with my creative designs. One professor, at The University of North Florida, (I had heard) was obsessed with Oedipus. He saw Oedipal signs in everything. Anything having to do with damage to eyes - preferably followed by some form of incest, was right up his alley.
He loved the film "Chinatown".
As he began to fill our heads with Oedipus, I was reminded of My Latchkey Summer. Hell, I knew what Oedipus was. I had watched this scene from "Blade Runner".
In this scene, Roy Batty, a replicant, visits his creator (Dr. Tyrell) to plead for a longer lifespan. Tyrell is unable to grant his request. Roy Batty proceeds to french kiss Tyrell - then he calls him "Father/Fucker" (his words - not mine) - and finally gouges out his eyeballs.
I received an A+ on my paper comparing Oedipus to "Blade Runner" - a film that my professor was shockingly unaware of.
This next scene is from "Dune."
The floating fat man you see is Giedi Prime's own Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.
Giedi Prime is the 3rd over from the left. Of the 4 which 3 seem the most inviting? I'd rather face sandworms on Arrakis.
Anyway back to the fat man. During the treatment for the Baron's pustules (quite disturbing) he suddenly hits the anti-grav button on his fat suit. He floats to the top of the room and bathes under what I hope is oil. He eyes an effete servant that has entered the room with flowers. He floats down to the poor bastard, pulls out his heart plug, and generally splashes about in his blood. I think he might even drink a little bit of it. If there was a Hell in my young mind - this is how I imagined it.
The thing that disturbed me about (ahem) "The Thing" was not so much this...
or this...
It was this.
and this...
I had only known of Kurt Russell from his less visceral roles on "Gilligan's Island" & "Disney" films. It was a mindf---k of epic proportions to see him like this.
This scene of resigned sacrifice spoke to my young mind about what it meant to be a man. BTW, did you know that the last name Walt Disney wrote down before he died was that of the above actor's?
The last film on my list is "Apocalypse, Now". A Milius penned - Coppola directed journey into Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" via the jungles and rivers of Vietnam.
.jpg)
My father served 2 tours in Vietnam - one drafted, the other voluntary. I wondered if this was how it was for him. Not the actual experience, but the psychological experience. Our relationship has never been close, but this film may have helped me understand him more. BTW, The 1st Air Cavalry was his unit.
There were times that summer that I felt like this.
Maybe it was my father - maybe it was loneliness - who knows? I wish I could go back sometime and tell myself not to carry that weight. That it would work out in the end somehow.
The end of that summer (or was it the next?) I ended up at the proverbial Do Lung Bridge - the last outpost on the Nung River.
I went to live with my mother at the end of that summer and nothing would ever be the same again.
My latchkey summer had ended.
I threw the key in the Nung.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment