Cranky Comments

I recently received a comment on my blog, A True Masterchef, regarding Ben Starr who was a season two contestant on Masterchef.  The comment is:

Ben Starr is an opinionated and infantile nuisance! He has had his fifteen minutes and now that he is on the outs he has done nothing but ‘screw’ the integrity of the contract that he signed with masterchef. He thinks that he has the right to ‘correct’ everybody who thinks contrary to his thoughts about masterchef and about reality TV and if you disagree with him, he will do everything he can to defile your position: only Ben Starr can be right! Ben Starr is a very dangerous person. He dresses his persona up in this very passive….’gooey…ga..ga..type’ but when you challenge him on his ideologies that he espouses on his blogs, he goes absolutely nuts and he edits your responses and then threatens you!
Ben Starr is no sweetheart.
People need to read and I mean really read everything this guy writes about. He is extremely shallow…a fine example of a person that given a little bit of knowledge….can be extremely dangerous!

You can read Ben Starr’s so-called dangerous thoughts on his blog by clicking here.  When he’s not writing about Masterchef, he writes about his travels, the animals he loves and raises for food, instructions on how to properly cook certain things, and other wonderful food-related topics.  He also addresses more serious issues such as the recent passing of season three Masterchef contestant Josh Marks, the struggles our homosexual community faces, and the dangers of reality television in general for the participants.  He has not only been a help to me directly via Twitter and his blog, but he has helped many people and continues to educate those who wish to listen.  A fame whore he is not.

This is not about Ben though.  This is about my commenter.  This is a person who chose to read a blog of mine that was about Christine Ha that only briefly mentioned Ben.  This person chose to ignore the real topic and instead attack a person who quite honestly has been nothing but genuine and straightforward.  Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course, but I cannot understand why it was necessary to call him dangerous and accuse him of editing responses.  I cannot understand why certain people only make the effort to comment on something when they have something negative to say.

It is not necessary to insult someone in this way, especially on a posting that has very little to do with that person.  If someone is truly evil or dangerous, why not address that person directly on their own site, via email, or in another fashion?  What good is being done by telling me that someone I enjoy will threaten me if I ever disagree with him?  It’s petty and silly and wholly unnecessary.  If the goal is to educate me or assist me, provide me with facts and/or proof of your claims.  There are a few people who visit here on a regular basis who do exactly this; they give me links that educate, information that is backed up by concrete evidence, and opinions that are based on fact.  Those comments are meaningful and those comments matter.  The drivel above does nothing but irritate my eyes.

The ability to comment anonymously can be great for those who are normally afraid to open up, but it also makes it easier for cowards to come out of the woodwork and spout off with nonsense with the peace of mind that no one can really confront them or out them.  It makes it easy for people to be intolerant, abusive, or obnoxious.  Someone afraid to say F*ck Obama to their peers can do so without fear in the comments section of a news site, shielded by a fake email address or a guest posting.  The freedom to be whoever you want to be online has made people in general act hostile, cruel, and too often like children.

Surely we can find a way to express our opinions without littering them in places that aren’t appropriate, attacking people who don’t deserve it, or speaking as if we’ve never taking an English class in our lives.  I don’t care that my commenter doesn’t like Ben.  I care that they chose to post unsubstantiated claims on my posting about a totally different person and did so in a matter that makes them sound like a child.  That isn’t why I started this blog.  I welcome discussions; key word being discussion.  If someone wants to go off on a rant, do it, but do some thinking while your fingers fly across the keyboard.  Without effort, your words are meaningless.

The above comment did not change my opinion, did not educate me, did not humor me, and did not accomplish anything the poster likely set out to do.  Other than give me something to talk about while I try to wake up on this fine Thursday morning, it was for nothing.  Wasted effort on their part and probably too much wasted time on mine.  The internet is such a fantastic tool, yet we use it for the dumbest possible things.  All it takes is a few more minutes to come up with something that can either make someone laugh or make someone think.  If you’re going to take the time to say something, say something that matters.

Everybody Dies

May 21, 2012 marked the very last time I’ll ever be able to watch a new episode of House.  The series wrapped after eight incredible seasons; the sets were disassembled, tearful goodbyes were exchanged, and the cast and crew went their separate ways.  I didn’t hop onto the House bandwagon until the second season; I had heard an interview with Hugh Laurie and thought there was no way this British guy would be convincing as a brooding American doctor.  I gave the series a chance in the early stages of season two and I was hooked as bad as House is hooked on vicodin and puzzles.  My husband and I own every season that is currently on DVD and even having this, I always tune into the CLOO network on Wednesday’s to watch the House marathon.  Or USA when they run theirs.  I can’t get enough, but sadly the story has ended for good.

SPOILERS coming; go away if you have yet to watch the finale or wish to in the future.  I’m not getting too detailed, but it’ll still ruin it for you.

The series finale did keep with the typical format and presented Dr. House with a case for he and his team to tackle, but instead of opening in the usual way on the case subject, we opened to a close up shot of House’s face as he lay on the floor of a burning building next to a dead body.  Through hallucinations of people from his past who has either died or simply moved on from him, House is forced to decide whether to live and go to prison for the remainder of Wilson’s days on Earth, or die and miss the last moments with Wilson anyway.  It seems to be a lose-lose situation; he loses the last of his time with his best friend either way.

House generally acts like a selfish ass who cares little about what people think of him and how he affects them.  He enjoys his job because he gets to solve puzzles; saving lives is icing on the cake that is often ignored by him.  Rarely will he let his true emotion shine through, and when he does it seems that he always ends up getting hurt.  As the episode progresses, we flash back to House’s work on the case, his manipulation of Foreman and Wilson as he tries to delay his prison sentence, and his interactions with the case subject whose dead body is keeping House company in the burning building.  Even with the knowledge that Wilson will likely die from cancer in five short months, House fails to allow emotion to seep through the cracks in his armor.  At first anyway.

Through prodding by the imagined Amber, the audience learns that the case subject has volunteered to take the fall for the vandalism charge that will send House back to prison.  This realization, that a stranger who House failed to save will sacrifice everything in order to help him, awakens something in House’s mind.  Even with the imagined Cameron telling him he deserves to die and rest, House struggles to his feet and heads for the door of the building.  As he reaches the front door, he sees Wilson and Foreman outside, panicked in their search for him.  Eye contact is made as the fire wins the battle against the building; House is lost in a wall of flame and subsequent explosion.  Cue tearfest.

The morgue confirms that the body is indeed House and a funeral service is held; House’s ashes sit in an urn in front of his family, friends, and coworkers who take turns approaching the podium and speaking of their experiences and memories.  As Wilson approaches, his composure breaks and he begins talking about House quite candidly.  As he speaks, his tone becoming more and more heated, a cell phone interrupts his speech.  Eventually he realizes it is coming from his pocket.  He flips open the phone, which does not belong to him, to see a text message saying “Shut up you idiot.”  End tearfest.

The brilliant Gregory House used his last official act on this planet to fake his own death.  The body of his last case subject, which was burnt in the fire, became House with a simple switch of the dental records.  After leaving his badge underneath a leg of Foreman’s wobbly table, House and Wilson ride their motorcycles off to parts unknown, spending Wilson’s last moments on Earth the way best friends ought to.  Together, without distraction of the real world, without care or worry, and without consequences hanging over their heads.  For me, it was a beautiful ending.

I am a bit curious about how House ended up in the building, if he did indeed partake in the heroin with his case subject, and how the fire started.  My theory is that at some point, House agreed to accompany his case subject back to his “home” in the abandoned building he seems to have taken up residence in.  House either used heroin or took too many vicodin and passed out on the filthy floor.  As he slept, his new friend slipped downstairs to start the blaze, then came back up to the room where House slept and shot himself up with enough heroin to overwhelm his system and kill him.  He had to know that House would come to before the fire lost control, or at least have been very confident of that fact.  I feel that in a last act of selflessness, this man gave House everything he needed in order to fake his own death and disappear.

Having a virtual stranger offer to sacrifice himself and then actually going through with it in a way that surpassed the original offer seemed to be a major push for House and somewhat of an eye opener.  In a way, it was still selfish to fake his death and leave the majority of his family and friends in mourning, as Wilson and Foreman are the only two who seem to be in on the secret, but overall it was one of the most selfless things House has ever done.  He sacrificed his entire life in order to give Wilson five more months with his best friend.  He can never be a doctor again; will never solve intricate puzzles and manage a team of brilliant minds.  He can never go back to the life he once knew, not unless he wants to live the rest of his life out in a prison cell.  He had everything to lose in faking his death except for a little more time with Wilson.  I don’t think he would have been able to do this if not for his case subject giving his life for him.

I’m grateful to the writers for giving the audience an open ending.  House didn’t end up in prison, Wilson didn’t end up suffering, Chase received his own team as he wanted and took over House’s former office, Cameron got her chance to finally move on from loving House and is able to enjoy her husband and baby, and overall everyone who was touched in some way by House ended up seeing the good that he has done rather than simply thinking him a bully.  Giving the series finale a title like “Everybody Dies” was definitely a cause for worry, but I thank them all for ending it the right way.  We’ll miss you, Dr. House.

Be Touched

The new television series on Fox, Touch, follows Martin Bohm (Kiefer Sutherland), a widower and single father who is unable to connect to his emotionally challenged and autistic 11-year-old son Jake (David Mazouz).  The first episode follows Martin as he struggles with a threat by the state to put Jake into a facility so that he may be better taken care of.  As Martin begins to pay attention to the numbers Jake is seemingly obsessed with, he discovers that Jake is trying to communicate with him with these number combinations.  Martin and Jake’s actions result in a number of important connections, such as the firefighter who almost saved Martin’s wife during the 9/11 attacks finally being able to apologize and move on, a poor family being able to get the equipment to save their business, and the talents of a call center employee finally getting recognized around the world.

As a major fan of the 24 series, I was thrilled to see Sutherland returning to television.  For me, he is Jack Bauer in whatever he does and I have yet to see him in something I don’t enjoy.  The first episode was aired a couple of months before the second as a preview event rather than a premiere; Fox then aired it again the week prior to the second episode for those who missed it.  It was an intelligent way to generate buzz, as it left the viewer with a wealth of unanswered questions.

The narration at the beginning of episode one, read by David Mazouz, states that “patterns are hidden in plain sight, you just have to know where to look. Things most people see as chaos actually follows subtle laws of behavior; galaxies, plants, sea shells… The patterns never lie but only some of us can see how the pieces fit together. Seven billion, eighty million and 360 of us live on this tiny planet. This is the story of some of those people.  There’s an ancient Chinese myth about the red thread of fate. It says that the Gods had a red thread around every one of our ankles and attached it to all the people who’s lives were destined to touch. This thread may stretch or tangle but it will never break. It’s often predetermined by mathematical probability and it’s my job to keep track of those numbers to make the connections for those who need to find each other. The one’s who’s lives need to touch. I was born four thousand, one hundred and sixty-one days ago, on October 26th 2000. I’ve been alive for eleven years, four months and twenty-one days and fourteen hours, and in all that time I’ve never said a word.”

This isn’t a case of a boy solving mathematical equations in order to make connections, but a boy who sees numbers and patterns and has made it his duty to keep track of them in order to ensure certain people find each other.  Martin, having finally found a way to communicate with Jake, jumps at the opportunity and has made the commitment to follow Jake wherever this pattern will take him.  Two episodes in, I feel as though this show has a very strong foundation.

My husband and I watched episode one twice and I’m glad we did; there were numerous things we missed the first time around that hint towards possible future connections, secrets, and what Arthur Teller’s (Danny Glover) purpose is in all of this.  I’m curious to see what sort of back stories will develop, as the connections and secondary character stories so far seem to wrap up at the end of each episode.  I definitely recommend going online to catch up on the first two episodes so you can tune in this Thursday to their new episode.  I’m sure it’ll intrigue you, interest you, and truly make you think.