Sunday, April 03, 2011

Suicide is Ka-Ching$$$!

I'm guessing I wasn't the only one who, after years and years of watching the sitcom  M*A*S*H, was shocked to learn during the series finale that the theme song had words to it.

Of course, I had never seen the movie, which had the full song in it, and I found out HERE that the lyrics on such a heavy subject were written by Robert Altman's 14 year-old son, for reasons that make perfect sense when you think about it: who better to write a song about suicide than a teenage boy, what with the main requirement being "angsty teen poetry"?  Brilliant.

On a side note, I just happened to see Darkness of Day yesterday.  While some of the images and music are haunting and are effective in conveying isolation and despair, it doesn't really tell us anything about why people kill themselves, other than one man's vague "life is the worst fate for a person on this Earth." Which, of course, sounds like it was written by a 14 year-old boy in Study Hall.  Much more insight in Boy Interrupted.

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