Most of the news reports about the recent murder of Rob Reiner and his wife talk about the movies he directed.
A Few Good Men is one of them. Many people know that famous line that Jack Nicholson says, loudly and intensely: "You can't handle the truth!"
(I didn't even see that movie yet, but I know that line.)
I started thinking, can we (society; humanity) "handle the truth" about a tragedy such as the Reiner family has experienced?
Theoretically, we know in our minds that terrible things like that happen sometimes - anyone who has ever watched a Dateline episode, or listened to any "true crime" channels on You Tube, or even just lived on planet Earth for any length of time ... we are aware that sad, inexplicable things do occur, in life.
But we still get shocked by them, especially if they happen to someone we know personally, or even someone we don't know personally, like Rob Reiner, but we "know" him in a different way, through his work, his art.
An artist - whether they are a painter of pictures, or a sculptor, or an actor, a director, an author, a singer, dancer - whatever ... the artist has a conversation with the world, when he or she offers their work.
Louisa May Alcott, with her novel Little Women; Rob Reiner with his performance as Mike Stivic on the TV show All In the Family; Johann Sebastian Bach with his piano concertos; Barbara Eden with her performance in "I Dream Of Jeannie" ... these and all artistic works are conversations with the audience, about human life and our enthusiasms, fears, and aspirations.
So, even though most of us are not personally acquainted with Rob Reiner, we "know" him through his work - All In The Family, and the movies he directed:
Sleepless In Seattle
When Harry Met Sally...
The Princess Bride
This Is Spinal Tap
Stand By Me
Misery,
and others.
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[When Harry Met Sally - scene in a restaurant]
waitress:
What can I get you?
Harry:
I'll have the Number 3.
Sally:
I'd like the chef salad, please, with the oil and vinegar on the side, and the apple pie a la mode.
waitress:
Chef and apple, a la mode.
Sally:
But I'd like the pie heated, and I don't want the ice cream on top, I want it on the side, and I'd like strawberry, instead of vanilla, if you have it, if not, then no ice cream, just whipped cream, but only if it's real, if it's out of a can, then nothing.
waitress:
Not even the pie?
Sally:
No, just the pie, but then not heated.
waitress:
Uh-huh.
[Harry stares at Sally, somewhat perplexed.]
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