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Primates/the Power of Pretend

2011-04-25 -

I watched two primate movies yesterday. I'm not expecting any applause, although it is remarkable for someone who used to yawn whenever she heard that droning familiar voiceover on the Nova channel. I think it also reminds me a little of the starchy antiseptic videos they used to show in grade school, only they weren't videos of animals, they were extended films on erosion or the Great Plains or precipitation's effect on mountains, and would feature mass spans of land in the middle of a place you couldn't spell and probably wouldn't be visiting any time soon. My eyes well up with with boredom just thinking about it.

Since it was Easter, and my family is 2500 miles away, my husband and I went out. We went to see a 40 minute movie about baby elephants and orangutans who are rescued in the wild from captivity as babies, and then set free once they're old enough. Two stories of women in Kenya and Borneo who lead the charge on this are the catalysts for taking in these animals, and they're caring for them with some other special helpers. Because the film is in 3D, I pretended I was just hanging out in the jungle with some of my new friends, although I wasn't able to feed the animals or do much of anything but sit there, you understand. There were only 6 people in the entire theatre, (broken down into 3 sets of two) not surprisingly, because it was a holiday, although some people I know in LA don't think of holidays as anything particularly special, or so it appears because of their 'who cares about holidays, much less Easter' attitude.

I remember back when I was seven or so, and I went to see Friday the 13th part III in 3D with my brother Joe, and I couldn't keep the glasses on because I knew there would be weapons at some point, and I thought I might get caught up in an attack somehow. So I put the glasses on, and took them back off, and put them back on, and my brother leaned over at some point and said, Hey - don't you want to keep those on? It is a 3D movie. And I think I said no thank you I'm scared, or something. So in this one scene, someone shoots someone else from a distance, and the bullet travels fast like a bullet would, and comes right for our heads - (and once more I took the glasses off) and it made everyone in the theatre jump and scream in their seats, because it's a bullet, and who needs that? I wasn't taking that chance. I didn't jump, because I couldn't see. I think somewhere in my mind I recognized the power of pretend.

Haven't you ever heard of the story of a guy who writes a comic book about a man who gets into a car accident, and then the writer gets into one? No? Do you remember what Tupac's last video was about? It was about a guy who goes to heaven and tells people he isn't mad at them even though he's dead. But he is dead.

I think we shouldn't ever underestimate the power of our minds. Not just because of the obvious: what you think about you become/you are what you eat/ you are a manifesting creature/bla bla etc, but really - consider that you're always writing your story, whether you believe that or not. Whether you write or not. So if you're literally writing a story, I kind of believe you should be careful how you write it. My husband was writing something a couple of weeks ago which included the main character getting into a motorcycle accident - and then his friend got into a motorcycle accident, a couple of days ago. He's ok. But after having a little talk, I think my h (short for husband) feels a little bit responsible, ridiculous as it sounded to him I'm sure.

Anyway, after the Primate movie, I absolutely felt it was imperative I go to Borneo. I think he's used to this.

"I could help those monkeys like that woman does! I would probably comb my hair, but understandably, she's not looking to impress anyone! I would like to eat spaghetti off a plate with my Orangutan friend on a porch! I want to curl up with a them at night until they falls asleep! I like Orangutans - "

"And don't forget the seals" he said.

(We went to the zoo last year and I cried when we left the seal tank because I wanted us to get in with them, swimming and chilling on the rocks.) He really is kind to remember that.

So about going to Borneo, I was ready to get on it, let's look it up, let's discuss it. And he had a brilliant idea (to make me stop). He said

"Why don't you put a Powerpoint together about it all and show it to me, with pictures?"

That was smart. Keep her busy but don't encourage too much collaboration until she's really researched it, tired herself out, maybe. Add it to the list.

I'm big on lists, because they work. They keep you organized, and they tell the story of what you're going to do, and if you're anything like me, you have a lot of things to do - and you tend towards forgetting some of them. Sometimes I make lists of restaurants I like a lot, but have forgotten about. I make the restaurant list because one day I'll be talking to someone and they'll say, so where would you like to eat? And I can't think of one place in my own neighborhood. Sometimes (and I've never admitted this) when I was younger, I made lists of friends I had because I honestly couldn't remember all of them - not that they weren't important, but when you're young, and you go out a lot, and your circle is bigger because you don't have as much invested in people - the list can get long. And some of them get lost in the fluffle. So a friend list isn't the worst idea.

Hmm..who likes Chango tea and would be willing to drive with me for an hour to get it....who..oh, I'll call Jenna!

So back to the Primates - we got home, and my h remembers he has like a 6 dvd set called Life or something, which is about animals. And there's one section on Primates. Do I want to watch it? I'd love to, because by now I feel like its in the stars for me, living with these guys. And there's a group of (not sure what kind of) larger monkeys, and the narrator (Oprah) is telling the story of their sort of caste system, and how some of them beat the weaker ones up over limited resources like food, and there were a few monkeys in the cold, bathing in a hot springs pool with their kids, and some other monkeys came up to go in the water, but were scared off because they were weaker, and so instead, the weaker monkeys just had to watch the stronger monkeys and their kids in the hot spring eating. And the face on the have-not monkey clinging to his little monkey baby broke my heart, and started another water party on my face. And my h had to break it down for me that you can't help everyone, but you can help some of them. But how can you pick, and how can nature be so cruel? And it just didn't seem fair that the weaker one could die because of that, according to Oprah's voice - and there's no Power of Pretend in their arsenal of tricks, and aren't we lucky? I looked down at my 2 little angels, one of which sometimes looks like a baby ape - and I stuffed their little faces with treats.

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