I have been in touch with some family and friends–a few haven’t responded yet–who live in the hurricane zone in Florida.. So far fine. Power is out for them, about over 3 million people. News media reports this morning indicate that about 5 so far have been confirmed dead because of the storm–a few from car wrecks while trying to evacuate..
But last night while trying to sleep through some anxiety that has been increasing with recent weather conditions worldwide, I tuned in to hear Chris Jericho from the WWE during the initial minutes of Coast to Coast AM hosted night by Richard Syrett. I needed to hear it.. Jericho was in the Tampa area–the location where most damage was said to be coming. The eye wall..the horror! The misery! Jericho said he was busy watching Game of Thrones and, if he didn’t know Hurricane Irma was outside, may have just thought it was a rainstorm with wind. I was thankful to have heard this…
I saw a few articles this week of people planning hurricane parties.. people saying 'F IRMA’ online. Even a few that would have taken a really bad road and shot guns into the storm. Bad, bad idea people.
There has been looting, yes. There is flooding.Some locations may be without power for days, weeks..or months. All of those dire warnings have come true for some. The storm surge isn’t done ravaging.. and yes, low line areas like Miama have been dealt a warning shot that, in case climate change continues to march ahead, they will have to deal with being at sea level. Maybe one day below.. All of these things are true…
….fear.
With fear comes violence..with fear comes people making really awful choices. Distraught souls wandering in the land of fright .. their plight.. without might.. no fight.
Fear takes away so much potential from people. Fear, heralded by the media so often as they hype storms for ratings, forces the human condition into a less than desirable state.
Fear.
It’s interesting that Pennywise the Dancing Clown made his presence known in movie theaters across America the same weekend we dealt with IRMA. The film adaptation of Stephen King’s IT was a remarkable success! $110 million domestically and the biggest horror release ever. A record setting film. Biggest R rates release .. the global box office has been rocked by a clown and the Loser’s Club facing their fears just enough to fight off the enemy.
He thrusts his fists against the post but still insists he sees the ghost.
Pennywise is a bit like Irma, isn’t he? The fear… so many are placed into a 'holding’ position by fear..they get locked in the 'dead lights’ of the media. We are rampaged mentally by media outlets showcasing the doom and gloom of the planet. Just as Derry is damaged permanently by a killer shapeshifter who utilizes the deepest fears of its prey in order to defeat them quickly.
We cannot allow fear to overcome us.
So often I think we have turned into a circus of ourselves. Social media is amazing..You can literally watch someone Periscope live from a hurricane half a globe away and chat. Amazing. The speed at which information is disseminated is unbelievable .. But so often we overhype things that shouldn’t be and marginalized amazing things that need to be known. The goodness of the world is sidelined … blistering headlines this morning showcase that: DOOM! HORROR! IRMA! MISERY! DESTRUCTION! And a sale on meat at the local grocery store. Sports in section b.
Yes..Pennywise is the darkest horror figure in box offices perhaps ever. The remarkable film actually deserves an Oscar, and whether it’s the first to get one in the genre since SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, I don’t know.
Pennywise is also a lot like the media tycoons that promulgate misery and fear.. Sex doesn’t sell nearly as much as blood. If it bleeds it leads baby. Pennywise is similar.. he will lurk in shadows and sewers and wait until the moment when your'e most afraid.
When the Loser’s Club faces their fears, thrusts their fists against the post and stop seeing ghosts, they can overcome not only an outside presence of evil but also the darkest demons within themselves. We all should be a little more like the Loser’s Club from IT.
We are all messed up. We are people. People filled with histories that keep us down and nostalgia that removes the darkest days from our past. Mixed up people who so often cannot express ourselves without medication or alcohol. We have fright when we look in the mirror, but only because we see what’s inside.
So on this September 11–an anniversary of a day that also fills us with heartbreak and fear, I sa this: F Irma. And Jose too.
F Pennywise, or whatever incarnation he takes on in the madness of your mind.
Bravo Loser’s Club. We are ALL members, if we want to be..
