“Bud, I love you,” he said. He nervously laughed. “But I don’t want to read your first book.”
Why?
That is the singular question I have for Netflix.
I enjoy Netflix.
I watch comedy themed shows all the time off Netflix. I love good, thought-provoking stand-up comedians.
I like several of the original shows that Netflix has produced, for example, Bloodline. A terrific show.
In truth, I love thought-provoking art.
At first, Netflix hooked me for a modest subscription fee because they protect me from commercials about how to freeze dry food to survive the coming Zombie apocalypse, or laxatives, or, of course, erectile dysfunction medications.
I don’t need to be reminded that I’m over 50 years old, but I’m also thankful to be over 50 years old.
I’ll explain why, further down this blog post.
I think the so-labeled generation, the Millennials, or Generation Y, are quite smart, and I am heartened by them because I think they are an independent minded crowd.
I have nephews and nieces that are in that age group, I watch them from afar, I love them all without reservation.
For example, their age group was credited with the so-called, pulling the cable cord.
If it weren’t for college sports’ media monopoly, I’d be with them 100%.
But I admit it, I’m addicted to my Kentucky Wildcats, basketball, and like a Cubs fan, our football team.
I think eventually, the Millennials will tell the current political class that does not seem to have any dignity, to shove-it, and to please get out-of-the-way.
Any who, whenever I have to make a tough decision, I always go to the root question, why?
On most mornings when I’m not headed to a business meeting, before I drive over to my office in downtown Tampa, I’ll miss the traffic congestion along on the bridges that link the cities in the Tampa Bay Area, and as I monitor my emails, I’ll watch the first 15 minutes or so for Varney & Company on Fox Business.
I watch the show because I like the happy host, Stuart Varney and his show provides me with a good overview as to what’s happening in the financial markets and politics.
If you’re like me, you don’t have a lot of time to worry about politics, or the financial markets.
In particular, if you’re a parent.
But, before I was headed to a lunch with an old business friend, I watched a segment on Varney & Company about a show on Netflix – 13 Reasons Why, and the recent spike in teens searching on the internet about suicide.
I did a quick internet search, and I was sickened.
To be clear, I’m not criticizing the book author, I am confident it was an attempt to draw attention to a tough subject, in an imaginative, interesting way. Obviously, I think that’s a good thing.
I know more than I wish about suicide. Because, I have carefully, extensively researched the subject matter.
My first novel, Bobby’s Socks, was about child sexual abuse, and the epi genetic link to suicide.
The photo I pasted to this blog post was me, from when I was a confused 18-year-old high school senior.
Ever wonder what was going on behind my hazel colored eyes?
For that fact, if you’re a parent, ever wonder what’s going on behind your children’s eyes?
So, I drove to my business lunch with an old friend.
My friend has done quite well, I’m happy for him. But he’s also a parent, a good parent of teenagers.
I am not a parent, by choice, not by some genetic defect, so I was curious.
I asked him about the Netflix show, 13 Reasons Why.
He had an immediate response, “I told my wife not to let my children watch that s**t!”
Of course, my first novel came up in the conversation, and he said what I wrote to begin this blog post.
“Bud, I love you,” he said. He nervously laughed. “But I don’t want to read your first book.”
I grinned, I understood. After all, art by definition is subjective.
Spoiler alert, I told him at least my novel had a hopeful ending, it’s the reason the book was entitled, Bobby’s Socks.
The title was in the possessive, as in, to walk in another persons socks.
In other words, I tried to tell the reader through the character what was going on behind those hazel colored eyes.
It was not a memoir. Simply written, I understood what the character thought.
By the way, the socks from the story help with the characters therapy, and if you consider it, each colorful strand are metaphors for each strand of a human beings DNA, or better, genetic code.
The novel was really about childhood trauma, and brain development.
If a child has sever trauma, sexual, bullying, or otherwise, the wrong gene instructions might get turned on.
If you question this, I recommend you Google, child sex abuse and the epi genetic link to suicide. I think you will learn about some of the wonderful work happening this very day at McGil University, and other universities.
I wrote the last sentence to Bobby’s Socks, before I wrote the story.
“He got to be old.”
These days, I am thankful for my wrinkling skin, for my graying hair, and that I get to see new sunrises.
It’s also the one reason I make a point to wish my Facebook friends, Happy Birthday.
It reminds me almost daily that each human life has value.
Back to my question for Netflix.
Why?
I understand thought-provoking art, I get it.
But a television show about teenage and young adult suicide, to me, that is sacred dry land, land that should be protected with the utmost care.
I’ll leave Netflix with another singular question to answer.
In every society, what is its most precious resource?
NS
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