 Cathy Eads, of Atlanta, asks some charmingly obvious questions. If you would like to submit a post to Clearing the Fog, please contact us here.
Dragons pepper the stories of literature with the flavor of excitement, adventure, and terror. They provide a threatening menace for St. George to slay, prey for the chivalrous knights to hunt, and a dramatic theme in many a tale across ancient and modern times. Despite the detailed physical descriptions of their fiery breath and reptilian bodies, dragons are fictitious creations of our collective imagination. Most of us enjoy suspending our disbelief to indulge in the fun of reading about and watching the illusions of these mythical creatures. Make believe and pretend play are innocent and universally human endeavors. Remember who you pretended to be as a kid? A superhero? A cop or robber? A ghoul or villain? An astronaut or a star athlete? A character from your favorite book or movie? A princess, or maybe even a queen? Did you ever dress up and enjoy the fun of acting the part of your alter ego—especially if it showed off the polar opposite of your “normal” self? Ever feel a little extra confidence temporarily just because you were emboldened by playing the part? On Halloween, did dressing up make the candy haul a somewhat secondary reward to the compliments you earned for your awesome costume? Was anyone harmed by your dress-up acting? Did it threaten anyone’s identity? Did anyone suddenly change their mind about who they were on “regular days” because they witnessed you in costume? Did your pretending bring anyone joy? Did it make anyone laugh or smile, give a thumbs up or a high five? Did it entertain others? Did your pretending to be a fictitious character change who you were deep down inside—or open you up to feel more fully yourself, allowing your creativity to shine? Did it make you feel happy? Whenever a powerful group of people tries to extinguish an expression of other people’s freedom, joy, creativity, or shared happiness, THAT is no fictitious beast. THAT is a terrifyingly real and legitimately dangerous creation of human ignorance. To everyone who believes pretend, dress up, and make believe are one part of the human pursuit of happiness, I say DRAG-on, my friends, DRAG-ON! I wholeheartedly defend your right to do so and delight in the glittering sparks of joy it brings to this troubled world.
9 Comments
Anne Simmons
3/12/2023 03:39:55 pm
The country has gone mad! Do these people not remember the the numerous dollars that has been raised by the Rotary clubs, high school clubs and other organizations that helped various charities?
Cathy Eads
3/13/2023 11:43:44 am
Anne - yes I believe that some people in powerful positions have indeed gone mad. They are mad with desperation that any shared power is a loss of their privilege. I am a believer in power, shared amongst people *all* the people. Is the best way forward, but I do believe legislative bodies are currently grasping for straws, trying to distract the public with any scapegoat they can possibly target.
Robert Mcwilliams
3/12/2023 04:28:48 pm
We’ll put!
Joan Cullen
3/12/2023 07:01:48 pm
I've been playing at being an adult as long as I can remember. So I might have missed the point of it. but I loved it. For a moment as I was reading, I felt the joy of a child. Thank you.
Barbara R Fallis
3/12/2023 09:59:25 pm
So we now need to ban school plays Tootsie ( also performed as a musical), which was rated PG and Mrs. Doubtfire, rated PG13. God knows, Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice with the drag queen Portia should never be performed including in our community parks as wonderful summer entertainment. These politicians are a bunch of sexually frustrated people.
Cathy Eads
3/13/2023 11:57:35 am
Barbara - isn’t it unbelievable the amount of clean fun entertainment we’ve all enjoyed throughout history that these politicians suddenly want to deem illegal?! They are desperately frustrated - in many ways I’m sure. And they are behaving like desperate people, without reason and without care for anyone but their own “kind.”
Joe Anthony
3/12/2023 10:59:36 pm
A Drag Queen quoted in The Lantern said it best: it's the hate de jure. Drag Queens and Trans kids are the targets today. Twenty years ago or so we were attacking gays. Remember the Defense of Marriage Act? Meanwhile Kentucky doesn't lack for real problems. I am very, very sorry about these attacks.
Cathy Eads
3/13/2023 12:07:20 pm
Joe - that’s what I keep thinking. There are real problems in the world of great significance that people who hold political powerful could decide to address and thereby alleviate pain and suffering. However, they choose to divert precious time, money and energy toward the hate du jour. They continue to chip away at freedoms in this country which is the path of many a fallen democracy. I encourage everyone to write your legislators and tell them to refocus their energies on concerns that help improve constituents’s lives and stop trying to take away our rights. We see what they are trying to do and we will not re-elect politicians who try to legislate away our freedom as US citizens.
Barbara R Fallis
3/13/2023 12:58:46 pm
I hope you do not mind another example. Some years ago I went to a 1 hour children's performance of Cinderella.with my (right wing) daughter in law and little granddaughter. It had the basics of the story with an updated twist. The stepsisters were, quite honestly, unattractive. Step sis #1 was quite rotund, with a bleach blond wing, ala 1950's sex symbol, the other wore short shorts and a tube top. When sis #2 raised her arms I noticed a bushy crop of hair! I roared. These "sisters" were in drag. The audience roared - we loved it. And this was a group of grade schoolers, their parents and teachers. Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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