carrots good, death sentence bad

a week ago i was back where i grew up - alberta. i was 19 when i left for school in toronto and i really haven't looked back. i was happy to go and study journalism but i was more happy to be moving not only away, but to toronto. shiny city of my adolecent music dreams.

when i first hit toronto i thought i'd venture out into the city for a little walk around my new neighbourhood. hell, i'd never ever HAD a neighbourhood before (grew up on a farm, donchaknow). on my first little wander around lake devo i saw a drug deal. i wasn't on the farm anymore. actually lake devo (besides having the kewl name musical name devo) was used in a tea party video a few years ago. i don't remember which one it was, but it was the one where jeff martin wore a white suit and sat in some dark and expensive looking chair. it would take a better tea party fan than i to actually remember it.

if you're in canada, you're already very aware of the specialness of alberta. and the special right-wing anti-tolerance point of view of a great many of it's dwellers. that is unless you've been leading your existance under a giant redneck rock. for anyone who isn't in canada - just think of alberta as canada's own version of texas. the pick-up truck driving good ole boys. it's actually funny. living here in toronto i meet many former albertans. and they're all either gay or in bands or doing some other artistic endeavours. it's unfortunate that most people of a more open minded pursuasion have to leave the province to feel like they belong.

i bring this all up because of a moment that happened with my dad while i was back home. my mom and i were watching satallite television (it's in the country, if they didn't have satallite, they'd have only 4 channels.) when the susan sarandon-sean penn film, "dead man walking" came on. i told my mom that it was a fabulous movie and she agreed to watch it. i think the only time she watches movies is when i'm home. last time i was home we watched "the banger sisters" and it was hysterical.

so we're munching on garden carrots and watching the death row inmates when my dad decides to join us. at first he's reading his newspaper, but then gets quickly drawn into the movie. i was beginning to wonder how this family experience was going to end up.

if you don't remember, "dead man walking" is a very intelligent and compassionate look at the reality of death row and the result of a death sentence. it's a look at the horrific crimes that people can commit and a look at all of the messy results of a murder in a state that will sentence people to death. we see protesters, victim family members, the murderer's family members, church leaders and the legal and prision system all acting and reacting.

and, well, you see, my dad is a right-wing, conservative, non-politically correct sorta guy. one who believes it's a great shame that canada no longer serves capital punishment on a steaming platter. during the scenes where sean penn's family spend their last hours with him my father says, "you just never think of the other side, do you?". i think he forgot that his eldest daugher is a progressively minded woman. one who does not believe the death penalty is right. in the interest of not starting one of our infamous 'debates' at that precise moment i just replied, "it's a difficult movie to watch"

i had a small thrill of victory. this movie was going to open my dad's eyes to something he hadn't considered before! no sooner than i was congratulating myself on dragging my dad out of the dark ages he announces that, "i don't think i want to watch the rest of this" and he got up and left the room just as the priest was coming for his final visit.

my mom and i watched it to the end. my mom hated the flashback scenes of the rape and murders of the victims but watched the movie. as credits were rolling, my dad calls from the other room and asks if it's over yet. we answer yes and he returns.

it was an interesting moment for me. my father, who believes to his core that if a capital crime is proved in court, that the death penalty is not only just but necessary did not even want to watch a cinematic representation of the legal execution of a man. it was eye opening for me. how clearly the close-minded want to see things the way they see things. if you really just want to keep your belief system in tact and never have it challenged, just refuse to be exposed to a well thought out and presented opposing point of view.

i respect my dad and know that he is highly intelligent. he keeps himself well informed in world affairs and politics, however we rarely if ever agree on things. our view points and experiences are just different. someone once challenged me and told me that it was impossible that my father should be considered intelligent since he believes in so many non-progressive ideals. i just told that person that he'd just proved himself to be as close-minded as my dad. intelligence comes in many flavours and we may not all agree with the resulting taste in our mouth.

[music | the killers, "andy you're a star"]