Uncultured Friday [CATS]

A lot of the subtle programming in our minds comes from the many forms of media available to us, especially in this age. Now I am not saying that we should attempt to live in a vacuum to prevent this nor is this going to be a rant against modern technology. One, that would be uncomfortable and at times very loud (though I am sure the dustbunnies would enjoy the company), and two, I quite like my many forms of media. However I do feel we should be aware of how what we watch/listen/read make up part of our fundamental thought process. It is only then that we can decide if that influence is something we like or something that is no longer working for us.

So much of my life had been spent face down in one book or another, lost in the lyrics of a song, embroiled in the world of a movie, as I desperately searched for a way to escape the dissatisfaction with my own reality. Trying to pick apart twenty-two years of novels and musicals, news and documentaries, songs and TV shows and see what is it that makes those special ones stick with me, and which ones are just further tangling my thoughts in the net, is not going to be easy. So I'm going to do a weekly post, on whatever bit of pop culture I am currently caught up in or was at one point.

To start with I am going to take my current obsession and long standing interest in the musical CATS. Based on a book of poems by T.S. Eliot the musical first opened in London in 1981 before hitting Broadway in 1982. The first time I ever saw Cats was on a battered VHS that I rented from the Flagstaff Public Library. It wouldn't be until I was twenty that I would actually get to see it live (which always leaves more of an impact on me with musicals). I'm not going to review the play, suffice to say I enjoy it still, but I am inclined to look at the characters that I like the most and think on what that says about me.

First and foremost is Mr. Mistoffelees



The young, eager magician of the Jellicle clan; it's of no surprise that he was my favorite character from the very first. As a little girl(well tomboy) who spent most of her time wielding a magical staff (read PVC pipe), banishing evil squirrels and crushing the small child eating plants that populated my back yard (which was admittedly ten acres of trees so it was a lot of ground to cover), the young sorcerer-cat was always going to be the one I identified with the most.

Next of course we have the Rum Tum Tugger



If Misto was the character of my youth then Tug was definitely the character of my teen years. Of course looking back now it is amusing how closely entwined the two characters are in the story. Tug is the David Bowie of cats and would definitely be the one to capture my attention as I discovered exactly what the word libido meant. He's the flashy showman who gives Misto his moment to shine and perhaps there is a part of me that simply wanted the same acknowledgment. I wanted to be special, not the outsider, and I wanted someone to notice that. (And if the noticing was done by some hot popular guy...well that would be lovely) Such is the thoughts of silly adolescent girl (ok, still a tomboy, but really...) I suppose. I won't deny I still enjoy watching Tug gyrate about the stage.

And lastly we come to Munkustrap, the proud protector of the Jellicle clan and narrator of the play. He is the character I seem to identify with as I move out of adolescence and into adulthood. He looks after his clan, tries to protect them as best as he can. He is the storyteller, always part of the action but at the same time somehow apart from it. I'm still chewing over the correlations between his actions and my own. I have my own group of friends that I like to look after, to defend, to tell my silly little stories too. Sometimes I take myself a bit too seriously, as it appeared he did sometimes too. So I leave you with one last clip, one I chose because it is Munkustrap as a storyteller (which I always will be, good or not) not quite as in control of the situation as he would like (as I often am) and simply because I love the mental absurdity of people pretending to be cats pretending to be dogs.



Presto!

[Yes the doodle of Misto is mine and yes I was aware that I cannot draw felines at all]
[all clips are from youtube user MrMistoffelees666, I just borrowed them to illustrate my point, so credit where credit is due, but I think you are smart enough to realize that.]