Interesting link
Mr. Chris Burgwald has a link to an article on one of the few TV shows I actually watch on a regular basis. Monk really is a good show, though certain episodes have been less good than others. ( The one with Mr. Nelson was weak, IMHO, and while "Mr. Monk and the Earthquake" was better, they should have done a bit of research on the diaconate before they made it a plot point.) Monk, while he certainly has, ahem, issues, is, in many ways, more morally sane than the average TV character. He was obviously a loving, faithful husband ( His wife has been dead for four years and he isn't even looking at other women. How often do you see that much loyalty to a spouse on the box ?), and is almost scarily transparent.
(As a side note: in one episode, on a list of the terrible things done by a particularly disgusting murderer, his pressuring his girlfriend to abort their child is mentioned. It is also alluded that she has suffered grief from this, and has named her dead baby 'Rachel'. Again, something one does not see often.)
Of course, for me it's also something of an identification thing. As someone who has OCD, albeit a much milder case than that depicted, I find my sympathies engaged by Monk's symptoms, particularly when they reflect my own. For example,when Monk counted bricks in a wall while on hold, I got a 'been there, done that' feeling.
Some people might find this odd, though. After all, OCD is often not treated as a Big Serious Problem on the show, but as something to laugh at. Shouldn't I be all huffy ? ("They're not taking my particular problem with the utmost gravitas. How dare they?") However, OCD is, in a way, a lack of proportion in certain matters. ( The finest example on the show: Monk fleeing from a car which seems to be trying to run him down... yet going slowly enough to keep touching and counting a series of parking meters.) Since humor and a sense of proportion are closely linked, keeping the latter seems to require the former. Thus one could call it therapeutic for me, to have a bit of fun with my own condition...
(Um, one of my other symptoms: overanalyzing....it's just a TV show, after all....)
Mr. Chris Burgwald has a link to an article on one of the few TV shows I actually watch on a regular basis. Monk really is a good show, though certain episodes have been less good than others. ( The one with Mr. Nelson was weak, IMHO, and while "Mr. Monk and the Earthquake" was better, they should have done a bit of research on the diaconate before they made it a plot point.) Monk, while he certainly has, ahem, issues, is, in many ways, more morally sane than the average TV character. He was obviously a loving, faithful husband ( His wife has been dead for four years and he isn't even looking at other women. How often do you see that much loyalty to a spouse on the box ?), and is almost scarily transparent.
(As a side note: in one episode, on a list of the terrible things done by a particularly disgusting murderer, his pressuring his girlfriend to abort their child is mentioned. It is also alluded that she has suffered grief from this, and has named her dead baby 'Rachel'. Again, something one does not see often.)
Of course, for me it's also something of an identification thing. As someone who has OCD, albeit a much milder case than that depicted, I find my sympathies engaged by Monk's symptoms, particularly when they reflect my own. For example,when Monk counted bricks in a wall while on hold, I got a 'been there, done that' feeling.
Some people might find this odd, though. After all, OCD is often not treated as a Big Serious Problem on the show, but as something to laugh at. Shouldn't I be all huffy ? ("They're not taking my particular problem with the utmost gravitas. How dare they?") However, OCD is, in a way, a lack of proportion in certain matters. ( The finest example on the show: Monk fleeing from a car which seems to be trying to run him down... yet going slowly enough to keep touching and counting a series of parking meters.) Since humor and a sense of proportion are closely linked, keeping the latter seems to require the former. Thus one could call it therapeutic for me, to have a bit of fun with my own condition...
(Um, one of my other symptoms: overanalyzing....it's just a TV show, after all....)
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