The outpouring of appreciation yesterday from folks responding to the passing of comedian and actor Bob Newhart brought reminiscences of his most famous roles. For me it brought to mind the time that Newhart played God.
The Rebirth of Packy Rowe, Insight, Paulist Fathers, 1979
This is not meant to be an endorsement of the Paulist Fathers or the Roman Catholic Church but rather an appreciation for the acting of the two main characters, played by Newhart and Jack Klugman.
Theatrical agent Packy Rowe has a low opinion of himself and what he's done with his life. He's in for a few surprises when he dies and meets God who thinks otherwise. (From the YouTube description)
I haven’t watched this in years and I’m sure I’d find things about it now that are less than optimal that I wouldn’t have noticed back then. For one thing, it’s very white-centric and that would’ve been invisible to me in 1979 or whenever it showed up in my television viewing.
With all that being said…
What has stayed with me most is a moment when Jack Klugman’s character expresses his profound disbelief that the Newhart character could be God because he looks so “ordinary.” There’s nothing impressive about him.
Here you see them: the recently deceased Packy Rowe and…God.
Newhart’s God is unfazed by this reception. You get the feeling he’s seen it all before. Then he explains, and I’m paraphrasing here:
“The Bible says God created mankind in His own image. Why do you think I made so many ordinary-looking people?”
Ohhh…
No matter how you feel about issues of spirituality or organized religion I think you can appreciate the interplay between the two characters and the brilliant acting that these two gentlemen brought to this piece.
I’m going to take a leap here and reveal that this television drama is weighing heavily on my mind for more than the obvious reasons.
This morning I’m thinking about people who demand that political candidates look impressive and take up space like Hollywood-produced superstars rather than assessing and appreciating true leadership and job performance. I’m appalled by a political system which is giving people with a lot of money a platform to overturn a season of Democratic primaries.
I’m disgusted by media operations that thrive on driving a story and forgo their responsibility to report and analyze the actual news and consequences of current events. Some perspective on past events wouldn’t hurt either. Maybe even some context?
Most of all I truly wish that these people who think they know everything would take a minute to ponder the possibility that they have completely missed the point. Does that ever happen?
Dear God in Heaven, I can only pray that it does.
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