Where Is Kerri Strug Now?

One of my favorite games I used to play in grad school was called “Where is Kerri Strug Now?” As far as games go, it wasn’t really that exciting. The main premise was simply for me to find out what Kerri Strug has been up to since the 1996 Summer Olympics. We all remember her gold-clinching, one-foot landing vault. No one expected her to come out of the games with the level of notoriety she achieved, but she was one of the biggest stories of the summer…and definitely the biggest story coming out of those games.

Since 1996, we don’t really hear anything about Kerri Strug anymore. It’s not unusual; there are plenty of people who do notable things without ever intending to stay in the public eye. Many never even wanted to be in the public eye in the first place. Regardless, these are often the people I am most eager to hear an update about.

I love “Where Are They Nows” in general. Maybe it’s because people from the past are just that until they have some modern day context. I’m sure there are times when people should just stay in the past; maybe we should all just remember them for what they are known for. But I will always want to know where people are now in their lives. And I say ‘people’ and not ‘celebrities’ because I apply this idea to public and private people that I know from the past. It’s one of my favorite things about facebook, getting to know what old friends are up to now.

This article from April helped me to see Kerri Strug as an adult. While her voice may still not have changed (can’t tell from reading), I can see that she has moved on in her career and grown into an adult. Of course this happens to everyone, but when you don’t see them it is often hard to grasp that. Reading that article reminded how much I want to see a “Where Are They Now” series for obscure celebrities or public figures who only remained famous for a brief time. Today, I read this article about Elian Gonzales and it reminded me how great such a show would be.

Whether it takes the form of a TV series, or a feature series in a magazine, or any other form, I would love a program that would allow me to see where my favorite obscure celebrities are now. It’s something I think should exist.

What obscure or briefly famous public figures would you like to have an update on? What would like to find out about them? Is this something that already exists in some form?

Movie Bathrooms

Summertime, and the living is…well, it’s hot. I suppose when the weather first starts warming up, we all get pretty excited to play outside. But after the first couple of weeks it gets really old…and the temperature just gets higher and higher.

At some point we all need to find an indoor escape, but after the long, cooped-up winter season we look for ways to get out of the house. I assume this is the reason why so many good movies come out in the summer. It’s a great way to get out of the heat without having to sit at home watching sit-com reruns.

Everyone has their own movie theater habits. I know a lot of people grab boxes of candy and tubs of popcorn. All I need is the largest cup of my favorite carbonated beverage. There is one major problem with that, and I usually remember it about ¾ of the way through the flick. I have a relatively large bladder. That is to say, I can usually hold liquid longer than most of my friends. Unfortunately, even I can’t withstand a two-hour film and a jumbo Mountain Dew.

Having a healthy (or overactive) bladder wouldn’t be a problem under most circumstances. It’s a great excuse to miss a few minutes of class, or to duck out of a meeting early. When it comes to movie theaters, however, having to pee during the show can ruin the experience, especially when the best action sequences happen near the end, when the urge to pee is strongest.

To combat this problem, movie theaters should have a restroom in the theater itself, so audience members won’t have to go to the lobby. The bathroom would have all the privacy of a typical bathroom. My idea is that the restroom would be completely enclosed, while allowing people to see the movie from inside. I think this could happen in one of two ways. There could be monitors in the bathroom playing the movie along with the big screen in the main theater. This would be kind of like how many sports bars have small monitors in the restrooms to watch sports. The other way restroom users could see the movie is by using some sort of privacy screen. The screen would allow viewers to see out without letting others to see in, possibly similar to tinting on car windows if the light in the restroom is kept dim.

Does anyone know of a theater where this exists? What movies are you looking forward to this summer?

Backstory DVDs about Soap Characters

Something that most people know about me is that I love television. And those who don’t know that about me may have at least realized I’m interested in the medium because this is not the first time I’ve written about it on this blog. The truth is that I find a lot of things about TV absolutely fascinating and wonderful. When it comes right down to it, I love stories and there are certain storytelling genres that are completely unique to TV.

One of these genres is the Daytime Serial, better known as Soap Operas. Say what you will about soaps (bad acting, cheesy writing, repetitive, etc.), they are a completely unique way of telling stories that would not work the same way in any other medium*. The casts and crews work non-stop to produce a new episode five days a week all year round with no reruns. Even the most devout soap fans would concede that some of the criticisms are accurate, but with their demanding production schedule soaps should be forgiven if production value suffers in favor of consistency.

Despite the fast production pace and resulting inconsistent quality, there are many times when soaps achieve greatness. Whether in the form of a ground-breaking social-issue storyline or in a memorably good acting performance, the soap genre has moments when it genuinely impacts fans’ lives. Sometimes those moments even go on to impact popular culture at large. I would give examples here, but I think I have already given the impression that I am a much bigger soap fan than I truly am. My point here is not to come off as some sort of soap nut, but simply to say that the genre deserves more street cred than most people want to give it.

One of the interesting aspects of soap operas is the history that exists between all of the characters on the shows. The most successful soaps remain on the air for decades. In that time, viewers are introduced to many changing characters and relationships: romances blossom, characters age, families grow, murders are committed, multiple personalities are exposed, long lost evil twins appear in town to destroy lives, etc. It can be exciting to see all these changes over time, but it can also be hard to keep the facts of each character’s life straight.

Something that should exist to help soap fans remember the details of their favorite characters’ lives is a series of DVD “biographies” of those characters. Long time fans would be interested in those DVDs as a way to reminisce about characters. For younger viewers, this series would help inform their viewing of current storylines, providing insight into why certain characters act a certain way toward one another. This could also work as a series on a network like SoapNet. Many see soaps as a dying genre and this could possibly help to gain new viewers or revive viewers who have strayed away their favorite shows.

Does something like this exist? Which soaps have you been exposed to?




* I’m aware that Daytime Serials started in the days of radio, long before they began airing on TV. Still, I believe the genre has evolved and enjoyed success in a way that is unique to television.