As a kid growing up, one of the things I remember, and have always loved were episodes of the 3 Stooges. This timeless comedy was enjoyed by my Dad in the 30s and 40s, by me and my siblings (probably mostly by my brothers) in the 60s and now by Matt, Laurie and I in 2012 in Africa. We do not have regular TV so the DVD becomes especially important.
A couple of years ago, Laurie got me a couple of seasons of the "The 3 Stooges" as a Christmas gift. It was a gift that we have gotten many laughs from over the years. Erik, Heidi and Dani would come down and the Stooges would happen to be on and everyone was dialed in. There is just something very funny about Curley getting hit in the head with a hammer or the mandatory food fight that happens at any gathering of more than 5 people who happen to be in tuxedos. We have added to the collection over the years most recently getting a copy of a full length movie of "The 3 Stooges in Orbit".
I am not sure what the difference is between the Stooges and current comedy or action TV. As a parent, I have never feared that the Stooges might have some negative impact on Matt. It is violent but the violence seems to be so outlandish, even a 10 year old understands that it is not real but extremely funny. I dont know.
Our experience in The Gambia last week illustrates the international appeal and power of the work of Moe, Larry and Curley. We had just completed a 5 hour journey across the grasslands to Barra, Gambia. We stopped there to wait for a ferry to cross the Gambia river to Banjul, our final destination. The problem was that only 2 of the 3 ferrys were running on the Friday afternoon before New Years. It was packed. We arrived Barra at about 1 PM and didn't get on the boat until after 5 PM. We had a wait on our hands.
Matt was sitting in the back of the 4 Runner watching the Stooges on his portable DVD player as we were parked. Funny that we take this piece of equipment for granted these days. Anyway, Barra is a very crowded place and "the shakedown" is very prevalent. That is, everybody asks you for money for something. Everybody. After a while, we had the windows closed and the AC on. Matt's DVD player was drawing a crowd of kids to his window. They were trying to see in the back through the dark glass. I looked back and told Matt that he could just open the window. He did and before long, the magic appeal of the Stooges found its way to West Africa. The Gambia uses English as its primary language but these kids probably spoke more Wolof than English. The howling of children laughing was almost too much. The entire back window of the car was filled with faces who couldnt contain the laughter. Really neat.
I guess that the message is that Matt probably did more to break down walls with this simple action than he will ever know. People remember this foolish slapstick for whatever reason. I hope that one day that these children get to see the Stooges again as adults and remember the white kid who gave them their first exposure to "the boys". I also hope that Matt gets it that sometime the most difficult problems between people can be solved with a little laughter and being brave enough to open the window in a strange land.
Larry , Moe and Curley get it.
The best of days to you. Carl
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