The world won’t end in 2012, and that’s really too bad.
Somehow we have to put an end to the endless “Rocky,” “Rocky II,” ... “Rocky n+1” reruns.
Somehow we have to put an end to the New York Yankees winning another World Series title.
Somehow we have to put an end to all the doomsday movies.
There’s another one coming out, you know. You’ve seen the trailer on TV with the monster tidal wave coming to swallow earth’s land mass — or is it the land mass sinks into the oceans after being pummeled by huge meteorites?
I don’t know, and I don’t care. I won’t go see the movie.
I’d rather watch “Rocky” again. At least it has a plot.
The new doomsday movie is “2012,” and according to the movie’s promoters, “Never before has a date in history been so significant to so many cultures, so many religions, scientists, and governments.”
So how many cultures, religions, scientists and governments is this date significant to? Let me tell you — one, the Mayans. How’s that for Hollywood hype?
It was only about two years ago that my youngest son called me and asked me if I heard all the hoopla about Dec. 21, 2012.
That’s the day that “A global cataclysm brings an end to the world,” or at least, according to the “2012” moviemakers.
The real story is that the Mayan Long Calendar, which lasts for 5,125 years — how would you like to hang that calendar on your wall? — ends on Dec. 21 or 23, 2012, depending on which amateur — I’m sorry, professional nut case — archaeoastronomer you ask.
You see, when we reach the end of a month, we’re smart enough to turn to the next page of our calendar, or if our yearly calendar runs out, we’re smart enough to buy a calendar for the next year.
But present-day geniuses figure when the Mayans reached the end of their calendars, they waited for a monster tidal wave to come and swallow their pyramids.
It’s too bad Mayan culture hit its prime 1,100 years ago. The Mayans could have a good laugh over this one.
The ones who are left are laughing.
A few months ago, a reporter with a program on National Public Radio went down to Mayan country in Mexico. A Mayan Indian said he didn’t know what the hype was about. He said he was going to turn his calendar over and start the next 5,125 years.
I’ve lost faith in doomsday dates, actually.
John Hersey scared me half to death with “Hiroshima” and my dad said we’d never see 1970 because the Russians or us would nuke the world into oblivion. Oblivion is my word. My dad said “nuke the world to hell.”
1984 was a flop. I don’t even remember anything that happened that year worth talking about.
Y2K was an even greater flop, and 2001, according to the book and movie of the same name — year — was supposed to usher in a new age of cosmic understanding. You saw what happened that year.
But here’s the deal: Humans eventually will bring about the destruction of the world, whether it’s by nuke, poison or global warming. But being human, we don’t like to take the blame for much anything, especially, the end of the world.
So we create these fantastic movies and storylines in which the natural world, God or aliens destroy the world and that takes the monkey off our backs. That way we can keep abusing the world all we want because eventually the natural world, God or aliens will hit us with a giant meteorite or cosmic ray and end it all anyway.
I just hope it’s before the next “Rocky” rerun or the Yankees win the World Series again.
To write Gerard Click Here
Columns
November 7, 2009
World won’t end in 2012; that’s really too bad
- Columns
-
-
Citizens could be denied vote by ID law
- Fort Gibson’s graveyard turned spooky
- Retailers address ‘shelf sweepers’
- Vivia’s story more legend than fact
-
We must never forget that September morn
-
9/11 reminds us freedom is not free
- Two unforgettable events on the Journey to Easter
-
Muskogee Public Library ‘worth more than books’
-
Charles Haskell key figure in railroad development here
-
Junior Achievement provides hands-on financial experience
- More Columns Headlines
-



