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FAN REVIEW:
The scene opens to a snowy TV show.... The Uncle Dick Show (Yup, It's
a fun knock-off of Mr. Rogers!! To me, when I first saw Rick in that get
up, he looked liked Clark Kent, aka Superman. It must have been the cute
curly Q hair in the middle of his forehead, the black rimmed glasses and
adorable
smile!! Rick is MY superman!! Sigh.) (I interpreted the snowy TV as Rick
acknowledging that this is TV.... fantasy, and it's contents, should to a
certain degree, be taken as that..... entertainment.)
Next, is a shot of Rick in the middle of war. Buildings are burning, Rick
is wearing torn clothing and no shoes (very sexy! ah hem.... back to their
view...) His hair is the same style as his BOTLD days, but if you look closely, he's slightly gray on the sides of his head. (I think all
men feel that if they are going to go gray, they think that gray hair on the
sides is 'distinguished-looking'. teehehehee)
Finally, is a shot of Rick as a cheesy lounge singer. Funny thing is that
this dimension is shot with everyone wearing black and white...except Rick.... he's in a maroon dinner jacket. Everyone's dancing, wining,
dining and having fun. Not a care in the world. ( Rick is hilarious as a
cheesy lounge singer.... love the greasy hair and mustache. His little "I'm
so cool, I-don't-even-know-what-to-do-with-myself" dance moves are
absolutely HILARIOUS!! I interpreted two meanings from this shot: First, most
people see things in black and white, but Rick is recognizing other shades
of gray. Second, the world may be in total chaos, yet people can choose to
ignore it and carry on as if nothing has happened. Hence the rocket that
starts to
'lift off' on the ballroom dance floor. Not one person looks up, acts amazed or anything!)
As the video switched amongst the three videos, the following struck as interesting tidbits about this video:
1) The Uncle Dick Show is supposed to represent the epitome of good children
watching and learning about good things. I found it interesting that the
"Words of the Day" included: ACID RAIN, FALLOUT SHELTER, HALF LIFE, NUCLEAR
WASTE, BAD NEWS FOR THE GIRLS AND BOYS, STOCKPILE, TOXIC WASTE DUMP, and
MUTANT. (I for one would be quite panicked if my 3 year old starting
asking me questions about these words!!)
2) Uncle Dick and Bozo the clown are playing with ballistic
missiles. ( I interpret this to mean that TV Shows can teach our kids ANYTHING.
It's up to us, as parents, to monitor what our kids watch....they could be
learning
how to build a bomb or detonate a missile.)
3) Tim is really cute in his white tux and WHITE hair in the cheesy lounge
singer segment.
4) War zone Rick picks up a music box and gently touches the
ballerina in the box. (This shot had the most 'emotional impact' for me as a
teenager. I, too, had a music box, and every time my parents would fight or
something was just going REALLY, REALLY, wrong, I would either listen to Rick's
music
or I would listen to my music box. The entire connection for me, as a teenager, was when I saw Rick tenderly touching the music during time
of war. I totally identified with this action.... kind of like finding peace
in chaos.)
When I watched this video as a teenager, my first thoughts were that Rick
was *afraid* that he might end up as a goodie-two-shoes kind of TV host, a
cheesy lounge singer, or angry, bitter and fighting.....something. As a teenager, I didn't make any connections of this video in regards to
war,
politics, and people's indifference to our world and it's issues. I
see it now.... it just took me 18 years!! (Well done, Rick!!)
I too, thought that this was a hilarious send-up of Rick making fun
of himself. Yes, I know it was serious message, but you cannot help but
chuckle when you see Uncle Dick appear on the screen. The set must've been a
riot. I also agree, he looked a lot like Clark Kent. The post-nuclear war
Rick was
definitely a turn-on, but for some reason I couldn't stop checking out his
feet. I kept thinking I had never seen his bare feet before (and where would
I honestly?) and the gray hair at his temples just added to the
hunkiness. The lounge singer does nothing but remind me of Wayne Newton.
If you didn't pick up on the message from hearing this song, I think you
certainly could after watching this video. I think it was an excellent display of getting Rick's message out. I don't think they played
this nearly as much as State of the Heart on MTV (and frankly can you blame them,
but that'll wait for THAT review) which was too bad, maybe if more kids saw it,
they might have thought at least for the 4 minutes it was playing
about trying to make a difference about the nuclear threat. Not that it
worked for me...LOL
Only our Rick can make a video so silly edged with
such a serious message. Who among us doesn't laugh with the
visualization of Rick as Uncle Dick (a Mr. Rodgers wanna be) to this day. I was
cracking up so hard watching this video of the BOTLD DVD. As well as Rick as the
cheesy
Lounge singer.. ha ha!! I think those two acting roles are enough to ask
Rick what was he thinking?? LOL.
Rick Says this is
his favorite video of all the ones he's done.
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