WRITING PROMPT #3

“The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.” ~ Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

Whether we want to admit it or not, ALL of us have been guilty of this one at some point in our lives or another. As I sit here sipping my morning coffee, contemplating what to write about this morning with the given writing prompt, one particular example of this stands out in my life that I don't think I'm ever going to completely live down. Actually, it's a rather silly one, but its appropriateness still rings true, as it's something that I once felt SO passionately about in my rejection of them. My ignorance once took its shape in the form of...

The Monkees.

As a die-hard life-long Beatles fan, back in the tender years of my youth, whenever I heard mention of The Monkees, it filled me with waves of anger, hate, and despise. As far as I was concerned, they were a RIP-OFF of the Beatles and were just trying to cash in on everything they did (much in the same way that David Gest still tries to cash in on Liza Minnelli...) through their own shoddy attempts at trying to become them, while still clearly falling short since they never sold as many records as the Beatles. Hell, they never even made it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They weren't even a real band.

The truth of the matter was.... I had never so much as heard ONE Monkees song, seen even 5 seconds of an episode, or seen anything more than just a photo of the group. I had no idea what the hell I was talking about. I thought I did, in all my Capricorn stubborness, but if you'd asked me what, specifically, it was about them that filled me with such resentment? I couldn't give you a clearer answer than simply, "THEY'RE A RIPOFF!" If you asked me how they ripped the Beatles off? I'd quickly change the subject, because I honestly didn't have an answer for that.

Fast forward to about age 17...

Seemingly every single person I knew who had both a foot in the Beatles fandom and a foot in the Who fandom all seemed to be OBSESSED with the Monkees. Every fansite I went onto of either band ALWAYS had crossover fanfic, artwork, you name it. I couldn't make any sense of this. Why would these intelligent people who were just as devoted to the bands as I was support THEM??? I was like a stubborn two-year-old throwing a tantrum. (NO! I WON'T LISTEN TO THEM AND YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!!! I DON'T WANNA!!!)

Then one fateful day, as I was channel surfing, I stumbled upon some show that I didn't recognize, but for some inexplicable reason drew me in. I couldn't look away. Who WERE these four guys??? This was AWESOME! It was like the Beatles had their own TV show! .........WAIIIIIIIIIIT A MINUTE. Did someone just say Peter Tork? ......FUUUUUUUUUUUUUU--

It was too late. I'd already watched it. And I'd LIKED it. I was disgusted with myself and thought I was a traitor. I bitched online for WEEKS about this. This had to be a fluke. It HAD to be. And yet, I couldn't get those four idiots out of my mind...

Fast forward a few more months.

I've always been a big fan of TV Land and considered it to be one of my necessary staple channels, since I shun most things modern and stick to the classics. Well, on this particular night, guess what 4 guys come lolloping onto my screen? RIGHT. THEM. Did I change the channel? NO. What's wrong with me?? I'm supporting the traitors!! And yet, by the end of this episode? I begun to understand. They're not a ripoff. They're their own thing. They remind you of other people, but....not even always the Beatles. For instance, Micky Dolenz's insane personality reminded me of a sober Keith Moon. CRAP. Too late. I've been sucked in!! NOOOOOOOOOO....

The following night, they were on again. (Is it sad that I can stil to this day remember about the first 6 or 7 episodes in a row that I saw? ...Yeah, I suppose it is...) I begun doing a crazy thing: I started to TAPE EVERY EPISODE.

I'd put up such a long, hard fight for YEARS against these guys, and why? Because of what I THOUGHT I knew about them. Little did I know that they would encompass EVERY facet of my life for years to come afterwards, and that I would go to extreme and insane measures to follow these guys in their current tours. (Those of you who know me know exactly what I'm talking about; if you don't, let's leave the past in the past where it belongs, since those days have since ended.)

I've since grown up and moved on, but I'm the type of person who, once I'm obsessed with someone or a band, they're never ever completely gone from my life. I continue to keep up on whatever they're currently up to. This particular group has been on my mind again lately as three of them have been gearing up for a 'reunion' tour (sorry guys, it's not a reunion without Nez, so I won't be attending...words that my 19 year old self would have NEVER believed I'd ever say), and bringing up a lot of memories, both good and bad. They defined a section of my life.

The point of this post however is that this experience has taught me an important life lesson about not judging things that I don't truly know anything about. If you judge purely on things that you think you know about them, you'll potentially miss out on some of your life's greatest pleasures. Likewise, this also carries over to people. If you judge them on what you think you know about them, either of your own perceived notions or going by heresay, you may miss out on a potential best friend, or maybe even the love of your life. Food for thought.