这部影片是为数不多的，小编主动观看的国产电影，在年初上映之际甚至打算去影院赞助票房，只因为它讲述了一个特殊的群体——自闭症儿童。

整部影片采取倒叙的方式，从十八/二十岁？的修直即将出国讲起。原来修直出生后不久，父亲就离开了他和妈妈，因此陪伴修直成长的只有妈妈田桂芳和姥姥。修直很小的时候，他就认为田桂芳是个数学白痴，认为与她说数学就是对牛弹琴，然而他又很惊讶，为何如此白痴的田桂芳总

这部影片是为数不多的，小编主动观看的国产电影，在年初上映之际甚至打算去影院赞助票房，只因为它讲述了一个特殊的群体——自闭症儿童。

整部影片采取倒叙的方式，从十八/二十岁？的修直即将出国讲起。原来修直出生后不久，父亲就离开了他和妈妈，因此陪伴修直成长的只有妈妈田桂芳和姥姥。修直很小的时候，他就认为田桂芳是个数学白痴，认为与她说数学就是对牛弹琴，然而他又很惊讶，为何如此白痴的田桂芳总能在自己迷路的时候一次次准确找到自己，并且知道自己上课“看电视”的这个小秘密。

呵，为什么呢？田桂芳的答案看似无理，仔细思考一下，却又有些微妙的哲理：不为什么，因为我是你妈。

这就是被称为母爱的东西吧，那是一种属于母亲的本能，它总能在孩子即将发生危险之际被触发，却没有一个科学的解释。

对田桂芳来说，修直的与众不同，更是让她操碎了心：在幼儿园期间就被劝退，而为了让修直能够接受正常的教育（阿斯伯格综合征属于一种高功能自闭症，与正常人一起生活学习，有助于他的治愈），她毅然办理了停薪留职，作为陪读每天与修直一起上学，她，就是修直的影子。

好不容易修直上小学了，随着年龄的增长，他不再是那个需要田桂芳时时刻刻盯梢的捣蛋鬼了。可是，他又闯祸了，出于对数学的浓厚兴趣，他将田桂芳一份重要工作文件损坏，导致田桂芳失业了。可是，田桂芳没有一句怨言。因为，对她而言，没有什么比修直，比她的孩子更加重要的了。她的全部重心都是修直，她，甘愿成为修直的影子。

影片中还有大量的旁白，都是修直在讲述自己眼中的世界，我们可以感受到，作为自闭症儿童，即使是较轻的一种，世界在他的眼中仍然是支离破碎的，无论是事物的形状还是声音，都仿佛水中花、镜中月般不真切。因此他很难与人建立关系，理解他人的表情、动作等对他而言更是难上加难。所以，在修直的独白中，他始终称呼田桂芳为田桂芳，而不是关系称呼妈妈…甚至在与田桂芳的对话中也是如此：“田桂芳，老师请家长。”“田桂芳，你不要问了，跟你没关系。”“田桂芳…”“田桂芳…”

田桂芳就像消防队员一样，老师一个电话就必须马上出现，去扑灭修直放的火。所以，她才是那个取代了曹操跑步最快的人…

她的一生，因修直而天翻地覆，却甘之如饴。

写到这里，忽然有点沉重。其实，小编只是想说，现在有越来越多的人开始关注一些特殊儿童，给予他们治疗与帮助，然而不要忘记，在他们身后的那个“影子”，一个拥抱，一句问候，一个肯定，对她们来说已足够…

最后的最好，小编想做个呼吁——在这个浮躁的社会中，让我们尽可能地踏实下来，做一些实事，有钱的出钱，有力的出力，利用业余时间参与到公益组织、公益活动中，帮助那些“身不由己”的影子缓解困难吧！

【详细】

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原文载于公众号：yuanfangfm 关注旅行和异邦文化

《我是江小白》| 加班族眼中的重庆夜景

原文载于公众号：yuanfangfm 关注旅行和异邦文化

《我是江小白》| 加班族眼中的重庆夜景

开始看《我是江小白》，是筹备“国漫地理”系列的机缘巧合。而喜欢上这部动画，是片尾曲主唱小黑那副人畜无害的嗓音。以及，让我想起十年前，实习期下班后的夜景。

不知道从哪期节目开始，“站长加班，节目停更”就已经成了一个老梗。而熬夜加班，成了从实习期开始就被迫养成的习惯，所以最熟悉的城市景观，往往都是夜景。

关于《我是江小白》

同样，江小白的场景似乎也是以晚间居多，毕竟很多感情戏，也只有在下班后才有私人空间去展开吧。江小白的故事很简单：有职场霸凌，但没到权谋斗争的程度，有感情纠结，也没到手撕前任的地步。

除此以外，失忆戏码、误会与错过、失而复得，关于都市爱情剧该有的元素基本凑齐了。但是并不狗血，因为他更贴近生活，尤其是从江小白身上看到自己影子的时候。

【详细】

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像“一公升眼泪”的纯情也是这里，像“下辈子我再好好过”py泛滥也是这里，像“远程恋爱”明明都是成年人好多年但恋爱时那么纯粹甚至拖沓也是这里。喜欢日本，是因为不管纯情还是情色，都不会假装，谈论一切都可以像“今天天气不错”这样，非常坦然的娓娓道来。

1、除了各种常见的matching类 app，日本有很成体系的y

像“一公升眼泪”的纯情也是这里，像“下辈子我再好好过”py泛滥也是这里，像“远程恋爱”明明都是成年人好多年但恋爱时那么纯粹甚至拖沓也是这里。喜欢日本，是因为不管纯情还是情色，都不会假装，谈论一切都可以像“今天天气不错”这样，非常坦然的娓娓道来。

1、除了各种常见的matching类 app，日本有很成体系的yp网站。比如有名的ワクワク之类，它的“成年版”相当的细分，大家会详细写出希望的时间、地点、具体流程，或者单纯写“在找能马上见面的人”。

敏感词太多应该不能打出来，想截图但不知道大家日语程度....

以前的公司在新宿，每到周末，新宿东口和toho电影院门口就都是yp见面的人们。“啊，你就是xxx吧”，“啊 让你久等了” ，“哎呀你真人这么可爱的！”“哪有啦”...边说边携手走进歌舞伎町的lovehotel一条街。

2、2017年第一个日本py来见我时候，问我“你有セフレ（py）吗”的时候我说没有，他一脸惊讶看着我，然后 “中国人真的保守呢”... 那时候我也是一脸懵逼www

3、日本人为什么喜欢py？

个人总结是，日本（其实主要是东京）国情、社会观、压力和中国不同。尤其东京，每天的学习、工作压力已经很大，“恋人“如果更消耗精力的话，不如找个セフレ轻松些。（小声bb：和日本人谈恋爱比中国累多了）。

但也因为py文化自成体系，所以大部分人都很守规矩（肯定用T、不强迫，甚至自带名片、体检报告的www），也很有礼貌（一如日常般的表面工作要做足）。至今记得有个美少年来我家（正确说我闺蜜家）时候，由于没做家务，玄关很脏，他还是日常的拖鞋、摆正，洁白的袜子踩到地板那一刻说了声“お邪魔します(打扰了）”，那一刻我特别心疼他的白袜子...

4、其实现在东京也不那么流行yp啦

因为yp也麻烦，现在东京从セフレ（sexfriend）变成了流行ソフレ（softfriend/一起睡觉但不发生sex的关系）

东京真的太寂寞了，大家都在抱团取暖。

5、看了下组里大家的讨论，只能说还是和中国人谈恋爱比较轻松开心，日本人セフレ什么的，都是上辈子的事情了～大家很多疑问和想法也都可以理解，毕竟精神是社会物质上的产物，其实两个国家这方面的想法、观念差别都很大，所以国内的朋友不要太较真～

6、我们的小守长大啦！！！

【详细】

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在看原著和电影时，我一直在想的问题是，到底是什么原因导致Leda拿走了娃娃。在书中，有一处电影没有的展现的Leda的心理描写，发生于这一行为之前。

“Or the voices, yes, especially the voices that mother and daughter attributed to

最近一直在追《凤弈》，看了两集真的被徐正溪的颜值圈粉了，颜值爆表、情话开撩，好多看点。比如，蠢萌的叶凝芝告白遭拒绝之后差点撞树，朗坤大人被皇后下令张嘴时可爱的小表情，每个片段真的是太戳中我的笑点了，这部剧虽然没有特别大的惊喜，可是笑料不断啊，老阿姨的少女心，在看这部剧的时候又回来了.....所以趁着这份激动，我要把魏广大人的撩妹战术与众姐妹分享

最近一直在追《凤弈》，看了两集真的被徐正溪的颜值圈粉了，颜值爆表、情话开撩，好多看点。比如，蠢萌的叶凝芝告白遭拒绝之后差点撞树，朗坤大人被皇后下令张嘴时可爱的小表情，每个片段真的是太戳中我的笑点了，这部剧虽然没有特别大的惊喜，可是笑料不断啊，老阿姨的少女心，在看这部剧的时候又回来了.....所以趁着这份激动，我要把魏广大人的撩妹战术与众姐妹分享

第一招：英雄救美

【详细】

10210427

#Black Mass#

#Black Mass# #黑色弥撒#根据真人真事改变的电影都会罩上传奇色彩，不过这部根据美国波士顿黑帮头目#James Joseph Bulger#改编的影片，除了#Johnny Depp#的表演霸气侧漏外，在叙事方面出奇的闷，长达两个小时的片长都是用重要的事件来组成，并没有具体到一个事件的详细描述。不管怎样，真实传奇的故事作为蓝本总会令人兴奋。

【详细】

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近日来最轰动的娱乐圈新闻，当属韩国的“胜利门”了。

从无数粉丝追捧的偶像明星，沦为性交易罪的嫌疑犯，也不过就几天的事情。

没人能够预料到，又将会有哪位艺人、甚至政要卷入其中，又或是，被暗中平息。

在背后操控这一切消息的，

近日来最轰动的娱乐圈新闻，当属韩国的“胜利门”了。

从无数粉丝追捧的偶像明星，沦为性交易罪的嫌疑犯，也不过就几天的事情。

没人能够预料到，又将会有哪位艺人、甚至政要卷入其中，又或是，被暗中平息。

在背后操控这一切消息的，是一群时刻都在“撒谎”的人。

这一部最新开播的英剧，讲的就是这群人的「谎话人生」——

【详细】

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看完了阿辛让我又回去看了一遍阿甘，先总结一下我的感受。

汤姆汉克斯演绎的阿甘，是不太聪明，有点呆呆的，但他不蠢，没有“智力缺陷”。

阿米尔汗演绎的阿辛，不仅存在“智力缺陷”，简称“智障”，还是个接盘侠，甚至有点早熟，小小年纪，天天嚷着要娶鲁帕，但鲁帕一直没

14756580

其实我已经有点厌倦穿越题材了，套路都是一样的，女主从现代过来，换了个身体，开始逆袭。所以我一开始对这个剧，一点都不感冒。直到别人跟我说这部剧bg线是德国骨科。

由于我一直觉得，国家欠我一个哥哥，所以每次电视剧里面讲兄妹的情节我都很容易动情。比如权力的游戏里面我活生生把雪诺和三傻看出了cp感……

当然要是亲兄妹相爱未免太丧病了，编剧总要搞点误会，比如抱错了，其实是好兄弟

So I stopped at a Jack in the Box on the way here, and the girl behind the counter said, “Hiya! Are you having an awesome day?” Not, “How are you doing today?” No. “Are you having an

So I stopped at a Jack in the Box on the way here, and the girl behind the counter said, “Hiya! Are you having an awesome day?” Not, “How are you doing today?” No. “Are you having an awesome day?” Which is pretty… shitty, because it puts the onus on me to disagree with her, like if I’m not having an “awesome day,” suddenly I’m the negative one.

Usually when people ask how I’m doing, the real answer is I’m doing shitty, but I can’t say I’m doing shitty because I don’t even have a good reason to be doing shitty. So if I say, “I’m doing shitty,” then they say, “Why? What’s wrong?” And I have to be like, “I don’t know, all of it?” So instead, when people ask how I’m doing, I usually say, “I am doing so great.”

But when this girl at the Jack in the Box asked me if I was having an awesome day, I thought, “Well, today I’m actually allowed to feel shitty.” Today I have a good reason, so I said to her, “Well, my mom died,” and she immediately burst into tears. So now I have to comfort her, which is annoying, and meanwhile, there’s a line of people forming behind me who are all giving me these real judgy looks because I made the Jack in the Box girl cry. And she’s bawling, and she’s saying, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” and I’m like, “It’s fine. It’s fine.” I mean, it’s not fine but, you know, it’s… fine. And I would like to order a Double Jack Meal, and I’ve kinda got somewhere to be, so maybe less with the crying and more with the frying, huh? [inhales] And the girl apologizes again and she offers me a free churro with my meal. And as I’m leaving, I think, “I just got a free churro because my mom died.” No one ever tells you that when your mom dies, you get a free churro.

[people murmuring]

[clears throat]

Anyway, I’m sorry, that’s not part of the… [clears throat] All right. Okay, here we go. Let’s do this. Here I am, BoJack Horseman, doing a eulogy, let’s go. Hey, piano man, can I get a, like an organ flourish? [organ plays] Nicely done. You know, I was a little worried I wouldn’t have the right accompaniment today. I guess it’s a good thing my mom was an organ donor! [rimshot plays] What happened to the organ? [horn ‘oogahs’] Okay, why just leave the comedy to the professionals? Okay? This is a funeral, sir, for my mother. Can you show a little respect? [trumpet whines] I’ll take it.

Beatrice Horseman, who was she? What was her deal? Well, she was a horse. Uh, she was born in 1938. She died in 2018. One time, she went to a parade, and one time, she smoked an entire cigarette in one long inhale. I watched her do it. Truly a remarkable woman.

[rustling]

Lived a full life, that lady. Just, all the way to the end, which is, uh, now I guess. Really makes you think, though, huh? Life, right? Goes by, stuff happens. Then you die. Okay, well that’s my time, you’ve been great! Tip your waitress! No, I’m just kidding around, there’s no waitress. But seriously, that’s all I have to say about my mother. No point beating a dead horse, right? So…

[inhales] Now what? I don’t know. Mom, you got any ideas? Anything? Mom? No? Nothing to contribute? Knock once if you’re proud of me.

Can I just say how amazing it is to be in a room with my mother, and I can just talk and talk without her telling me to shut up and make her a drink? Hey, Mom, knock once if you think I should shut up. No? You sure? I mean, I don’t want to embarrass you by making this eulogy into a me-logy, so, seriously, if you wanted me to sit down and let someone else talk, just knock. I will not be offended. No? Your funeral.

Sorry about the closed casket, by the way. She wanted an open casket, but uh, you know, she’s dead now, so who cares what she wanted? No, that sounds bad. I’m sorry. I-I think that if she could’ve seen what she looked like dead, she’d agree it’s better this way. She looked like this.

[groaning]

[mourners gasping]

Kinda like a pissed-off toy dinosaur. The coroner couldn’t get her eyes closed, so now her face is forever frozen in a mask of tremendous horror and anguish. Or as my mom called it, Tuesday! Tuesday! My mom called it Tuesday.

[woman coughs]

Hey, Mom, what did you think of that joke? You like that? You never did care for my comedy.

[clears throat]

Here’s a story. When I was a teenager, I performed a comedy routine for my high school talent show. There was this, uh, cool jacket that I wanted to wear because I thought it would make me look like Albert Brooks. For months, I saved up for this jacket. But when I finally had enough, I went to the store and it was gone. They had just sold it to someone else. So, I went home and I told my mother, and she said, “Let that be a lesson. That’s the good that comes from wanting things.” She was really good at dispensing life lessons that always seemed to circle back to everything being my fault.

But then, on the day of the talent show, my mother had a surprise for me. She had bought me the jacket. Even though she didn’t know how to say it, I know this meant that she loved me.

Now that’s a good story about my mother. It’s not true, but it’s a good story, right? I stole it from an episode of Maude I saw when I was a kid, where she talks about her father. I remember when I saw it, thinking, “That’s the kind of story I want to tell about my parents when they die.” But I don’t have any stories like that. All I know about being good, I learned from TV. And in TV, flawed characters are constantly showing people they care with these surprising grand gestures. And I think that part of me still believes that’s what love is. But in real life, the big gesture isn’t enough. You need to be consistent, you need to be dependably good. You can’t just screw everything up and then take a boat out into the ocean to save your best friend, or solve a mystery, and fly to Kansas. You need to do it every day, which is so… hard.

When you’re a kid, you convince yourself that maybe the grand gesture could be enough, that even though your parents aren’t what you need them to be over and over and over again, at any moment, they might surprise you with something… wonderful. I kept waiting for that, the proof that even though my mother was a hard woman, deep down, she loved me and cared about me and wanted me to know that I made her life a little bit brighter. Even now, I find myself waiting.

Hey, Mom, knock once if you love me and care about me and want me to know I made your life a little bit brighter.

[owl chirping]

My mother did not go gentle into that good night. She went clawing and fighting and thrashing, hence the face.

[groaning]

[mourners gasping]

If you’d seen her, I swear to God the only thing you’d be thinking about right now is that I am nailing this impression.

[woman clears her throat]

[chairs squeak]

I was in the hospital with her those last moments, and they were truly horrifying, full of nonsencial screams and cries, but there was this moment, this one instant of strange calm, where she looked in my direction and said, “I see you.” That’s the last thing she said to me. “I see you.” Not a statement of judgment or disappointment, just acceptance and the simple recognition of another person in a room. “Hello there. You are a person. And I see you.”

Let me tell you, it’s a weird thing to feel at 54 years old, that for the first time in your life your mother sees you. It’s an odd realization that that’s the thing you’ve been missing, the only thing you wanted all along, to be seen. And it doesn’t feel like a relief, to finally be seen. It feels mean, like, “Oh, it turns out that you knew what I wanted, and you waited until the very last moment to give it to me.” I was prepared for more cruelty. I was sure that she would get in one final zinger about how I let her down, and about how I was fat and stupid and too tall to be an effective Lindy-hopper. How I was needy and a burden and an embarrassment—all that I was ready for. I was not ready for “I see you.” Only my mother would be lousy enough to swipe me with a moment of connection on her way out. But maybe I’m giving her too much credit. Maybe it wasn’t about connection. Maybe it was a… maybe it was an “I see you,” like, uh, “I see you.” Like, “You might have the rest of the world fooled, but I know exactly who you are.” That’s more my mom’s speed.

Or maybe she just literally meant “I see you. You are an object that has entered my field of vision.” She was pretty out of it at the end, so maybe it’s dumb to try to attribute it to anything.

[woman sighs]

Back in the 90s, I was in a very famous TV show called Horsin’ Around.

[man coughs]

Please hold your applause. And I remember one time, a fan asked me, “Hey, um, you know that episode where the horse has to give Ethan a pep talk after Ethan finds out his crush only asked him to the dance because her friends were having a dorkiest date contest? In all the shots of the horse, you can see a paper coffee cup on the kitchen counter, but in the shots of Ethan, the coffee cup’s missing. Was that because the show was making a statement about the fluctuant subjectivity of memory and how even two people can experience the same moment in entirely different ways?” And I didn’t have the heart to be, like, “No, man, some crew guy just left their coffee cup in the shot.” So instead, I was, like… “Yeah.”

And maybe this is like that coffee cup. Maybe we’re dumb to try to pin significance onto every little thing. Maybe when someone says, “I see you,” it just means, “I see you.” Then again, it’s possible she wasn’t even talking to me because, if I’m being honest, she wasn’t really looking at me. She was looking just past me. There was nobody else in the room, so I want to think she was talking to me, but, honestly, she was so far gone at that point, who knows what she was seeing? Who were you talking to, Mom? [sighs] Not saying, huh? Staying mum? No rimshot there? God, whatever I’m paying you, it’s too much.

Maybe she saw my dad. My dad died about ten years ago of injuries he sustained during a duel. When your father dies, you ask yourself a lot of questions. Questions like, “Wait, did you say he died in a duel?” and “Who dies in a duel?” The whole thing was so stupid. Dad spent his entire life writing this book, but he couldn’t get any stores to carry it or any newspapers to review it. Finally, I guess this one newspaper thought he was pretty hilarious, because they ran a review and tore him to shreds. So my father, ever the proud Mary, decided he would not stand for this besmirchment of his honor. He claimed the critic didn’t understand what it meant to be a man, so he demanded satisfaction in the form of pistols at dawn. He wrote the paper this letter, saying anyone who didn’t like his book, he would challenge to a duel, anyone in the world. He’d even pay for airfare to San Francisco and a night in a hotel. Well, eventually this found its way to some kook in Montana, who was as batshit as he was and took him up on the offer. They met at Golden Gate Park and agreed: ten paces, then shoot. But in the middle of the ten paces, Dad turned to ask the guy if he’d actually read the book and what he thought, but, not looking where he was going, tripped over an exposed root and bashed his head on a rock.

[murmur]

I wish I’d known to go to Jack in the Box then. Maybe I could have gotten a free churro. It would’ve been nice to have something to show for being the son of Butterscotch Horseman. My darling mother gave the eulogy. My entire life I never heard her say a kind word to or about my father, but at his funeral she said, “My husband is dead, and everything is worse now.”

“My husband is dead, and everything is worse now.” I don’t know why she said that. Maybe she felt like that’s the kind of thing you’re supposed to say at a funeral. Maybe she hoped one day someone would say that about her. “My mother is dead, and everything is worse now.” Or maybe she knew that he had frittered away all her inheritance, and replaced it with crippling debt, which is a pretty shitty thing to leave your widow with. “Bad news, you lost a husband, but don’t worry, you also lost the house!” Maybe Mom knew she’d have to sell all her fancy jewelry and move into a home. Maybe that’s what she meant by “everything is worse now.” Is that what you meant, Mom?

I gotta say, I’m really carrying this double act. At least with Penn and Teller, the quiet one does card tricks. Hey, piano man, when I say something funny to my mom, how about you give me one of those rimshots?

[rimshot plays]

Yeah, but not now. When I say something funny. Like, okay. What’s the difference between my mother and a disruptive expulsion of germs? One’s a coughin’ fit and the other fits a coffin! That’s an example of a funny thing.

[rimshot plays]

Thank you. Let’s try again. Hey, Mom. What’s the difference between my mother and a bunch of Easter eggs? One gets carried in a basket, the other gets buried in a casket!

[rimshot plays]

Ready for one more? Last one. What’s the difference between a first-year lit major and my mother, Beatrice Horseman? One is decently read, and the other’s a huge bitch!

[woman gasps]

[murmurs]

Yeah, might have gone a little too far with that one. That one might’ve been a little too “my mom’s a huge bitch” for the room. I’m sorry, Mother. You’re not a huge bitch. You were a huge bitch… and now you’re dead.

[woman sighs]

You know, the first time I ever performed in front of an audience, it actually was, uh, with my mom. She used to put on these shows with her supper club in the living room and she used to make… [inhales] She used to make me sing “The Lollipop Song.”

[organ playing tune]

Those parties, they were really something. There were skits and magic acts, and ethnically insensitive vaudeville routines, and the big finale was always a dance my mother did. She had this beautiful dress that she only brought out for these parties, and she did this incredible number. It was so beautiful and sad. Dad hated the parties. He’d lock himself in the study, and bang on the walls for us to keep it down, but he always came out to see Mom dance. He’d linger in the doorway, scotch in hand, and watch in awe, as this cynical, despicable woman he married… took flight. And as a child who was completely terrified of both my parents, I was always aware that this moment of grace, it meant something. We understood each other in a way. Me and my mom and my dad, as screwed up as we all were, we did understand each other. My mother, she knew what it’s like to feel your entire life like you’re drowning, with the exception of these moments, these very rare, brief instances, in which you suddenly remember… you can swim.

[flashback]

[partygoers laughing]

[classical music playing]

But then again, mostly not. Mostly you’re drowning. She understood that, too. And she recognized that I understood it. And Dad. All three of us were drowning, and we didn’t know how to save each other, but there was an understanding that we were all drowning together. And I would like to think that that’s what she meant when we were in the hospital and she said, “I see you.”

You know, the weird thing about both your parents being dead is it means that you’re next. I mean, you know, obviously it’s not like there’s a waitlist for dying. Any one of us could get run over by a Snapchatting teen at any moment. And you would think that knowing that would make us more adventurous, and kind, and forgiving. But it makes us small, and stupid, and petty.

I actually had a near-death experience recently. A stunt went bad and I fell off a building. I’m an actor, I do my own stunts. I’m on this new show Philbert. I’m Philbert. Star of the show. It hasn’t come out yet, but it’s already getting Emmy buzz. Oh, speaking of buzz… [inhales] I’m supposed to take two of these every morning, but my days are so screwed up ‘cause of the shooting schedule, I don’t even know what morning means anymore. There’s a joke in there somewhere, about a guy who’s been to so many funerals, he doesn’t even know what mourning means anymore. Let you guys figure that one out for yourselves. [gulps]

Anyway, you know what I thought, when I was falling off the building and I went into panic mode? The last thing that my stupid brain could come up with before I died? “Won’t they be sorry.” Cool thought, brain.

[rimshot plays]

No, that wasn’t… would you just… dial it back, all right?

I don’t even know what “they” I wanted to be sorry. My mom, even before she died, could barely remember who I was. And of course, my dad’s dead. The last conversation I ever had with him was about his novel. He was so certain this book was his legacy. Maybe he thought it would vindicate him for all the shitty things he ever did in his stupid worthless life. Maybe it did, I don’t know. I never read it, because why would I give him that?

I used to be on this TV show called Horsin’ Around. Seriously, though, hold your applause.

[man coughs]

Well held. It was written by my friend Herb Kazzaz, who’s also dead now, and it starred this little girl named Sarah Lynn. And it was about these orphans. And early on, the network had a note, “Maybe don’t mention they’re orphans so much, because audiences tend to find orphans sad and not relatable.” But I never thought that the orphans were sad. I-I always thought they were lucky, because they could imagine their parents to be anything they wanted. They had something to long for.

Anyway, we did this one season finale, where Olivia’s birth mother comes to town. And she was a junkie, but she’s gotten herself cleaned up, and she wants to be in Olivia’s life again. And of course, she’s like a perfect grown-up version of Olivia, and they go to the mall together and get her ears pierced like she’s always wanted and—sorry, spoiler alert for the season six finale of Horsin’ Around, if you’re still working your way through it. Anyway, the horse tries to warn her, “Be careful, moms have a way of letting you down.” But Olivia just thinks the horse is jealous, and when the mom says she’s moving to California, Olivia decides to go with her. And the network really juiced the cliffhanger: “Is Olivia gone for good?” But of course, because it’s a TV show, she was not gone for good. Of course, because it’s a TV show, Olivia’s mother had a relapse and had to go back to rehab, so Olivia had to hitchhike all the way home, getting rides from Mr. T, Alf, and the cast of Stomp. Of course, that’s what happened. Because, what are you gonna do, just not have Olivia on the show? You can’t have happy endings in sitcoms, not really, because, if everyone’s happy, the show would be over, and above all else, the show… has to keep going. There’s always more show. And you can call Horsin’ Around dumb, or bad, or unrealistic, but there is nothing more realistic than that. You never get a happy ending, ‘cause there’s always more show.

I guess until there isn’t.

[chuckles]

My mom would hate it if she knew that I spent so much time at her funeral talking about my old TV show. Or maybe she’d think it was funny that her idiot son couldn’t even do this right. Who knows? She left no instructions for what she wanted me to say. All I know is she wanted an open casket, and her idiot son couldn’t even do that right. I’m not gonna stand up here and pretend I ever understood how to please that woman, even though so much of my life has been wasted in vain attempts to figure it out. But I keep going back to that moment in the ICU when she looked at me, and… “I-C-U.”

“I… see… you.” Jesus Christ, we were in the intensive care unit. She was just reading a sign. My mom died and all I got was this free churro.

You know the shittiest thing about all of this? Is when that stranger behind the counter gave me that free churro, that small act of kindness showed more compassion than my mother gave me her entire goddamn life. Like, how hard is it to do something nice for a person? This woman at the Jack in the Box didn’t even know me. I’m your son! All I had was you! [inhales]

I have this friend. And right around when I first met her, her dad died, and I actually went with her to the funeral. And months later, she told me that she didn’t understand why she was still upset, because she never even liked her father. It made sense to me, because I went through the same thing when my dad died. And I’m going through the same thing now. You know what it’s like? It’s like that show Becker, you know, with Ted Danson? I watched the entire run of that show, hoping that it would get better, and it never did. It had all the right pieces, but it just—it couldn’t put them together. And when it got canceled, I was really bummed out, not because I liked the show, but because I knew it could be so much better, and now it never would be. And that’s what losing a parent is like. It’s like Becker.

Suddenly, you realize you’ll never have the good relationship you wanted, and as long as they were alive, even though you’d never admit it, part of you, the stupidest goddamn part of you, was still holding on to that chance. And you didn’t even realize it until that chance went away.

My mother is dead, and everything is worse now, because now I know I will never have a mother who looks at me from across a room and says, “BoJack Horseman, I see you.” But I guess it’s good to know. It’s good to know that there is nobody looking out for me, that there never was, and there never will be. No, it’s good to know that I am the only one that I can depend on. And I know that now and it’s good. It’s good that I know that. So… it’s good my mother is dead.

[gulps, sighs]

Well. No point beating a dead horse. Beatrice Horseman was born in 1938, and she died in 2018, and I have no idea… what she wanted. Unless she just wanted what we all want… to be seen.

Is this Funeral Parlor B?

—— from Reddit