Page 6 - Discover Fall 2021
P. 6
Editor’s Note
By Tim Ernandes
During a recent hospital stay, I had unemotional persona, and he speaks in
occasion to do little more than watch simple terms. His entire world is confined
movies on the TV in my room. to a portion of the house, the garden, and
what he sees on TV.
I was delighted to discover that one
of the offerings was “Being There”, the When he isn’t tending the garden, or
penultimate film in the illustrious career asking to be fed, Chance enjoys watching
of Peter Sellers. I had seen it in the theater television. We discover just how simple
during its original run in 1979, and had not his mind is when he fails to show any
seen it since. meaningful reaction to the death of the old
man, whereupon he asks for something to
The protagonist, played by Sellers
eat and switches on the TV.
of course, is a man of extremely simple
intellect. He lives in a fancy house with a Once the old man has passed, the
dying old man and a middle-aged black housekeeper simply leaves Chance to his
woman who serves as their housekeeper, own devices, and the house is offered for
cook, and nursemaid. Although it is sale. The attorneys in charge of the estate
never overtly stated, the viewer gets have no prior knowledge of his existence,
the impression that Chance, the Sellers and order him to vacate the premises.
character, might be the son of the old man. Impeccably dressed in the old man’s
We are left to imagine that he has been outdated attire, he begins to wander the
sheltered from the world, possibly out of streets of D.C. in a confused state. It’s a
embarrassment. world that he has never seen before. At one
point, he feels hungry, and approaches the
Chance is permitted to be in certain
nearest middle aged black woman, asking
parts of the house, and allowed to wear
her to give him some lunch. She naturally
clothes that are distinctly out of style,
recoils at the request, and this confuses
having once been the old man’s wardrobe.
him.
He is always dressed to the nines, even
when he tends to the house’s walled Before long, he is accidentally
in garden. He has a very quiet, almost bumped by a limousine belonging to a
4 Discover Smith Mountain Lake FALL 2021
