Monday, January 1, 2007

So, What is a Wax Lion Exactly?

The Wax Lion is a character on a television show called "Wonderfalls." Jaye Tyler is fresh out of college with a philosophy degree, and has gone directly into a crappy retail job selling cheap Niagara Falls souveniers. She's cynical, she's bitter, she's funny, and she's not doing anything other than bitch about her life. One day, one of the tchotchkes, a small misshapen wax lion from one of those injection mold machines starts talking to her and telling her to do things that don't make sense. She resists, she thinks she's going crazy, but when she finally breaks down and does what the lion is telling her to do, things work out, weirdly, for the best.... and her life starts to change. As the show progresses, more and more inanimate objects start talking to Jaye and telling her to essentially get off her ass. We don't know how it would have turned out in the long run, because the network cancelled it after 13 episodes--but it certainly seemed like Jaye was going in the right direction.

I am the Wax Lion. I'm also Jaye. I'm 36, I'm single, I have not one but three liberal arts degrees, and yet I don't have a job that pays the bills or provides me with health benefits. I want to be able to listen to the inner voice that's telling me to stop feeling so sorry for myself and get off my ass. I want to be the person who does rather than is done to, acting instead of just reacting, who can face individual defeats with confidence, and see the big picture of my life rather than obsessing over each piece of the puzzle. The Lion is an articulation of my own thoughts. Plus, he's also funny as hell. And he sings. Badly.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I just rewatched Wonderfalls a few weeks ago. My voices are currently telling me I'm supposed to quit my bill-paying, insurance-providing fulltime job to try freelancing. Or is it just my inner slacker saying those things? Hard to tell.

(ps I'm using my less-eponymous google account to login for comments, but I only check the mail during November)

Anonymous said...

You write very well.