Entertainment is defined as a form of amusement that engages, or diverts.

Entertainment could take on many forms ...including work and play.  It really has to do with what amuses us, what we engage in, or what causes a diversion.   Or would we consider some of those things ...not entertaining at all?

I am not a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a therapist, or a counselor ...though I have worked with many.  Some were exceptional, and some were absurd.   The following includes excerpts from the unpublished half of the book, The Evolution of Confusion.  I fear no copyright infringement, as I am the author.

Sweeney needs to be alone to reflect on this one. It seems just like yesterday.

He and Murray sit by the window, looking out.  They're always looking out.  No one seems to look out for them. They are grounded again. They are grounded a lot, he recalls.

Dad is angry.  Mom is angry.  Don't know who was angry first.  Does it really matter?   We become a part of Dad and 
Mom whether we like it or not.   What will children gain from their parents?  The positive, or the negative?   Or the confusion?

Some therapists blame upbringing …an uncomfortable insinuation for parents, or parents of parents.  Parents blame children, an unbearable insinuation for children.  Children don't have the right to blame anyone, unless they blame themselves.  They're just the unwilling victims of it all.

Many supposed well-meaning organizations blame society, though the organizations emerge out of society itself.  And government molds itself around the society, so that it can exist without too much inner turmoil, not confronting that which it is not committed enough to attempt to change.  It becomes the mutual benefit of the conglomeration of all our misdirection.   

Society is defined as the voluntary association of individuals for common ends.  Often that common end is to blame. Whether it is the small family unit, or the larger government of nations, blame can be the focus …rather than seeking solutions.

If children are not to follow the ways of society, then what direction is provided for them? 

Children usually create only very limited understanding of their existence.  Their lives include family ---which they don't choose, and friends that they do choose. 

If the parents choose to blame, then the children choose to escape. 

One of the most common modes of escape, is television. Understandably, the other is friends.  And the friends that they choose are often friends from similar families who have their own unique private sessions of blame.  They share a common ground of inflicted blame. 

Together they often find comfort in viewing the other dysfunctional families portrayed on television.  And together, their own negative experiences and those of television, help socialize them.   Once their own personal inner pain is added, they are thrust into the angry path …to find their own way.

So society is made up of families we don't choose, and friends we feel we do choose, but not really.   Friends become avenues of survival.   And it provides an avenue for when we grow up and ---we can blame society too.

Somewhere along that misguided path, Mom had felt the need to see a therapist. Much time is spent talking about her childhood. It's safe because they aren't here …Mom's own parents aren't here. But her children are here. They are in the next room.

It is too risky to talk about the husband-wife relationship. Each can't blame the other because it might make matters worse. So the childhood has to remain the focus. And the anger factor has to be dealt with.

In other cases, the spouse is the main focus for blame ...and there is no fear in exposing faults, nor interest in working to improve their relationship. And there are children that develop an effective means of coping ...that would give them an edge on one of those competitive TV shows, in this case, Survivor comes to mind.  They seek advantage by using one parent against the other, seeing no harm in it, as they feel they are already against one another ...and they frankly don't care much for one of the parents, or both of them.   Respect has long since departed from their home, and they make it clear that they too will soon depart ...thriving on the decisiveness that is so prevalent, and so easily manipulated. It's like learning a trade ...it may not be easy at first, and there are difficult times, but soon you best the competition. Though this is not the case for Murray and me.  We know of kids our age who are like this, but we have both endured many years of deep-seeded pain ...never trying to take advantage, and always looking for real hope and change.

Murray and I have no choice.   We have to go to the sessions with Mom.   But we have to occupy ourselves in the next room.   Murray sees there's a large selection of games to play with.   But I'm more concerned with the games that are being played next door.

I pick up a book and sit next to the wall.   I find that I can hear most of what the therapist and Mom are saying in the next room.   I recall one particular session.   It is particularly bothersome:

Mom: "I hit the dog with the broom. It really upset Sweeney. He really loves that dog."

Therapist: "What do you think you can do to prevent yourself from hitting the dog with the broom?"

Mom: "I don't know."

Therapist: "Well, I can make a suggestion."

Mom: "What's that?"

Therapist: "Make sure that when you get angry, don't pick anything up."

Mom: "That won't work. I kick the dog too."

Therapist: "Why do you think you take your anger out on the dog?"

Mom: "Probably because it's Scottie's dog."

Therapist: "Oh, a case of transference."

Mom: "But Sweeney is the one that really loves the dog."

Therapist: "That's good insight. We're making good progress here."

Mom: "Not really. That's why I came to you. Insight has not helped me improve my anger. When Sweeney was just a baby, the dog was just a pup. I couldn't stand the dog right from the start. I tried to just ignore the dog, but I'm expected to do everything around the house. I tried to leave the dog alone, but I had to take it to the vet. It was suffering from malnutrition. I realized that if I didn't take care of that dog, no one would. My husband wasn't taking care of it. It was his dog, but I have to take care of everything in the house."

Therapist: "I hear you making reference to your house, not your 'home'. You don't really consider it a home, do you?"

Mom: "No, I feel it's an area I'm assigned to. I have to take care of everything and keep everything clean. And all that dog hair makes me angry. I tried to not let it bother me. For three months I tried to stop caring about those things. For three months I didn't clean or vacuum."

Therapist: "And how did you feel during those three months?"

Mom: "The dog didn't bother me during that time."

Therapist: "So, you did arrive at a solution then. That tells me something."

Mom: "Yes, it told me something too. The dog didn't bother me because the house was so dirty that I couldn't find the dog. Come to think of it, I couldn't find the children either."

So much for listening in on Mom's therapy session.  I look at the book I'm holding in my hand.  It's by Dr. Seuss.  More than any Doctor, or therapist could ever do, I have often turned to Dr. Seuss.  I enjoy all his books.  Dr. Seuss is certain to understand my plight.

Two children, way too young to be home alone, sit by a window.  A window Dr. Seuss is about to open for us.
  

Where is their mother?  I see the similarity, yet at the same time, the difference.  My mom is always there, at least in body.

These books are two of my favorites.  Even now, as an adult, I can recall the story.   Yet, it may have a different slant to how I look at it today.

It all begins with an intrusion.  The two children stand in silent amazement.  Only their fish speaks.  Rather fishy, right?

Not really.  The fish is their conscience, telling them all the things their mom wouldn't approve of. 

But as the children continue to look on in amazement, the Cat in the Hat somehow boldly states that the tricks he will show them ---their mom will not mind at all if he does them.

Then when the Cat introduces Thing One and Thing Two, the children shake hands.  An agreement of sorts is made, with a certain degree of peace established about the whole thing.

Once again the conscience fish says the Things should not be there when their mother is not.   But the children look on with simple amazement at the wrong things they are experiencing, until they see their mother returning home. Only then do they make a real effort to stop that irresponsible Cat.

But still looking for an out from the mess, they allow the Cat to take care of it.  And they show joy at seeing that the problem is taken away.  Then they return to the window to sit silently, as if nothing had happened.

All this encourages the Cat in the Hat to come back, when their mother is away for the day, of course.  And before they can speak for themselves, he invites himself in.

This time they say the things that the fish conscience would have said, but the Cat's answer is that they should try it sometime.  The children take a stance, and say, "No!" ...but each time a problem arises, they continue to look to the Cat to fix it.

Each time they holler at what the Cat does wrong.  Each time they witness the Cat making things worse.  But each time they allow him to fix his own mess he continues to make.  
     

The children say it's bad, but the Cat insists they should try it.  Each time they are told that it isn't so bad.

The first mention of dad follows.  The reference is to how unsatisfied he'd be.  And to avoid disappointing dad, they ask if the problem can be solved ---you know it can!!

Undermining, underhanded, under his hat, and soon underway ...the ABC Cats take the lead.   And things get worse!

But the Cat in the Hat can fix it ---with Cat Z.   He has something called Voom, that cleans up, fixes everything. 

First, we had let a little pink in. Then all we could see is pink. Soon we can not tell the difference between pink and red. We don't want to see red.  We'd be just like the ones who brought this all on in the first place.

The Cat is like society.  Maybe I can blame the Cat in the Hat.  But not really.  I can see it more clearly now.  Our spiritual life is like that.   Without anyone to help keep us accountable, it can be like the Cat in the Hat  story.  It would be better that we never let the Cat in the house in the first place.   And the more you let the Cat fix the very problems he creates, the worse it gets.

The Voom took care of the mess, but you know what else it did?  It all but guaranteed that the Cat will be back.   Do you know why? Because the Cat was allowed to take care of the problem he had created.

Now, don't get me wrong.   If someone causes a problem, it's often good to allow that someone to fix the problem they've caused.  But not if they are the problem.  And the Cat was the problem.  He did things we know shouldn't be done.  And he encouraged us to keep it from our parents.

Sweeney had thought he'd grown beyond these old feelings, but they are still able to drag him down, out of the best of moods. 

He refocuses.  It is not this old hurt that he needs.  He needs the new realization to lift him out of the doldrums.  He will receive his blessing ---not from his dad, but from his Heavenly Father.

The entertainment industry becomes our social education. It used to be that way with the old wholesome shows too. But it moved from telling us how to act, to exposing us to the fringe of how some people acted ...then began glamorizing the wrong behavior and finding humor in it. We all want to be educated, knowledgeable, and to be able to show that we know something ...and often the coveted delight is to know something that others don't know.

Before the inauguration of a President who doesn't think it important to work with Congress, and doesn't think the Supreme Court can make decisions ...there was someone who had almost become President, who was talking to school children. It was a long speech, so instead of paraphrasing, I will attempt to be more accurate by listing part of what he said:

"There are some things about our world that you know that older people don't know ....in a period of rapid change, the old assumptions don't work anymore because they are out-of-date ...weighed down with the old assumptions of the past ...(yet, I/you) know you can gain a lot from them (older people) ...but in a period of rapid change, young people know some things ...parents try to tell their children the right thing ...our generation couldn't answer that question" (then discussing what is considered a crisis, what the President will be working on, three of the biggest are mentioned: global warming, the economy, and war. But what do you think is talked about most? I'll give you a hint by what he says) ...."It's invisible, tasteless, and odorless."                                                                                                                              
And that is why it is so feared? Well, I believe that the beginning of wisdom is fear of our invisible God ...but that isn't what he was talking about. What he was talking about, I agree is tasteless ...but I disagree that it is odorless; rather I think it stinks. Our younger people do want to know things, but that shouldn't include discarding the old Bible ....or keeping the Bible as a good piece of writing, but discarding its truths.

 Everyone likes to come up with ideas ...and sharing them has done many wonderful things for our world, but when we share what is inaccurate, that becomes troublesome.  The News has become entertainment, but more often persuasion ...especially since studies have shown most people now get their news from the internet.  And with many claimed injustices, this unique media often masks the real issues while creating a blame game ...building a foundation to recruit many to join the ranks. They don't reason for solutions, nor attempt to solve anything.   To be a participant or member in this elite organization does not require much.  

It's like going to a job interview, and you're asked, "What are you qualified to do?"

You reply, "I'm angry!"

You are promptly congratulated, "You're hired!" 


(Entertainment engages, and sometimes enrages ...often a diversion from the life we may otherwise live.  Mix it with music ...that can tame the beast, or bring out the beast. Add desperate pleas, and tears of injustice within the graphic depiction ...we can often be persuaded to follow anything, even away from truth itself.   I ask, "Where do we place God in all this?")