What's WRONG?At CLUB DEAD, the bell tolls for Bernie Mack, actor and comedian. WTF? He's just now starting to make it.Where the hell's Mr. Jordan? It couldn't have been his time yet!
When I saw the photo of Bernie Mack on the screen, I assumed it was some publicity blurb for Ocean's Thirty-six or wherever they are now. Sadly, the story it told was one of a crying family, a weak heart, and a gruff but gentle giant with a shell more fragile than anyone could tell.
He seemed so young. Hell, he was young, at least in terms of dying. Pneumonia's not supposed to kill you... not nowadays. His family had come to realize that his pneumonia was more serious than first thought. Drag out all the cliches about God wanting to laugh, and we never know when the curtain will fall, and he's in a better place, catching Lenny Bruce and Henny Youngman's new act. By now, he'll have checked out Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor's new material. All those things we always say "out of respect" when what we're really doing is making ourselves feel better.
(Some other time, dear reader, we'll ponder if he really would have done those things that quickly. I mean, if it takes an hour and a half to change license plates, it might be logical to expect eternal judgement to take more than a few minutes. God surely doesn't seek to administer justice faster than a Mexican court.)
Bernie Mac seemed to be genuine. Some Hollywood people just look phony. You couldn't imagine ever seeing them on the Mary-Tekoppel bus, or running into then having a cup of coffee at Donut Bank. Not so with him. I could imagine Bernie knocking on his neighbor's door, asking to borrow a ratchet; or bragging that he made it straight home from work without stopping for a single orange barrel.
Maybe a bit of pomposity, just the right amount, sealed the mix. I wish we'd gotten to know him a little better.
On the other hand, screw him; he's dead. Let's go look for crocodiles.
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