Dick Clark and Uneasy Feelings
Seventy-six year old Dick Clark, who hosted the TV dance show “American Band Stand” from 1956 for decades to follow, is also famous for hosting the ABC yearly New Year’s Eve special live from New York City. Last year, Dick Clark had a stroke that has greatly diminished his ability to speak and control his body.
However, Mr. Clark hosted this year’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve on ABC despite his physical disabilities. His speech was slurred and many were disturbed by what they saw: a struggling old man in the limelight not in his prime. Some hailed Mr. Clark as a representative for stroke victims, but some uncomfortable with the appearance said they wished he had not appeared.
The head of the National Stroke Association said Clark’s appearance was an inspiration for stroke victims everywhere. He told the New York Times that Clark did “a marvelous job representing stroke survivors and their hope for recovery.”
While certainly true, that is beside the point. What Dick Clark did on New Year’s Eve, 2005, was to make every viewer think about what constitutes the dignity of the human being. If human value is calculated in terms of personal convenience, comfort and vanity, then we digress into a Nazi-like Darwinistic state of a compassionless existence. Dick Clark chose to do what the late Pope John Paul II did: to show the world that a disability or ailment should not diminish the value of a person’s character or reputation, and that we should honor the disabled in the same way we in this society honor the young and beautiful among us. They should not be pushed into a corner to contemplate their own “quality of life”, but given every opportunity to continue functioning as the assets to humanity that they are, based solely on the fact that we are all made in the image of God, and remain that way to our death.
Last year Pope John Paul II contorted in the window of the Vatican in a painful attempt to bless the faithful outside, the Pope in frustration lowered his head into his hands in a look of disgruntled agony. Yet the lesson he deliberately tried to convey is that all people, no matter their current physical state or demise, are, in the eyes of God, garbed in holy attire of rich robes of white in a place of honor with the potential to be adored by all.
The former state of a Dick Clark, Pope John Paul II, Ronald Reagan or Terri Schiavo should not provoke a repulsive response, but a compassionate one of embracing the vulnerable. A person is who he is on the inside, not how he appears on the outside. Truly the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. ring true when we see such people, that men should not be judged by the exterior, but by the content of their character. Dick Clark and Pope John Paul II have struggled to represent the vulnerable to the world through their ailments, showing that even the most powerful are dependant on the mercy of others and that all human life is precious.
Cross-posted at Amy’s Blog
January 3rd, 2006 at 4:56 pm
I wholeheartedly agree with your thoughts on Dick Clark. I’ve heard so much about how ‘he shouldn’t have gone on TV in his condition, ‘I want to remember him like he was’ …. well, every person has a need to be needed, wanted, to live!
And, I applaud Dick Clark for wanting to come out; he has come a long way since his stroke. And, I’m thankful to the DR that appeared on O’Reilly’s show last night, telling the world that Dick Clark did exactly what he should do, and it’s an inspiration to other stroke victims. And, I truly believe Dick Clark is an inspiration, not only to stroke victims, but to those of us who have followed him for years - to know what he was, and what he is. He’s still a man of strength, character, and compassion. He has every right to be on TV as any of us do. And, I had lot rather see his face, body - or any of his disabilites than some of the trash that TV has on today.And, thanks to ABC for again having him as host! I wish him well!
January 3rd, 2006 at 5:26 pm
My Thoughts On Dick Clark
I have admired Dick Clark for years. Like Pat Boone, he seemed never to get any older. Then, he had a stroke. Listening to some, it’s like life ends with a stroke. I’ve heard so many comments on why he shouldn’t be in public - ‘I want to remember h…
January 3rd, 2006 at 5:36 pm
Barb, well said. Of course I agree. It seems to me an insult to want someone out of sight and out of mind when they become less independent due to age or infirmity. What a terrible statement on the shallowness of our culture.
January 3rd, 2006 at 6:35 pm
Can’t say that I agree.
For one thing, DC Productions and the Catholic Church are in completely different if not diametrically opposite lines of work. And while showing suffering and humility, and being in pain, et al. is what Catholism is all about, Mr. Clark appearing in the state that he was in is not what “Rockin’ New Years Eve” is all about.
Dick Clark is a very intelligent business man who knows the entertainment industry very well, but to appear on a program for the biggest party day of the year as he did was not professional and somebody should have stepped up at his production company and suggest that he think about this like a businessman and not treat this like a personal issue, and consider his decision to appear emotionally.
Some people are gonna be proud of him, and I know that I certainly am. I think he’s one of the most awesome people in show business. But we all have our not-so-good moments, our moments of questionable judgement, and I don’t think it helped his business any to do this. That’s what this is all about.
And by the way, I don’t exactly think Pope John Paul II not stepping down helped out the Church either. Perpetually wondering whether or not he would go on (since you can’t make him step down), and then sending it into disarray, having to scramble for a new Pope didn’t do anybody any favors. A truly selfless leader knows when their time has come and, when to step asside and let someone who can take care of business, get the job done. What the last Pope did was all ego, IMO.
January 3rd, 2006 at 7:16 pm
Mr. Lombard,
Your interpretation that Pope JPII not stepping down was “all ego” reveals that you are neither a Catholic nor affliated with the man himself. He was ANYTHING but ego.
The Church is not a government. The Pope is a representative of Christ to both the Church and the world. I guess Jesus should have stepped aside rather than suffer on the cross?
January 4th, 2006 at 7:57 pm
You are correct, I am not Catholic. But that’s my opinion on the issue. Whether or not JPII did what he did out of ego or not notwithstanding, Dick Clark is not the Pope, heh.
January 5th, 2006 at 11:24 pm
I love Dick Clark. It’s not New Years without him. Seeing him there, even with his struggles, made me feel better.
He’s STILL HERE. I couldn’t ask for a better New Year’s Eve present.