So if you know me, you know I have had a lifelong affinity for the Muppets. I think (and have always thought) that they are wonderful. I remember finding out when I was a junior in high school that Jim Henson had passed away so unexpectedly and I cried and cried and cried. It was not the first time my family thought I was maybe over-dramatizing something...and not the last. But I was heartbroken. Who would give voice to Kermit, who was my guiding star of Muppet-ness? He is, in my very biased and unable-to-be-convinced-otherwise opinion, the absolute Best of them. He is kind and thoughtful and works towards a solution when something goes haywire (and if you ever watched the Muppet Show, you know that something always goes haywire). But he's not a paragon. He gets irritated. He yells. He gets frustrated and waves his arms wildly and makes THE FACE. You know THE FACE. It's literally my favorite thing about Muppetness. This face:
RIGHT? It's the best.
And after he gets irritated, he recovers, and apologizes, and works again towards a solution. He's awfully human for a Muppet frog.
When I was, I guess, 7, my mother was in a choir where we lived in West Virginia. They did a concert of show tunes one season, and it happened to be after The Muppet Movie premiered. They decided to have a group of children sing "The Rainbow Connection" at the concert. It was my first public performance. I don't think there is any record of it, but I have flashes of memories from rehearsing it with my siblings and the other kids. What I remember most is that at the end, we were to walk offstage holding hands and swinging our arms to the ending "La-da-da-di-da-da-dooo...."
Fast forward to 1991. I was asked (or maybe I made it happen. This part is unknown now) to sing a song at the mass during our graduation weekend from high school. I said, "Sure - no problem. I'll sing this song." and plopped down the song "I'm Going To Go Back There Someday" which Gonzo sings near the end of the Muppet Movie. I'm certain that the teachers and administration asked me to sing a hymn. But I sang a song from the Muppet Movie instead. My dear former teachers, I'm sorry I was such a pain. I recall thinking when I was 17 that I wanted to sing this song because it speaks so plainly about wanting to go discover new things, which is what I thought (think) graduating high school and going to college was about.
Yesterday, as I went through my day knowing that I would be seeing the Muppet Movie in a big theater again, I started thinking about how I've had Muppets deeply embedded in my life for it's entirety. In college, for 2 years, I sent out Muppet and Sesame Street songs to a list of friends on an integrated voicemail system every dang morning. When I graduated from college and moved to Arlington, I decided to join a band. Then I learned there was a band named Gonzo's Nose and it was like, welp, yeah, that's the one for me. (Conveniently, they liked me too...). Last night, I went with Steve, who is the drummer and came up with the name of the band, to see the movie.
When I got married, I danced with my father to "It's Not Easy Being Green" performed by Ray Charles. The song because I love Kermit and the Muppets, and the performer because my father loves Ray Charles.
Before we headed out last night, I ran upstairs to change. I rummaged through the drawer of funny tee shirts, thinking I can't wear a Muppet shirt...trying too hard. I ended up grabbing an old navy blue tee shirt. It has an outline on it of West Virginia and says "Almost Heaven." I tossed it on, then later thought, "Huh...that's where I lived when this movie first came out, and a place that's deeply embedded in my heart just like the Muppets."
Basically, the Muppets are seamlessly entwined in my life and consciousness, and I never realized it until this movie turned 40. These characters and songs and bits and everything all came along and delighted me (I hated Miss Piggy and still do but I had a stuffed pig as a child so you can already guess what it's name was...) and it turns out, just loving them this much has brought a lot more love into my life. When I went to see it last night, my 12 year old went with me. He laughed so hard he cried. "Mom," he said, "This is so funny !!" I know, honey. The best part of the Muppets, always, is that they absolutely love themselves, and that they are funny.
It kind of makes me want to be one.
