Call me a curmudgeon. I totally dislike the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon.
It's not the cause which is the problem, even though I've decided to give my funds elsewhere. People with Muscular Dystrophy truly are deserving of such devoted support. I do know that each year the researchers get closer and that's a good thing.
I think my problem is two-fold.
First, I got burned out when I had to work the freaking telethon year after year at the skating rink, and, of course, the tv was turned to the telethon. Inane (well, what do you expect from Jerry Lewis?), repetitious, and the hyped up announcements of the amounts pledged every so many minutes.........don't get me started!!
Second, and this one is the bigger one for me now, there are so many other diseases/disabilities out there which are deserving of equivalent treatment. Yet they don't get the same amount of airtime, visibility, support that MDA does. Of course, if they did, we'd be having a telethon every weekend and compassion fatigue would turn the money fountain to a leaky faucet.
I realize that the MDA telethon has become a Labor Day staple, and probably won't be dislodged unless some miracle brings about a complete cure for those suffering with Muscular Dystrophy. So I guess I'll just have to continue to be a grumpy curmudgeon on Labor Day weekend ... and, of course, boycott the show.
Yet, wouldn't it be something of wonder if Jerry Lewis would lend his name and gravitas to supporting a different disease/disability each year, to open up the hearts of people to the needs of other equally deserving victims?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I have shared this same feeling for many years. I think it would be a fine idea for Jerry to dedicate the proceeds from his telethon research on a different disease each year. Especially troubling to me are Alzheimer's Disease and an obscure disease called Myasthenia Gravis. The former because it robs a person of all they have ever known; the latter because my mother had it, and it eventually contributed to her death.
It's nice to know there is at least one other person who feels the way I do about the annual MDA event--now I don't feel quite so un-American!
*smile* There's power in numbers! Maybe we can found the "Make the Jerry Lewis Telethon Give to Other Causes" group and lead a grassroots effort to share the wealth. (That's only half tongue-in-cheek.)
The two you mentioned are definitely worthy causes. I knew a gentleman who had Myasthemia Gravis and, while it hadn't progressed too far when I met him, it really knocked a hole in what he was able to do.
*sigh* I so wish we could find some way to fund research without having to bludgeon people over the head and without having to 'steal' funds from other worthy causes.
Post a Comment