i'm half the man i used to be
this i feel as the dawn
it fades to gray
-nirvana
half the man i used to be
it was 1988 and elmo was living the american dream. after just
a few years learning the ropes with ernie and big bird and
everybody he got his own show. he and dorothy had just bought a
house and were thinking about getting married. not even oscar's
insults could put him in a bad mood.
but then, slowly at first, things got worse. the success got to
his head, he started thinking he was perfect, and invincible. at
first he just started drinking earlier and earlier in the
day. then his occasional, and almost bearable, coke binges
happened more and more often, and these were inevitably followed
by embarassing public out bursts which always made the front page
of the tabloids. who can forget that impromptu interview with jay
leno in the prive' of Club 69?. (though the media certainly didn't
help, did they have to repeat his poorly phrased comments on big
bird's gentalia as much as they did?)
after a while of all this dorothy couldn't stand his mood
swings and finally left him for cookie monster. Mr. Noodle tried
to help anyway he could, even convincing the networks, and kermit,
to keep him around after the infamous Mrs. Piggy sex tape.
maybe if elmo had learned from his mistakes, maybe if he'd
gotten help sooner, or if we, his friends, had done more, maybe it
wouldn't have come to this. the incident with Mr. Snuffleupagus
and the gerbil was just the last straw and at that point there
wasn't anything anyone could do. elmo was evicted from sesame
street.
after a while bouncing from place to place he finally found a
job as an mc in a poorly lit jazz bar. his hair's all gone, and
his great big eyes are almost imperceptible dots. even though he
manages to get by, his name and his past still mean something to
some people, the light in his eyes is gone, and his glass is
always empty. even tickling, that once infinite fountain of
laughter and happiness, only brings a small sliver of a smile.
elmo,
my friend, my companion, my fluffy red
brother, it was great while it lasted.
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