An open letter to LeVar Burton
November 25, 2009
So a few days ago, I wrote an article on Cracked.com in an attempt to win $50. Right, who wouldn't?
So, I wrote about the one of the few things I know about - LeVar Burton. Unfortunately, LeVar Burton himself saw this article, and may have been upset by some of its content - I can't tell. So just to set the record straight, this is my direct response to him.
Dear Mr. Burton,
As a celebrity, and more to the point, a celebrity who is known for playing wholesome characters, you definitely get a lot of jokes at your expense. The easiest joke is to juxtapose your on-screen persona of 'goodness' with a fictional LeVar who swears and drinks and punches random people (see this article from The Onion, for example).
I admit that my own article was attempting to capitalize on that easy joke for my own benefit ($50 and a possiblity of being temporarily Internet Famous). What I hoped would not happen is that you would see that joke and be offended (which you may or may not have been). Purely to ease my own concience then, let me explain my own felings towards your career.
Unlike most of our celebrities, you seem to have managed to portray only positive examples of the human condition (including this 'LeVar Burton' guy you made up for Reading Rainbow). I can only surmise that you either refused to play negative characters, or you were not cast for them because it would have been too incongruous with your own personality.
What this means for people such as myself, is that there are no conflicting messages - just one person doing what many of us would like to do: help others, have great (if fictional) adventures, and imbue a little meaning into our lives. What I'm saying, in the creepiest way possible, is that you are one of my role models. And in a world where role-models are so very rare, and so often rejected, all I can say is thank you. Thank you for the work you have put in, and for not fucking up. That is the most honest I can be.
Good luck.
So, I wrote about the one of the few things I know about - LeVar Burton. Unfortunately, LeVar Burton himself saw this article, and may have been upset by some of its content - I can't tell. So just to set the record straight, this is my direct response to him.
Dear Mr. Burton,
As a celebrity, and more to the point, a celebrity who is known for playing wholesome characters, you definitely get a lot of jokes at your expense. The easiest joke is to juxtapose your on-screen persona of 'goodness' with a fictional LeVar who swears and drinks and punches random people (see this article from The Onion, for example).
I admit that my own article was attempting to capitalize on that easy joke for my own benefit ($50 and a possiblity of being temporarily Internet Famous). What I hoped would not happen is that you would see that joke and be offended (which you may or may not have been). Purely to ease my own concience then, let me explain my own felings towards your career.
Unlike most of our celebrities, you seem to have managed to portray only positive examples of the human condition (including this 'LeVar Burton' guy you made up for Reading Rainbow). I can only surmise that you either refused to play negative characters, or you were not cast for them because it would have been too incongruous with your own personality.
What this means for people such as myself, is that there are no conflicting messages - just one person doing what many of us would like to do: help others, have great (if fictional) adventures, and imbue a little meaning into our lives. What I'm saying, in the creepiest way possible, is that you are one of my role models. And in a world where role-models are so very rare, and so often rejected, all I can say is thank you. Thank you for the work you have put in, and for not fucking up. That is the most honest I can be.
Good luck.
Posted by Cliff Stevenson
