rodney king

usually the first thought that comes to mind when i think of rodney king is the scene in the move 'airheads' when they get the crowd outside of the radio station to chant, "RODNEY KING! RODNEY KING! RODNEY KING!" it's a cheesy movie and probably a cheesy moment... but for just a second there was a serious undertone. wanna piss off the police? chant the name of the most famous victim of a police beat down, in los angeles no less.

rodney king's beat down was caught on video for all the world to see. rodney went viral way before youtube. one glimpse of the video and it was pretty hard to deny (if you're a person of conscience) that rodney king was a victim that night and the villains were played by the boys in blue who took turns thrusting their nightsticks into rodney king as he laid on the ground defenseless to the assault.

how the cops got off in the trial is beyond me. of course it sparked a riot. what did the jury see or know that the rest of us weren't already aware of? exhibit a was huge and hard to ignore. exhibit b? do we really need an exhibit b?

so that was that. justice sometimes don't seem so just and that will always be there on record... an ugly spot in history.

fast forward years later and i was home alone one night watching celebrity rehab reruns. i had thoughts of quitting drinking myself at the time... so i had some odd form of catharsis sitting home alone and watching famous people battle their demons.

rodney king was in the house with a bunch of celebrities. everyone else was famous for acting or music. rodney king was just a real dude up in the mix with the rest of them. rodney king wanted to quit drinking and throughout the few episodes i sat through, i connected more with rodney king than any other person in the house. he wasn't living some superstar lifestyle. he was just a dude who wanted to get on with living and felt like if he could quit drinking, that would improve his well being. i get that.

i don't know how that worked out. i never saw the season finale. i don't know if rodney quits or falters later in life. all i know is i woke up yesterday and found out he was dead. it was just an odd thing to read cuz he was only 47. and i had this odd connection with him. he's a symbol to me. he's a symbol that sometimes you can't trust the man and that those who are in positions of authority are prone at times to abuse it. and then, when you think you got the case locked down, the whole thing blows up in your face. the bad guys win and a city goes on fire. it's not a happy story. but it is a real story and a reminder that shit's never going to be perfect. but that's no excuse to ever stop trying in life.