Tera Patricks' Tera Talks - Kittens, Puppies, And Macaulay Culkin

Everything seems to change, but not all changes are improvements.

Who cannot love kittens or puppies? Their natural antics bring a smile to everyone. So it is with little boys.

The similarities between kittens, puppies, and Macaulay Culkin are striking. Though perhaps enjoyable, kittens and puppies are not nearly so pleasurable when grown up.

So it is with Macaulay Culkin.

On a cool and cloudy day this past week I watched Macaulay Culkin on the original Home Alone movie.

Short of Ronnie Howard on The Andy Griffith Show, who was a cuter kid? As we sometimes wonder what happens to all that is cute with kittens and puppies when they become mere cats and dogs, what happened to Macaulay Culkin?

For that matter, what happened to Ronnie Howard? Was there a cuter kid in all the Carolinas? Or, Hollywood. Beaver Cleaver had nothing on Opie, folks.

Macaulay Culkin rose to fame in the first Home Alone movie and did well in Home Alone 2, both smash hits for the child star.

Cute, lovable, irreverent, and innocence, all rolled into a childhood package. Just like Opie. And kittens and puppies.

Later the same week I saw Macaulay Culkin on some forgettable Hollywood entertainment TV show. Is there a more incestuous industry than TV and movies?

I feel a sense of sadness whenever I see Ron Howard (“Ronnie” is cute when you’re a kid, not cute as an adult trying to produce movies) these days.

He’s worse than a kitten or puppy that’s become a mere cat or dog. Gone is the hair and perpetual innocence of youth, though the Mayberry boyhood grin remains.

Strangely, it’s the same with Macaulay Culkin. He has the same effect on me. These days he looks more like an aging Luke Skywalker than former child star in need of only a hug and a smile.

Still, Culkin’s Home Alone grin remains, a perpetual reminder of youth which belies the adult body infesting his presence. Interestingly enough, that childhood grin is appropriately personified by the legendary Milton Berle who only recently passed away.

I believe it not true about kittens and puppies, but could it be that the essence of a child remains in the adult?

Editor’s Note: Before her death, Tera passed along her personal journal. It is filled with hundreds of comments, essays, observations, and perspectives on every subject matter. As time permits, I will edit and publish select journal entries for Tera Talks—Alexis Kayhill

David says:

Yes! There is a child in every adult. I think of myself as a boy, with boyish curiousity, fun and mischief, just more responsible than most 10 year olds. My awareness of the child in adults around me who are not so expressive in clearly child like ways goes beyond the obvious outward behaviors.

Since I became a parent 10 years ago , often I see the the small child inside the adults I deal with day to day. Sometimes it is fun child like behavior, but mostly it is just this sense of “wow, he/she was someone’s little boy/girl once.” When I look at the world this way, it changes how I interact with it. I can’t define how, here in this moment, but it is there.

Try to see the child in everyone around you for a week or so. It might give you a new perspective.

Posted by David on Sunday, October 22 2006 at 6:17 pm

auramac says:

So right on. I remember hearing once that some actors would try to imagine everyone in the audience naked to get over stage fright- also put things in perspective: every one of us is just another human being. George Carlin also once said, to keep creativity alive- he tries to keep the inner child alive. He’d “play spy” whenever he’d be at the airport, for example. As an artist and musician, I hope I never stop being a big kid. And yes, recognizing that child in ourselves and others enhances our understanding and quality of life- I’m always inspired by how happy most kids are, not having forgotten how to play (with or without toys)!

Posted by auramac on Sunday, October 22 2006 at 9:10 pm