So Much To Live For

This morning, as snow fell softly outside his window, The Common Man walked downstairs to the basement with The Boy to feed him and to watch Studio 60. The Common Man wants to like Studio 60, he really does. It is written by one of his favorite writers (Aaron Sorkin) and stars some of his favorite people (Bradley Whitford, Nate Corddry, Timothy Busfield). But it is a show that seems to amble. It has very little trajectory and no real sense that it is heading anywhere. And, for a show about late night sketch comedy, it's not terribly funny. The Common Man keeps watching and hoping that it will pull out of its nosedive, but it doesn't look good at this point.

But this is not a post about the show itself. Nor is this a post about The Boy, who is almost three months old and extremely sweet and cute as a button and very healthy thank you for asking. Rather, this is a post about Volkswagens.

Now, from what The Common Man has gleaned from the world around him, the average Volkswagen is a pretty decent little car. It's German. It's small (except for the bus). It gets good gas mileage. And it gets bonus points for the old school Beetle. But it doesn't seem to be anything terribly special. I mean, The Uncommon Wife and The Common Man just bought a car (Hyundai Sonata) and didn't even consider a VW.

Yet, The Common Man saw a Volkswagen commercial last night that has him questioning the very foundations of our society. It begins with a man on the roof of a building. He is white, bald and slightly disheveled, and he is about to jump to his certain death. A crowd has gathered to watch. He calls down to them, listing the worst things in the world: war, global warming, hyper-consumerism, reality TV. "I don't even know what my neighbors' names are," he calls out. On the street below, a man drives up and stops his little Volkswagen in the middle of the road and pulls out a megaphone. "Three V-dubs [VWs] for under 17,000," the man on the street calls out. The man on the rooftop looks puzzled for a moment, then begins to step back from the precipice. "I'll...I'll be right down," he calls back.

And.......scene.

OK, so this commercial purports that buying a Volkswagen for under $17K will make life worth living again in light of all the terrible things wrong in the world? Look, The Common Man is all for living and preventing suicide and solving all the terrible problems that are out there; but seriously, a Volkswagen makes all of those seem insignificant? These advertisers think that this ad will speak to Americans? That consumerism is the answer to the woes of the world?

Sigh. You know what, they're probably right. Not about consumerism being the answer (although The Common Man does enjoy consuming), but that the American public will be influenced by their heinous commercial (by the way, The Common Man thinks they've lost the "my friend killed himself by jumping off a bridge" demographic). That depresses The Common Man, who, on a beautiful, snowy day, hanging out with The Boy, wanted to believe in the best of America and humanity. If you'll excuse me, The Common Man is now going to go jump off his roof...unless somebody drives by in a Volvo or something.