Okay, mostly the attached is just funny, but I could imagine it
being a useful centerpiece around which to have a class
discussion around various questions in psychology, such as:
1) What are the causes (and cures?) for prejudice?
2) Does a diagnosis equal a disease?
3) What are the appropriate uses of psychoactive meds?
4) What makes us who we are?
The following appeared in the May 2000 issue of Brill's
Content (with Bryant Gumble on the cover), and was
written by Mark Leyner.
RELIEVED PITCHER
Rocker for Toleryl: 30-second spot
OPEN on news footage of John Rocker storming off pitcher's
mound, his face contorted with rage, gesticulating belligerently
at fans as he heads toward the dugout. Superimpose quote
from Sports Illustrated: "The biggest thing I don't like about
New York are the foreigners. I'm not a very big fan of
foreigners."
JOHN ROCKER (offscreen):
I'm John Rocker, relief pitcher for the Atlanta Braves. I used
to have a lot of hate inside me. And I used to make a lot of
vicious remarks to reporters that hurt other people and
seriously jeopardized my career.
CUT to Rocker strolling along beach at twilight, the frothy
surf rhythmically lapping the sand, the setting sun casting a
gorgeous crimson patina on the water.
JOHN ROCKER (offscreen):
But now, thanks to a remarkable new psychoactive drug
called Toleryl, I'm a more thoughtful, more conciliatory,
more tolerant individual. Toleryl eliminates those malicious
impulses you feel when you meet someone that doesn't
look or talk or smell like you.
DISSOLVE to montage of MRI and PET scans of brain,
photomicrograph of neuron, and computer animation of
neurotransmitters attaching to postsynaptic receptor.
JOHN ROCKER (offscreen):
You see, scientists have recently discovered that racism,
homophobia, ethnocentric nationalism, and neo-facism are
all the result of excessive dopamine and norepinephrine
activity in the brain. And now, with Toleryl, they're all
treatable disorders.
CUT to Rocker in clubhouse locker room playfully snapping
his towel at the buttocks of teammate Reggie Sanders.
JOHN ROCKER (offscreen):
After taking Toleryl for only a couple of days, I began to
notice that I wasn't making nearly as many bigoted,
xenophobic remarks. And Toleryl works gradually, so
friends and coworkers won't discern a sudden and seemingly
insincere transformation. Braves outfielder Reggie Sanders -
who I think is an Ibo or a Yoruban - knew something was
different about me, but couldn't quite figure out what.
REGGIE SANDERS:
You lose weight, John?
JOHN ROCKER (grinning broadly):
Nope.
REGGIE SANDERS:
Haircut?
JOHN ROCKER:
Uh-uh.
CUT to Rocker at home, watching Sidney Poitier in To Sir
With Love. We hear Lulu singing, "But how do you thank
someone who has taken you from crayons to perfume..."
EXTREME CLOSE-UP of Rocker, as tears well up in his
eyes.
JOHN ROCKER:
Toleryl's given me a lot more empathy and sensitivity. So
now I'm able to appreciate an eclectic range of poignant
movies...
CUT to Rocker seated on team flight, wearing headphones
and listening to the Pet Shop Boys' "New York City Boy"
over headphones, immersed in Jean Genet's "Our Lady Of
The Flowers."
JOHN ROCKER (offscreen):
...and books and music. And I think that's definitely helping
me become more mature.
CUT to Rocker, in his Braves uniform, standing in a lush
golden field with a group of smiling children of different
races, beneath a blue sky dappled with fluffy cumulus
clouds - the TOLERYL logo superimposed on upper left
screen.
JOHN ROCKER (offscreen):
Albert Schweitzer really knocked it out of the park when
he said: "Until he extends the circle of compassion to include
all living things, man will not himself find peace." Now that
I'm on the easy-compliance Toleryl maintenance program,
I finally know that peace for myself.
CUT to Rocker playing golf with Nelson Mandela and Elie
Wiesel. We hear Bob Marley's "Redemption Song." Rocker
high-fives Mandela, who has just finessed a chip shot within
inches of the cup.
JOHN ROCKER (offscreen):
When Elie Weasel called me a mensch...I realized that I
felt better because I was a better person.
DISSOLVE to full-screen image of 500 mg. tablet of TOLERYL
with tag line, "Get Better."
*****************************************************
Michael J. Kane
Psychology Department
Georgia State University
University Plaza
Atlanta, GA 30303-3083
phone: 404-651-0704
fax: 404-651-0753
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"It is morally as bad not to care whether a thing
is true or not, so long as it makes you feel good,
as it is not to care how you got your money as
long as you have it."
-- E.W. Teale
