2005

THE CADRE ¢ 12

Death Doesn’t Have to Be A Grave Experience

Kimberley Johnston Reporter

Life may be what happens when you’re making other plans, but death is never totally off the agenda.

Just ask Georgia “George” Lass -acynical 18 year old who seems only to figure out her life after her untimely death. Her demise, by the way, involves an unfortunate full bodied encounter with a soviet era space station toilet seat which pastes her to the sidewalk. I shit you not.

To add insult to injury (or death), the unenthusiastic, damn-near- unemployable college drop-out learns she must take over the role of a “reaper” or soul collector.

Reapers are basically like us but have different appearances when viewed by human beings. They do not live in “the great beyond” nor do they wear black robes that hide their faces. They are much like humans but have been given the unimaginable duty of extracting souls from very likeable individuals. They are also cursed with human needs such § as shelter, § food and @ clothing. So now George must find a n apartment, do her oO -w n laundry, feed herself and try to gain the sense of responsibility which evaded her in life. Also, soul fetching is pro-bono work so reapers are advised to get day jobs on the side which will allow them the flexibility to carry out their morbid

Keeping her humble is the fact her reaping colleagues (who must attain closure of certain issues they could not

fix while they were alive) have dubbed

their newest recruit “Toilet Girl’’ for

more than obvious reasons.

Fellow reapers who serve the Pacific North West with George (played perfectly by Ellen Muth) include Mason (Callum Blue), an Irish bad-boy who refuses to get a real job and lives by shadier means; Roxy (Jasmine Guy), who doubles as a civil servant and has the disposition of a constipated Rottweiler; and Rube, (Mandy Patinkin), the learned boss who manages to maintain his authority even after handing out the daily assignments on vaguely detailed post-it notes.

It is a shame I cannot describe the intricate relationships and interplay between the characters in full detail, but trust me when I say this is a show not to be missed. The thing I like most about the show is it also keeps in contact with George’s family and illustrates how their household dynamic changes after the loss of a loved one. George’s introverted little sister (played by Britt McKillip) is especially interesting to watch.

If you enjoy dark, cynical humor with

dark and cheery at the same time. It’s a show filled wi t h delightful contradiction which is what makes it so much fun to watch.

The program has won award nominations for best actress in a television series (Ellen Muth) and best syndicated or cable/television series. The show runs on Sundays on

Showtime or episodes can be easily |

downloaded from the show’s official

website. (http://www.deadlikeme.tv/ index.php)

Gay Marriage and the Catholic Church: Tradition or Opinion?

Timothy Wakelin Contributor

Gay marriage is an issue that has become increasingly prominent in today’s society. If you are anything like me, chances are you have heard about it, thought about it, and then subconsciously let is pass from your thoughts, as we do with most things that do not directly affect us. However, I happened to be attending amass about 3 weeks ago and found myselfin the midst of an uncomfortable sermon being made by the priest to his congregation. It was, of course, on the topic of gay marriage, an issue which he expressed that he did not want to talk about, but rather one that he had to talk about. He expressed many ideas to his uneasy audience, one of them being that “gay marriage would threaten the family unit”, and that “if you supported gay marriage, you cannot call yourself a Catholic.”

I would like to contend with the popular notion that gay marriage is threatening the family unit. Of course, we all have our own definition of what the family unit is, but there is some commonality to the modern concept of the family unit. For many of us, it may include any number of combinations of guardians, parents, and children, as well as close or distant relatives. So then, who decides what a family unit in today’s society consists of? Traditionally, the church has certainly played a role in determining this. From what I gathered during the priest’s speech, his concept of a family unit consisted of one or more children who are parented by a mother and a father, or two guardians of the opposite sex. In the church’s argument, gay marriage would eliminate the “traditional” family unit, a family unit of which the church itself designated meaning to. Of course, this definition is extremely limited, and this is where the first problem arises. Who is the church to decide what a family is? Who is to say that a gay couple and their children, or any other combination of

people do not constitute a “family unit?” I would like to think that the church in

‘today’s society should have no

authority in either of these decisions. There is no authority that can say a gay couple would be any less caring parents or any less loving than a heterosexual couple. So it ought to be up to the individuals actually living the reality that decide whether they should be defined as a family unit or not, and whether that family will be united through marriage. Of course the church holds the key to marriage in many respects, but if the rights of the church are not affected by legislation, then the church’s decision on who has access to marriage and who does not, should not be detrimental to those who hold other beliefs. lt

I am sure that many church representatives would at this point be inclined to refer to certain scripture and

_ say that “marriage should only take . place between a man and a woman.” I

would be tempted to ask them to refer to the original teachings on which the church is based. These are of course the teachings of Jesus Christ, aman who expressed forgiveness and acceptance in every aspect of the meaning. So then who is any follower of his word to reject any person, whether they agree with that

. person’s lifestyle or not? Dismiss this

statement if is wrong, but did the covenant between Jesus and his followers (which would include the present day Catholic Church) not include faith and trust in Jesus as the Christ? I believe so. So then ifa gay couple meets this regulation; that is that they do have faith in Jesus Christ, who is anyone to deny them the sacrament of marriage? Yes, they may be different in their sexual preference, but I do not hesitate to say that is the only way in which they differ in regards to faith, in fact I am pretty sure that sexual

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