I've slept better in the past few months than I had in the past. Food has tasted sweeter to me lately. My productivity in my professional life has increased. It's as if the days that used to be cold and blustery are starting to actually get warmer and pleasant. Some may call that meteorological phenomenon winter turning in to spring. Those same "some" people would be wrong. I know why I've turned my frown upside down and put on a happy face and you do too. We are now living in a more enlightened age. The source of that enlightenment isn't Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. It isn't John McCain or Mike Huckabee and it sure isn't Larry King or Jack Cafferty on CNN, or Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly from FOX. While these voices are certainly influential, they don't hold a candle to the unquestioned wisdom and idolatry that we are bestowing upon one man. That man is Scott Baio. He's 45 and apparently, we are supposed to be impressed by this. 

Scott Baio is in his mid-40's. He recently got married and now he has a child from that same marriage. He grew up in front of our eyes as Chachi on "Happy Days" and the Citizen Kane of TV spin-off's "Joanie Loves Chachi", and then the red headed stepchild series he did with Willie Ames  called "Charles in Charge".   I grew up watching Scott Baio. He seems like a very likable fellow. He was a good actor. That's about all I knew about him and figured that would be all I would know about him.

I read magazines linking him with a bevy of sexy stars. Bravo to Scott, more power to him as far as I was concerned.   After his series were all over, he was faced with the proposition of what to do next. He lasted longer than most child stars so you have to give it for him for that. But what do you do when 99.9% of the people you meet every day relate to you as a teenager when you're in your mid-40's?  I suppose that is a curse all child actors have to live with.   Granted, there are worse things to deal with, but it has to be frustrating. The only rational thing to do is to create a reality show centered on the fact that the best career move for Scott Baio is not to play another part because no one can see past him being anything else but Chachi. So, what is else is left to do except to play Scott Baio. I actually think that is a smart career move. But the content within this show and the cultural reaction to that content is what is so disturbing and absurd to me.

In this reality show, we see the struggles Scott Baio has with intimacy and commitment. We see how he has this girlfriend that he won't marry because he's uneasy about commitment.   We see his friends wanting the never ending Scott Baio relationship circus to continue so all the parties involved never have to grow up. Although prior to the reality show, Scott Baio was probably not on the same level of celebrity as Brad Pitt or George Clooney, being a celebrity of any level still provides perks for Scott and his hanger's on. So we are left to sympathize with a middle-aged man trying to conquer something that has been accomplished quite easily by hundreds of millions of men throughout history, yet for Scott Baio, it's a struggle. Each week millions watched Scott Baio face his commitment demons and at the end of the season, he conquered them.  Congratulations to Scott, but is this accomplishment worthy of such praise?

I was watching my guilty pleasure "Regis and Kelly". Regis Philbin is unstoppable in my eyes and Kelly is terrific. Scott Baio came on with his new wife and his new child. The child was beautiful. The wife was beautiful and they both seemed very happy. But what didn't make me happy was the commentary that his wife gave to the question "What kind of father is Scott?"
 

"Scott is a great father! He changes the diapers", she explained.  "Scott wakes up with the baby", she continued.   Regis and Kelly gaze upon Scott  as if they are looking at someone who has gone so far above expectations for any man, let alone lifelong bachelor Scott Baio.  As remarkable as this sequence seemed to be to the hosts and the audience members, it made me shrug.

Lets see if I have this straight. A man changing diapers and waking up with a baby is a remarkable thing?  Is it manly for a man to sit by and let his child scream with a dirty diaper all night long just because a man shouldn't be the one changing diapers?  Is a man in his mid-40's finally deciding that he can commit to someone so special?  Is a man taking that long to grow up viewed as being on higher plane of consciousness than other mere mortal men of the same age? Why does our culture, and especially women, put up with this? Why do we celebrate the fact that Scott Baio, as likable as he is, took so long to finally grow up?   Why do we celebrate the fact that the most mundane and commonplace activities of parents is somehow worthy of praise and hero worship if Scott Baio and his wife are going through it? Didn't we all do the same things and figure it out far quicker than Scott Baio? 

This is hard because it looks like Scott Baio is a cool guy, but since he opened the door to his life for money and ratings; I have no choice to but to use him as an example.  This is just not about Scott Baio, but about men in general and how our culture views their position and expectations.  When you're in your mid-40's, you should have it figured out. You don't deserve a medal or a TV show if it takes you that long to figure it out. Your reward is received every night when you hit the pillow and you find someone with enough guts and faith in you to put up with someone who took so long to figure it out.