Channeling George Reeves

Channeling George Reeves

by Armand Vaquer

One of the qualities that enamoured fans of the Adventures of Superman was George Reeves's way (as Superman or Clark Kent) of speaking to children.

One example came at the end of "The Birthday Letter" in 1951 when Superman speaks to Kathy Williams just before he flies her to the fair. He had a friendly, soothing tone of voice. Many kids growing up during the 1950s looked to him as a "father figure."

Above, from "The Birthday Letter."

Another example came in 1953 when he tied to convince Ann Carson that there's really a Superman in "Around The World With Superman." Again, George used a soothing, friendly tone of voice in speaking to Ann.

Above, George Reeves and Judy Ann Nugent from "Around The World With Superman."

Last night, I had a call to respond to at one of the communities in Malibu that I patrol. The situation was that a nine-year-old girl was screaming for hours, was abusive to her mother and locked herself up in the bathroom. This call came around 11:00 PM.

I arrived at the residence and found the mother to be at her wit's end. She told me that she and her husband are going through a divorce and that there's a restraining order on him as he's abusive. The girl is exhibiting abusive behaviors. As this is a holiday weekend, the mother tried to contact any support agencies, counselors, shelters. Either they were closed for the weekend or they were already booked up.

The mother is 47 (I told her she looked about 35, which brought a smile to her) and is a psychologist. She lamented that her training should have prepared her on how to handle her daughter. I told her as this involves an immediate family member and emotions are involved, that changes the dynamic on this.

In the beginning, the mother was reduced to being an emotional wreck, crying and cowering on the floor. At the time, I thought that she just needed an outlet to unload her troubles. So we started talking about life experiences and dealing with ex-spouses and incorrigible children. Channeling George Reeves, I spoke in a similar, soothing tone. She said that kids are growing up too fast these days and are now engaging in sexual activity at nine years of age. I recounted the story of a couple of months ago of the two sixteen-year-olds I caught in the mens shower/sauna room at one of the communities I patrol. Her mood began to change from utter despair to having a good laugh as I recounted the incident. We talked for almost a half hour. She said, "You have a lot going for you!" I asked, "How so?" She replied, "Because you have heart!"

About twenty minutes into our discussion, the daughter came out of the bathroom and stood on the staircase just inside the entryway of the apartment. Channeling George again, I spoke to her and she was responsive and began smiling. Her mother was amazed as usually the child is afraid of people in uniform. I told her that maybe she senses that I'm just a "harmless little fuzzball" (as Rush Limbaugh describes himself).

I told the girl that we know she's going through a rough time right now, but things will get better soon. I told her that family break-ups are hard on kids. I told her my daughter made it through and just received her Bachelor's in Biology.

I left the mother and daughter in a far better mood than when I arrived. They were smiling and laughing when I left. The call took close to forty minutes to complete, but the goal was to defuse the situation so that the neighbors can sleep in peace.

Thanks to using George's manner in speaking to the mom and her daughter, I think I accomplished my "good deed for the day." Thanks, George!