We Love Ya' Frankie Avalon

by Monty Rainey
November 26, 2002

This past weekend, to celebrate our youngest daughter’s birthday, we took her to see the stage production of one of her favorite shows, Grease, which featured Frankie Avalon in a small bit role. That really has nothing to do with what I am writing about, but something happened that set me to thinking, which is always a dangerous thing.

Please understand, I have nothing against Frankie Avalon. I’ve never met the man. He may be one of the finest people you would ever meet, but when Mr. Avalon appeared on stage, the crowd of fans erupted into a staccato of ovation. No doubt, out of respect for the career the man has had in the entertainment field, but it occurred to me, "Do any of these people know anything about Frankie Avalon?"

This led to expansive thought as to why, we Americans idolize people we know virtually nothing about. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not immune to it either. As a kid, I idolized such people as Mickey Mantle, who I later found out was a drunkard that wasted much of his God-given talent. Like most youngsters of the time, I sang all the Elvis songs. We all know what a slob he turned out to be.

It’s rather confusing when you think about it. For instance, many people today, who are new to the game of parenting, still hold the same innocent adoration for Michael Jackson as they had growing up. This even after knowing full well, the guy is a flaming fruitcake! They have children of their own, for crying out loud! Is it any wonder their kids of consumed by such idiocy as blindly following some low life who calls himself some such idiotic drivel as Snoop Master Puffy Cube?

The examples are all around us, and they exist in every single venue of notoriety. Take your pick; movie stars, athletes, musicians, and even in many cases, public servants, have lowered their standards and found themselves void of morality. Why? Because the public allows it. We don’t hold the people we idolize to high standards. We allow Barry Bonds to act like a jerk. We still go watch him play and pay for those high priced tickets. We allow our children to pump millions of dollars into the music industry that promotes killing cops. We go watch over-priced movies with actors who condemn America and her values. We vote for politicians who are known to be void of character.

Perhaps it’s always been that way, and we just didn’t know about it.  Perhaps people of notoriety have always been predominantly, well, scum, but I don’t think so. I have to believe people like David Crockett, Florence Nightingale and Ben Franklin truly were people of character.  People who deserved to be looked up to. I have to believe that somewhere, there once existed an innocence and a way of life that demanded honor and integrity. I believe this because, if it ever did exist, then that means it can exist again. It can exist again if the public demands it. If we stop supporting the NBA, the players will stop breaking the law and beating their wives. If we stop letting our kids support some scumbag who calls himself m & m, the young man just might become normal. If we stop voting for politicians who lack morals, we will return to the moral standards on which this country was founded.

I’m realistic enough to know, things will never go back to the innocence that once was America. We know too much about one another for that to ever happen. Once someone achieves a certain level of notoriety in this country, everywhere they go, a camera crew is right there, just in case anything interesting happens. But that doesn't mean we have to pay these people homage just because they have the ability to sing a song, act a part or catch a football.

Have we always blindly idolized people we wouldn't even invite to our home if we truly knew them?  How far must our society decline before we break this trend? When do we start telling our children, "This person is a low-life and lacks value" and encourage our children instead to idolize true heroes?  People of strong moral values, strength of character, and who have actually made contributions to our society.  People like the heroes who charged into the towers to try to save lives.

Ask yourself, "How many names of the heroes who gave their lives on 9/11 do I know?"  Probably not many.  How many names of American soldiers who gave their lives recently in Afghanistan do you know? Again, probably not very many. Does that make us bad people?  Are we void of character too? Or have we all become victims of the media monopoly over our lives?

These names are readily available, but finding them requires diligence.  You have to look beyond the media frenzy on a hundred TV shows and in the grocery store tabloids, but they are there. The media is a whore for the almighty dollar, and when John Q. Public sends the message that, to get my dollar, you are going  to have to give me something I can be proud of.  You're going to have to bring to my TV screen, morality, character, and honor, not trash, crime and reckless behavior.

So, there I sat, at San Antonio’s Majestic Theatre, listening to the audience give a thundering ovation to Frankie Avalon. He may be a fine man, and I hope he is. But I had to ask myself, how many of these people actually know anything about this man whom they are bestowing such a rousing tribute? I certainly don’t. Which means, Frankie must be a pretty good guy. He’s managed to stave off enough negative publicity to keep me from knowing anything bad about him. Keep up the good work.