Dr. Midnight’s Musings

The music generates a feeling of limitless strength, unabashed inspiration.  The tense strings, pounding of the drums, and bold confident ambience conjure up the image from a pivotal scene in a movie, where the hero is making his charge, or the football coach is giving an impassioned speech at halftime of the big game.  The song gives the listener a slap on the back and tells them, “Go get ‘em.”  That’s what an inspiring article of music is supposed to do.

 Two people confidently strut into a room, carrying differing opinions on a certain topic.  They are Mr. X and Mr. Y, and both are making their case for and against zippers on jackets. Mr. X makes his case for zippers, claiming that they make it easier to tie up jackets.  “Nobody should have to deal with buttons that can get lost”, he proclaims. Mr. Y counter-argues that zippers can get easily jammed, and are therefore undesirable.  “What about the people who have had to suffer through stuck zippers?  Do their lives not matter?” Mr. X accuses Mr. Y of hypocrisy, displaying a picture of him in coat with a zipper.  Mr. Y contends the photo is doctored.  The debate devolves into madness, ultimately culminating in a brawl between the debaters. So, whose side are you on?  Mr. X or Mr. Y?

What is it about me that makes me so mysterious? Well, I was born in the middle of a desert, lived in a house with no running water or electricity, and lived as an orphan.  Then, one night, at midnight, I was struck by lightning and received superpowers, Thus, I became… DR. MIDNIGHT!

 As I cavorted down the street one day, I saw the most shocking, startling, and macabre sight anyone could possibly see: a man got run over by an 18-wheel truck and, presumably, killed.  The horrendous image of someone seemingly crushed to death made me feel tremendously concerned for this dying soul.  As the broken man was transported to the hospital, I had to go with him.  Once I reached the hospital, I learned something most shocking: the man was somehow still alive, and had nearly recovered.  How could he not die?  This is absurd!

 What does it mean to conform? One can assume that conformity transforms us all into mindless drones, soulless interchangeable parts for the supposed good of society, sacrificing our individuality in the process.  We told to buy this car, buy this phone, get married and have kids, and so on and so forth.  We become bland and antiseptic, we have no personality, we all live in the same house, drive the same car, west the same outfit, and are married with at least two kids. But what if, just maybe, conformity may be the right thing to save ourselves?  We may conform for a higher cause, to fight back against a certain enemy, such as in World War II or the COVID-19 pandemic.  Conformity may usually be less than desirable, but every once in a while, it might just save us all.