given the opportunity on his last show at nbc to fully defame, besmirch, rail at, crap on, tar and feather, or otherwise blame his enemy for their stupidity, short-sighteness, unfairness, and callousness, Conan O'Brien takes the opportunity to express his
gratitude to them. it defies the baser default instincts of our human character. His resigned tone became not a capitulation but a mode of transcendance. truly amazing.
I am reminded of a phrase of St. Francis of Assisi, a phrase which dogged me for the past several years, one scenario in particular, a phrase easy to say, near impossible to put into practice, near impossible to mean, but one which at last I relented to :
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned
3 comments:
Is it possible his gratitude might have been related to the large sum of money he was gifted to leave?
ooooh so cynical!!
no elizabeth. the money is a penalty nbc incurs if they cancel or breach the contract they signed way back w/ conan. it's a protection for the performer/talent in other words. nbc gave him the shaft, they have to incur the penalty. it's that simple. Giant mega-corporations and studios are prevented through talent agents and contracts from running roughshod over talent, ie doing whatever the giant mega-corporation sees in the best interest of themselves, even if/when it means steamrolling the talent. i'm sure conan would rather have the show back than earn one extra dime. if you've followed it closely you know that conan fought for nbc to pay extra for all his staff with families who migrated to LA from NYC. In the end he's using his own money to pay them. so no, i vehemently disagree with you that his gratitude is related at all to a payout.
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