Somebody has to kill the babysitter

Surprising thoughts triggered by Jim Carrey's 'The Cable Guy'

“Somebody has to kill the babysitter”. This dialogue from ‘The Cable Guy’ sounds absolutely unhinged out of context. For a comedy movie starring Jim Carrey, ‘The Cable Guy’ is surprisingly cerebral and has some very dark undertones- stalking, obsession, loneliness, parental neglect, alienation, and the corrosive effects of technology. When my wife and I decided to watch a lighthearted flick yesterday, I did not expect it to leave me thinking until today, let alone writing an essay about it. But here I am sending a stream-of-consciousness blurb your way because the themes of the movie are sadly all too relevant today.

<WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!>

Jim Carrey’s character in the movie is brought up by an absentee mother, who often leaves him alone to watch television while she goes out to party. As a result, Jim Carrey doesn’t form any solid real-life relationships and grows up into a lonely unhinged stalker. While most of the movie is full of funny sequences about how Jim Carrey as Matthew Broderick’s eponymous Cable guy wreaks havoc on his life, the climax elevates it from a comedy to a dark commentary on society.

In a dramatic end sequence on the top of a huge satellite dish, dangling from an edge, kept from falling by Matthew Brodrick– a delirious Jim Carrey suddenly starts speaking as though to his mom– “Oh I see, you want me to quiet down and chill out in front of the TV for a while. Is that it? You were never there for me, were you mother? You expected Mike and Carol Brady to raise me, I am the bastard child of Claire Huxtable, I am the lost Cunningham. I learned the facts of life, from watching the facts of life!”.

Filled with references to many hit shows of decades past- Jim Carrey brings home the point of how he was abandoned in various ways and left to fend for himself- with the TV as his babysitter.

As his monologue builds to a crescendo, he says to Matthew Broderick- “I understand my purpose now. It's too late for me, but there are lots of little cable boys and girls who still have a chance. Don’t you understand Stephen- Somebody has to kill the babysitter”. With this, he lets go of Matthew Broderick’s hand- aiming to destroy himself and the satellite dish, the instrument of his alienation, with his fall.

Parallels to today

I couldn’t help thinking of Luigi Mangione- feeling alienated and let down by the system, thinking ‘It is too late for me, but somebody has to kill the babysitter.’ With rising social media induced loneliness and societal polarization, the forces portrayed in the movie are even more potent today. Much like Jim Carrey’s mom, parents give their kids an iPad so they will eat their food in peace instead of running around or let them have a conversation uninterrupted. This is not to throw shade on any parents– god knows it is a tough job, I am just trying to highlight the dangers of our coping mechanisms. Nor is it just the children who are in danger– most of us spend every minute of our free time scrolling social media feeds, craving a dopamine hit but only coming away with a vague dissatisfaction with our lives, a tired soul, and an edginess to our mood. A frenzy of misinformation and hate-mongering destroying social cohesion and making us feel like the world is coming to an end. The systems we have built have somehow insidiously turned against us.

Dark though it turned my thoughts, luckily the movie also offered some glimmers of hope. As Jim Carrey falls and breaks the satellite, we are shown images of people moving away from the TV. One of them suddenly rediscovers a book lying next to him and touches it with tenderness and reverence. It is a very brief shot, but it sends a powerful message about the joys and wonders the world offers if we can disconnect from these poor illusory substitutes and reconnect with ourselves, the world, and others.

To a better tomorrow

It is of course the height of irony to complain about social media on social media, but I am trying to see if the dark patterns of this technology can actually be turned to some good. I was thrilled to see Elon’s recent post about wanting to change the Twitter algorithm to promote informative and entertaining content with a goal of maximizing unregretted minutes spent on the app instead of total minutes spent. And though he has in the last few years taken many steps which I find baffling and misguided, I do believe at his core he wants to do good. As the richest person in the world, he also has the means to not bend to the financial incentives that control the rest of our media landscape. I hope he can go one step further in his goals though and try to use Twitter to build a world with greater compassion and social cohesion.

At the heart of ‘The Cable Guy’ is a lonely, alienated man looking for friendship. He tries to get that connection in many unhinged and manipulative ways, that make for great onscreen comedy and also tragedy for Matthew Broderick’s character. It is all too reflective of many man-children (that sounds wrong- but what is the plural of man child?) trying to play power games, manipulate the world, and gain status & fame in order to fill a void within. Connection, belonging, and friendship would be far more fulfilling, but since they have never gotten those- they don’t know what they are and they don’t know how to ask for them. Matthew Broderick in the end sees Jim Carrey for the tragic character he truly is and offers him real friendship (spoiler: Jim Carrey survives the fall). Here is hoping that the children masquerading as adults today realize what they actually need and may we find it in our hearts to offer them compassion and friendship when they do. What a wonderful world we could build together.