John Lennon...Do You "Get It"?

[Canteenboy]

I'm always amazed at the differing opinions of John Lennon. It's funny that some people still don't understand him, his music, his life, Yoko, etc. I don't want to start a Lennon vs. whatever opinion debate. But I would like to share a little something that happened to me tonight.

I went to an art exhibit in Palm Springs. It was a benefit for the Desert Aids Project sponsored by Yoko Ono. The highlight was the works on John Lennon. There were many of his sketches, paintings, and hand-written song lyrics. It was VERY impressive and an interesting insight to Lennon and his personal relationships.

A funny thing happened though... An elderly couple came up beside me as I was looking at a photo of John & Yoko (originally intended to be used as an album cover) that depicts the two of them standing in an all-white room with the arms around each other's waist, in the full nude. Now picture it. There's nothing erotic or insensitive or anything about the photo. Just two people in love, in the buff. Big deal, right? Well the two elderly people standing besides me are mad that it's there. The woman declared, "Disgusting...this is repulsive!" while the old man chimed in, "It's stupid!" I just had to laugh. Amazing, the same photo can evoke the same reactions from people after 25 years. I'm laughing and I'm sure John Lennon is laughing somewhere too. Very funny. Yet, very disappointing that people can just not "get it".

The world needs them some John Lennon right now. I hope all of you out there "get it".

-Jay