Not so long ago I went to YouTube and watched a few old Roy Rogers TV episodes. They brought back how much I, as a kid, admired Roy as a Western hero. In a single episode, he could sing three songs, ride his palomino at full gallop, beat up and capture a few bad guys, and still, his cowboy outfit yet looking resplendent, share a few jokes about Nellybelle, the cranky old jeep on the show. Not even Superman was that good. Superman never sang a note.
Imagine, then, how disillusioned I was when someone told me that Roy, upon opening one of his chain restaurants in Washington, D.C., uttered a profanity when someone smushed a pie in his face. But the most disillusioning website is Wikipedia. If you look up someone there whom you admire, take my advice and skip the “Personal Life” section. Another of my Western heroes was Hopalong Cassidy, played by William Boyd. Hopalong wore all black but rode a white horse and never ordered anything stronger in a bar than milk or sarsaparilla. But when I checked out William Boyd on Wikipedia, I discovered he’d been married about six times.
It’s true. There really is such a thing as too much information.
This is Tom McBride, and this is my overly-informed Perspective.
