In the 16th century, an explorer known as Juan Ponce de Leon set sail from Spain in search of the Fountain of Youth. Ponce de Leon heard rumors that anyone drinking from this mystical fountain would be granted immortality. Legends of the Fountain of Youth pinpoint its location anywhere from Florida to one of the many Caribbean Islands.
Fast-forward a half century. Two months ago, illusionist David Copperfield claimed that he has found the Fountain of Youth in a chain of islands he recently purchased in the Bahamas. Despite the fact that this is probably a publicity stunt by Copperfield to regain some of the spotlight stolen by up-and-coming magician Criss Angel — or possibly some misguided attempt to win back Claudia Schiffer — Copperfield has nevertheless persisted in his claim. He has already hired some of the best biologists in the world to come study the fountain on his islands.
Copperfield’s supposed discovery of the legendary fountain can be seen as a metaphor for what many of us are looking for. A way to live forever. Absolute immortality and dominion over death.
None of us like to think about death. It’s an unpleasant thought, really, to remind ourselves of our own mortality. Even if you are comforted by religion and thoughts of a better place in the afterlife, faith is never strong enough to completely destroy all fear of death.
As science and technology continue to advance at a rapid pace, the people of this generation and the next will have to think about death less and less. People are living longer then they used to every year. And it seems like there are new pills or treatments for a whole host of sicknesses everyday.
Seriously, take a look at your grandparents’ medicine cabinet sometime. They’ve got more pills than Bobby Brown! All of these, in one way or the other, are designed to prolong life.
We’re a nation of hypochondriacs and we pay out the nose for our medicine. The pharmaceutical companies in America are some of the richest and most influential corporations in the world.
We’ve all seen the ridiculous commercials where they rattle off a list of semi-symptoms and then present the solution in capsule form. “Have you ever felt sad at any point in your life? Then emotion-be-gone is the pill for you! You’ll never feel anything ever again!”
These companies play off of our insecurities. We want to be normal like everyone else, so we take the medicine to make it so. We’re afraid of death, and so we prolong life as long as possible rather than succumb to what we know to be inevitable.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that your grandparents should stop taking the medicine that they need. I believe in getting as much out of life as possible. I just think that our country — and even the whole world to an extent — has an unhealthy obsession with medicine, ironic as it may be.
We have pills for colds, coughs, allergy pills, headaches (nighttime and daytime, extra-strength and regular), migraines, memory, indigestion, heartburn, pills that make you smarter, pain-killing pills, morning-after pills, birth control pills, diet pills, blood pressure medication, antibiotics and a whole slew of pills designed for specific problems like diseases, infections, illnesses and conditions. The pharmacy is like a freaking candy store for adults.
In some cultures, older people are looked upon as wise and are respected. Our moms try as hard as they can not to look and feel old. They inject their faces with Botox and get plastic surgery to fit the physical mold of what society deems acceptable. Our dads use Rogaine to stop balding, or dye their hair to avoid grayness. Because if they look old, that means they must be getting old, and that for some reason, is bad.
Why? Why don’t we let nature run its course? I for one don’t want to live forever. That would be awful. Think about it. The daily grind must get old after a while. It’s like the end of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. There were like fifteen different endings! Just stop and be done with it already!
We’re so focused on death that we forget to live. People need to remember that in the end, no matter what happens, we all end up in the ground anyway. Everyone’s so uptight about death.
One of my friends told me “Life sucks, then you die.” I don’t think that’s really a suicidal notion. It just means to take everything with a grain of salt.
So when David Copperfield’s Magic Voodoo Water shows up on the shelves of your neighborhood grocery store, I won’t be buying it. Thanks, but no thanks Mr. Copperfield, I’m perfectly comfortable with my own mortality.
Do you think there’s a pill to fix that?
Justin Marble, a freshman in the College of Communication , is a weekly columnist for The Daily Free Press. He can be reached at [email protected].