It’s all over the news, and as the Jian Ghomeshi trial begins, my hands are frigid. Yours may be, too. There are so many of us who have been sexual assault victims. So many witnesses to travesties of justice. Maybe many have decided that now is a great time for a technology-free vacation in the woods somewhere.
Wait.
Some lies I have told I’m proud of and some I wish I could take back. I’ve never really been the ‘black and white’ person, to the extent where I’d question psychometrists during IQ tests… “But what if the car travelling 50km/hr was using high-octane gas?” “Do I have to count the triangle in 2-D or can I add a dimension?”…
As many readers know, I had to testify at a pretty nasty criminal trial and marvelled at the grey areas between truth and lies. There were always many ‘truths’ in the process – the evidence, the memories and the spin put forth by the lawyers. But all of these are filtered within people’s own experiences and understanding. Even the same word can mean different things to different people. Society was a certain way during the upbringing of the jury, the judge and those of us being cross-examined, and the ‘truth’ of our era is not necessarily going to be the same as it was interpreted in 1950, 1900 or 2050. So when it comes to ‘lying’, I’ve always seen 50 shades of grey.
As part of the Netflix ‘Stream Team’ I get a sneak peek of up-and-coming shows and this month my focus has been looking at shows that teach children, teens and adults about lying. As you can imagine, this has been tough for me, and has made me think of my moral compass over the past few years. Before I outline the spectacular shows available this month on Netflix, I thought I’d do a little soul-searching..
1. The Internet is down so you will have to read a book about sharks instead of watching a shark show on Youtube.
2. We’re out of bread. Want to help mommy make some from scratch?
3. I left a note for the Easter Bunny before we left so he knows our hotel and room number on Easter Sunday.
4. Can you hang this picture honey? My nails are too long to work the drill.
5. I spoke to your teacher and he asked you to do this worksheet tonight.
1. Instead of ‘I’m sick’ I should have said ‘I need a mental health day.’ It’s ok and I was just furthering the stigma. Sorry Clara Hughes.
2. I pretended that I didn’t realize someone had passed away because I didn’t send a card and donation swiftly.
3. “If you keep eating unhealthy foods and nothing else you will never grow.”
4. “You look amazing in that outfit.” (a close second to:”What a nice haircut.”)
5. I airbrushed a selfie and let judgemental, age-conscious relatives compliment me on how good I looked.
Have you told lies? Need some lessons on truth, lies and consequences? Maybe you just want to be entertained… on to the epic Netflix shows!
For the little ones on Netflix:
A bit older:
Bloodline
Just Go With It
Liar, Liar
Pretty Little Liars: Season 1 Episode 12
So if you have a hankering to chat morals with your little ones, or revisit your own life, you can take in a few of these titles… of you can just stick to House of Cards….