Where in the world is Radio?

I missed this film when it was released and happened to watch it recently. I was so impressed with this wonderful, feel-good journey that I decided to pay a visit to Radio's hometown of Anderson. After all, it's only a 30-minute drive (give or take, depending on how many of South Carolina's finiest are out on the job) from Greenville on I-85 South. So I got online and did a quick search for Anderson's visitor center. I saw a few things that interested me and planned my trip out there.

First stop was the Anderson County Museum. Outside was this marker for a prominent community member back in the day. Inside was a whole host of items going back to the colonial days. I was very impressed to see what was claimed to be General Andrew Pickens's sword. (For those of you not in the know, Andrew Pickens led the rebel forces here in South Carolina, where more Revolutionary War battles were fought than in any other state. He's a total patriot.) There was tons of other stuff, from the totally mundane to the uniquely fascinating. And everything was from the local area. For some reason I was impressed with their education display, showing yearbooks from almost the past 100 years. I was also impressed with the textile exhibit which showed a real cotton gin (yeah, I know, I can't help it -- I'm an engineer). Next stop was the firehouse which had a special wing reserved as a museum of old fire fighting equipment. The place was closed, so all I got was the window tour, which only left me wanting more. Guess I'll have to come back another day for that one.

I found my way into the arts center, which is integrated into the vistor's center office. I have always struggled with the visual arts because I see what looks not too different from the messes I made in kindergarten earning some "ar-tiste" tons of money and I never got a penny for my work. And don't tell me my work didn't have passion. Anywho, what I saw in this museum in Anderson was what I call deomcratic art. This is art of the people because the people can connect to it, as opposed to elitist art, which is designed to serve as a marker for membership in an elite group who are the only ones who can "comprehend" and "appreciate" what is "real art." I did see a little of that elitist art in the museum. But the vast majority was democratic. I could connect to it. I was most impressed with oil paintings that looked like photographs. I kid you not!

I saved the best for last. The website for the vistor's center showed a statue of James "Radio" Kennedy erected in front of T.L. Hanna High School, and so since the film had inspired me to visit Anderson, I saw it only fitting to visit the statue. The picture here is from their website.

The high school itself looks very different from what was seen in the film. No surprises there. But the statue was nowhere to be seen. The campus itself is very small. I looked out front and even drove around back and saw nothing! What the holy Hebrew hay is this? At first I felt cheated. That vistor's center website got me all pumped up with this statue when the truth was it was all a scam! Then after I satisfied my tummy and settled down a bit, I got to thinking. There was a lot of graffiti on the road that runs right next to the high school -- you know, stupid stuff like "Joe loves Betty" and "Bubba was here '07". Maybe the statue was there at one time and then removed to protect it from vandalism -- or to protect it from further vandalism. I'm surprised that the local community doesn't try to profit from such a turn of events. They could make this board game called Where in the World is Radio? in which you take a jaunt around historic and scenic Anderson looking for Radio. You get to learn a little history and local lore while you are entertained. And the best part is that people like me could repeat what they did in real life without having all the extra expenses. Just kidding.

Seriously, though, I was a little disappointed not to see the statue there. The story behind Radio is one that both promotes the family as the premiere social institution while at the same time breaking ground for the place of disabled persons (for lack of a better term -- I used all my wordsmithing skills for my employer today, so sue me) in our society. If such a story can make it easier for people to accept and relate to disabled persons as real human beings, then that is a good thing. And with the imperfections that all of us have, we are each "disabled" in our own way. I guess I just liked to celebrate the film's celebration of humanity, of the common need we all have to love and to be loved. And I guess that is why I was disappointed not to see the statue, because in the context of the film that statue was for me the monument erected by the local community to that shared humanity. Well, at least I can say that I enjoyed the journey.