Stoic Week 2024 1

Note for Day 1 Oct 28 Control: This is posted in observance of Stoic Week 2024. This week I will apply the Stoic orientation to the crooked thinking of fictional characters in the TV stories of the original Perry Mason (1957 - 1966). I’m open to the argument it’s silly to use a Stoic approach to look for life lessons in old genre fiction. My counter-argument is that the motives in the stories such as desire, dislike, foolishness, shamelessness, and the need for power are motives in real life just as strong in our present day as 75 years ago. Or 2000 years ago.

My Blog Posts: Day 1 Oct 28 Control | Day 2 Oct 29 Emotions | Day 3 Oct 30 Character & Virtues

The Case of the Candy Queen (Season 9, Episode 3, 1965)

Wanda’s Impressions: Wanda married at seventeen. Wanda felt jealous and hurt that her grandmother willed Wanda’s cousin Clair the candy recipe that Clair and her business partner Ed used to build a thriving confectionery company. Wanda felt bitter at being relegated to the role of Clair’s assistant. Wanda deplored Clair’s decision to can Wanda's crush Ed and replace him with Clair’s worthless gambler of a boyfriend. In court Wanda, under the influence of gobs of sugar that Perry made her eat on the stand, bursts out that she hates Clair because Clair always got what she wanted while Wanda never got her rightful rewards.

Control: Wanda's frustration and hurt are understandable in the sense that they are typical impressions people feel in response to perceived unfairness. Understandable beliefs but disputable. Maybe the granny did not will the formula to Wanda for a reason usual in the Fifties & Sixties: granny assumed Wanda was financially set for life in the traditional way, supported by a husband. No law requires last wills to be just. Granny did not have to be fair in her testament; it was her estate to disburse as she saw fit.

And Wanda would do well to get over "all or nothing" beliefs that are making her unhappy. No, Clair doesn't always get what she wants because nobody always gets what they want (just look at Clair’s poker zombie of a boyfriend). It's not true that Wanda never gets what she wants because nobody loses all the time.

Wanda had better not dwell on her pain at life allegedly dealing her a bad hand. Make a good marriage. Raise wonderful kids. Play with a golden retriever. Volunteer. A thousand things she can do, meaningful and ordinary, once she stops ruminating about allegedly missing out in the candy business.