Milestones Can Be Sneaky
By Ryan McCrary

KALAMA, Wash. – Milestones have a way of sneaking up on you. If you’re lucky you get a heads up from a friend or relative or you get a calendar alert. Something to soften the blow and allow you time to buy a last minute gift or at least get mentally prepared. In this case I didn’t get any of these.  

You’ve probably already put the dots together. “White Men Can’t Jump” was released 30 years ago this week. I know. I couldn’t believe it either. The way I found out was jarring. I was scrolling Instagram and I saw a post celebrating the WMCJ anniversary on, wait for it… the AARP account. In the words of my 18-year old niece, I felt attacked.

Thirty years ago this week I was a high school senior. I was years away from sending my first email. Phones had cords on them. I won’t clutter your minds with what the price for gas was, but “To Be With You” by Mr. Big was the No.1 song in the country. I saw White Men Can’t Jump three times in the theater with my buddies. I couldn’t take my eyes off of Woody Harrelson (and, of course, Rosie Perez). 

At the time, Woody was starring as the resident country bumpkin turned Boston bartender on Cheers – one of the best sit-coms ever made. WMCJ was his first starring role in a hit movie, but he recognized that in order to avoid being typecast he would have to reinvent himself over and over again. 

What followed was a truly stunning run in the 1990s, which included playing a serial killer (Natural Born Killers), a one-handed bowler (Kingpin) and a grizzled WWII sergeant (Thin Red Line). In 1996, Harrelson won his first of three Oscars for his role in “The People vs. Larry Flynt”.

Not one of the roles had any resemblance to the other. From comedic, to the darkest depths of pathos the man who spent 200 episodes starring as a fish out of water Iowa farm boy behind the bar was fearless in selecting roles and developing his skills as an actor. 

What inspires me is that in the last six years his roles have included an American president (LBJ), an iconic war hero (Midway), a zombie slayer (Zombieland) and another Oscar win (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri). 

Reinvention can be scary, but so rewarding. I am looking forward to my next chapter and I am preparing for it daily. In honor of the anniversary, I think I’ll get some shots up, too… just in case.

QUOTABLE: Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. – George Bernard Shaw