Chuck

Being somewhat entertainment-challenged in Battambang, many of the foreign inhabitants take to watching countless downloaded movies and t.v. series. One of these is Chuck. Chuck is a great show about a nerd who accidentally integrates visually-coded government secrets into his brain. He later “flashes” (remembers the specific info) when he sees relevant items, faces, or images. The premise then, is that the government’s own computer is destroyed, and they have to rely on chuck for all their information...he has a two CIA agents who watch over him, one sexy lady, and one tough-guy. He continues to work as the head of the “nerd-herd” at a buy-more store, with highly entertaining crossover between his nerd-life and his secret-agent-life.

The show is either immensely entertaining, or the slow pace of battambang has already warped my idea of fun..or both!

But this is not why I’m writing about the show. Chuck and I, believe it or not, have much in common. Chuck is kind of like a Baha’i. You see, Baha’is, well, North American Baha’is (for the most part), tend to be a little shy about telling people about their beliefs, or talking about what they do as Baha’s in general. This is not because they do anything illicit (or even bearing a resemblance to secret), but rather they don’t think people will understand what they do, say, or believe. Chuck, poor guy, finds himself in several situations where he opts to give a reasonable explanation of events which fail to mention the real, spy-related reasons. I dunno, just hit me when I was thinking about the show.


In some episodes, he desperately wants to tell someone about his ‘spy-life’, but must refrain from revealing the secret, for his,and that person’s safety. This is kind of like the situation of Bahai’s in Iran or Egypt...there is such hatred against the faith, that it’s hard to gauge who you can safely divulge your “secret” baha’i life too, since it may affect your safety, or if they accept the faith, potentially theirs. Maybe this one was a stretch, but hey, whatevs.

Also, chuck and I are nerds...yeah, that's kinda where the similarities end. The show’s sweet though...you really find yourself rooting for him to get the secret agent...and the show's writers know it, and mess with you so bad. God, how did I get emotionally involved in a t.v. show?

p.s. Mr.Duly, how’s the quality of this post...and the blog in general? see you on friday.