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| Author | Topic: Glasses & Gurus |
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ripley123
Registered User
Registered:
11/8/2011 | posted: 12/28/2011 at 12:45:00 PM ET
Has anyone ever read this old interview? http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19760220&id=LEk0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=LWcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5015,1616616
Having experienced Southern California in the 70s and 80s, I am not even fazed by the idea of her seeing a "holy man". Basically everyone was seeing psychics and gurus and having various readings and what-not. But I was kind of alarmed when I put together that she was out there in Los Angeles, a fairly new DRIVER, and had come to the conclusion that she no longer needed glasses! I was embarrassingly persuaded of the same thing in my 20s (I guess it's an easy path to a young lady's mind, convince her she can put those yucky old glasses away, who wouldn't want to believe it?) until one day, driving home in the rain, I didn't quite see an exit sign in time, and so to make it I pulled over abruptly, and started spinning out of control. I was headed for a concrete wall at one point and I closed my eyes, but instead of a crash there was a bump, and I ended up with the car stopped up over the road on some grass with just a bent axle and not a scratch on me. I decided that was a sign from that I needed to wear glasses when I drove! Anyway, I am just not only obviously glad that nothing bad happened to me (except a repair bill), I am super glad that Bernadette never was harmed by that bad advice either.
And younger readers who wear glasses, if you're ever persuaded that you have been spiritually healed from needing glasses (I was not the only one in my group who was told this, by the way. There was a handful of us driving around in total oblivion to what we were failing to see), whatever you do, keep wearing them to drive, just to be safe!
|  Jennifer
Registered User
Registered:
7/12/2010
From:
CA | posted: 12/28/2011 at 1:20:52 PM ET
What a great find! That was a great article. Thanks for posting. : )
She still wears glasses to see things at a distance. She must see everything a little blurry depending on how bad her vision is.
At the end of the Kennedy Center video when people start asking question she puts them on.
http://www.Kennedy-Center.org/explorer/videos/?id=a73857
around 38:38 she slips them on.
I have been told this too and actually stopped wearing my glasses for a bit, but went back to wearing them so I wasn't constantly squinting.
| ripley123
Registered User
Registered:
11/8/2011 | posted: 12/28/2011 at 2:11:45 PM ET
I think it's unlikely that she ever stopped needing them for distance. She needed them before that, and only a few years later she's wearing them for the Song and Dance recording sessions (and to see music when you are stepped back from a stand, or see a conductor or people in a recording booth, you do need glasses if you're at all near-sighted). There have been some other discussions on these boards and it seems that the consensus was that she needs glasses for distance vision. She's said that she's very near-sighted, although where she has been photographed with glasses, they don't look like strong glasses (I know because mine are not strong and my husband's are). But I also know that in that moment when you really want to see something and you just can't figure it out from the blur, you can feel VERY near-sighted!
Yes, I saw the video...she does a double-take, too, she starts reaching for her glasses, then she looks back out one more time like, "Am I SURE I need them? ...mmm, yep." and then she gets them and puts them on. I think she is totally cute with them, but I know hearing that doesn't help if you feel awkward about them!
|  AMH
Registered User
Registered:
11/7/2011
From:
North Carolina | posted: 12/28/2011 at 5:40:09 PM ET
Thanks for posting! Glad you were unharmed in the accident, Ripley.
I like reading old articles of Bernadette. The part about her encounter with the holy man is really interesting. I had no idea seeing psychics and gurus was a big thing back then.
Knowing what I do about Bernadette, it kind of surprises me that she was persuaded not to wear her glasses. However, I'm fortunate in that I don't need glasses, so I don't know what making that decision is like.
Bernadette looks great, with or without her glasses, but it is fun to see her wear them. I wonder how much she can see on stage without them.
| ripley123
Registered User
Registered:
11/8/2011 | posted: 12/28/2011 at 7:33:37 PM ET
AMH: I don’t know BPs prescription, but I’m in the category of “people who need glasses but can get by without them in many situations”, so I’ll explain how that works for me. I have mild astigmatism and mild near-sightedness, which together are enough that I can see like everyone else, that there are things, signs, cars, people, whatever. What I can’t tell, from very far away are what the sign says, what type of car it is, what someone’s facial expression is. Also, I can go to a play or a movie and unless I’m so far away I’d use opera glasses anyway, I can tell what’s going on and can talk myself into thinking I can see fine, but then if I put my glasses on it’s just much sharper and so much less work.
When I perform, I can see bodies in the audience but can’t recognize my friends or own husband in the front row unless I know for a fact where they are sitting. On a stage, I can see the whole set, but let’s say I am stage right and I am going to have to pick up a knife from a table stage left. If somebody put a pair of scissors there instead of a knife, I’m not going to know until I’m almost there. I know who is on stage with me and what they are doing. I don’t usually rehearse with glasses but I usually look at the stage set up with glasses at some point.. When I get offstage it's an issue. The adjustment to different lighting plus the blur means if I have to get somewhere fast in the dark, I need help from someone to find my way around because it’s all black for a minute or two. I might as well close my eyes, no exaggeration. I have a lot of problems seeing in the dark backstage and usually make sure somebody knows I can’t really make out anything and need help. Anyway, I know nobody cares about my vision particularly but Bernadette’s should be somewhere in that ballpark. I thought about it when I read that she plowed into and fell over a chair at one of her Follies exits. I would never see a chair in the way backstage.
| AMH
Registered User
Registered:
11/7/2011
From:
North Carolina | posted: 12/28/2011 at 8:58:34 PM ET
Ripley, is it common practice for performers who require glasses (and can't wear them while performing) to not wear contact lenses on stage instead? Or does it just depend on the person? Please excuse me if this is a silly question, but it came to mind as I was reading your post.
| ripley123
Registered User
Registered:
11/8/2011 | posted: 12/28/2011 at 10:29:02 PM ET
It is not silly at all! Most people do wear contacts on stage if they can. I am sure most people you see perform are wearing contacts. It doesn't work for me to wear contacts because my eyes get too easily irritated for hard lenses due to allergies, and also if I cry the make-up burns like you would not believe. And for soft lenses, they don't help with my astigmatism. They do make softs that work for astigmatism but my eyes aren't distorted enough to hold them so they would twist and make it worse. They only really work for people who have bad enough astigmatism that they cannot get by at all without glasses. They also might bother me with allergies and make-up/tears. Don't know, haven't tried 'em cause they wouldn't work in the first place. I really wish I could wear contacts! Some people just can't, and have to wear glasses if they want to see clearly, period.
Again, don't know for sure why BP doesn't wear contacts when she can't wear glasses, but it could be any combo of those reasons or some completely different ones I never thought of. It does seem like it's not an option for her though, for whatever reason. We know she could afford them!
| AMH
Registered User
Registered:
11/7/2011
From:
North Carolina | posted: 12/29/2011 at 12:06:34 AM ET
I've certainly learned a lot tonight about glasses, contacts, and astigmatism. 
I didn't think about factoring in the stage make-up with the contacts. I imagine that would be kind of painful with tears.
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