Off Topic
February, 2056 - Sitting in a coffee shop and being interviewed for promotion of her new film Hanging Overhead, a psychological thriller based on the bestselling book of the same title, pop star Mikki Manning took a moment to give her thoughts about recent comments made by aging Yellow Springs centerfielder Arvin Duggan, who suggested that he and Manning were attempting to hook up.
“It’s kind of a sad thing,” Manning said. “You know? I mean. It’s just more of the same thing. Young kids trying to prove their manhood by saying the bagged a star. It’s been done before. I mean, it never ends, does it? Just like there’s always someone trying to tell you you’re not productive enough, or not artist enough.
“What are you going to do, though?
“I could drop everything and go to court or try to take some other kind of action, but all that does it take six months out of my life, and you know, with the film and then the album and tour, managing the renovations back on my island, and keeping all the other things in my life moving forward, I've got a few things going on. So it’s just not worth it. There’s always another testosterone-filled kid coming along, so, really, I’d rather focus on who I am and what I’m doing. Lucas and I are great, and always have been. Maybe some of that is because he’s been in the environment and understands how it works, but mostly it’s because we both know who we are.
“But, you know, it’s sad. This is 2056 and we still have boys in the game who can’t treat women with respect. I suppose it’s not that surprising. I mean, the country is still only 40 years past putting a convicted rapist in the White House, and a credibly accused one on the Supreme Court—not to mention a sexual harasser there, earlier. And even after the whole #metoo thing and the reversal of the reversal of Roe v Wade, the game itself is still dealing with a steady stream of domestic violence incidents, and we’ve got a female pitcher in the league who we all know can play at the bigs who is being consistently derided.
“You just wonder how long it will take for the world to really hold young men accountable for these kinds of things.
“Is it ever going to happen?
“And, beyond that, I mean, why?
"Right?
"What in the world would have been in it for me to get together with Arvin Duggan?
“Have you seen the worlds I run around in? Have you seen (her recent co-star) Taylor Swansen? Do you think that, if I actually wanted a quick roll in the sack and to fool around on Lucas, I couldn’t pull a better-looking, more interesting man than an apparently alcoholic Arvin Duggan who we can now maybe, kind of, figure out why he’s been divorced twice?
“I’m forty-six years old, and I’m too busy working on my next album and my next tour to care, you know? I'm lucky to be in this kind of position that I can take that approach. Duggan can't hurt me. But I do wonder what these people think of themselves when they look in the mirror, and I do wish that folks would just stop and ask themselves what it will take to fix society to make this kind of thing stop happening. Because not every little girl can take solace in being in this kind of a secure place, and the next woman a dumb ass drunken center fielder accosts might be your wife or your daughter.”
Manning sat back and sighed.
“So,” she said with a warm smile. “About the film…”
