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When Things Hit You Right In the Childhood
Rolf Harris, the Austalian entertainer, passed away this week. I’m not normally one to speak ill of the dead, but he was known to have sexually abused multiple women and girls, some as young as 12.
He was known for his slapdash painting and nonsense songs…and kangaroos, which showed up in several of his songs.
I doubt as many people will be mourning him as if it hadn’t come out that he was, you know, like that.
But it reminds me of one of the most painful revelations about a celebrity I ever experienced.
His name was Jimmy Savile. And no matter what Harris may have done, Savile was worse.
Jim’ll Fix It
It wasn’t the only thing Savile did, but it’s the one that stuck in my brain.
Jim’ll Fix It ran from 1975 to 1994, with over 286 episodes. Savile came up with the idea of the show himself.
He collected wishes from people, most often children, and would then make the wish come true.
This often meant things like introducing kids to celebrities, giving kids helicopter rides, sporting events, etc. It was a reality show, but it featured smiling children (some of the fixes were apparently fake and child actors were used) getting their wishes…