Two days ago, Siamese twins conjoined at the head underwent surgery to be separated and died as a result of complications during the lengthy operation. The world mourned, as the twins were supposedly a symbol of inspiration and endurance. Well, I have a theory: Those twins didn't even like each other. In fact, they couldn't stand each other. And the bossy one forced the other one into an operation that she knew would probably kill her. In fact, they were both willing to die, rather than be together, which tells you something.
All of this reminds me that most people naturally separate from their parents and siblings at some point, and the lucky among us manage to do so while remaining friends with the folks we started life with. The rest of us die little deaths, doomed to spend the rest of our lives working out the issues that were never worked out at home.
I've been thinking what a great made-for-tv movie this is all gonna make - set not in Iran, of course, since we don't really like the Middle East right now, but set in America. And who better to star as the twins than America's twin sweethearts, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen? The only question is, will they tell the truth, or some whitewashed version?
Read the stories: Siamese Twins Die
Twins Want Separation
Twins Father Claims Girls Were Duped
In today's LA Times columnist Al Martinez writes on "It isn't easy making sense of our selective senistivities", where he questions our tendency to be compassionate to individuals, like the Bijani sisters, but murderous towards the masses.