Just get it right!!!

This afternoon while watching my favorite afternoon soap opera, "General Hospital", several things occurred on the screen before me that had me yelling like a boob at the boob tube," Gentleman, Ladies, can you just get it right?"

Now some people may say that I overreact to what to me are obvious errors on the part of play directors, film crews and others who make what I consider to be bone-headed errors.  I actually sat thorough the ill-fated Broadway musical based on "Saturday Night Fever", that showed two main characters dancing under what was supposed to be the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, except for one glaring error: it had a train chugging over it.  Now, if this show was playing in Iowa, it would make no mind that this error existed, but it had many of us in the audience shaking our heads in disbelief that this blatant mistake happened in the city where said bridge actually was situated, and engineering -wise, could not have a train on it due to its design which mimics the curvature of the earth.

Or when I sat wiping away the tears as Oliver and Jenny rush out of Central Park on the way to the hospital where we all know she will die in the film version of "A Love Story."  Oliver raises his arm to hail down a cab, and one stops immediately. "Oh, yeah", said my soon-to-be spouse, "Like that can really happen." Every guy in the movie theater burst out laughing at his cogent New York observation.

Yesterday during a commercial for medical  insurance, a family is visiting Philadelphia when the father announces, "Here we are in the first capital of the United States."  What?  What I thought to myself.  I am pretty sure New York City was the first capital of the United States.  George Washington took the oath of office on the steps of Federal Hall near on Wall Street.  There is a statue there commemorating that event. I am now shaking my head. I don't think I would buy any kind of insurance from a company that does not check its facts before making a commercial with such a blatant error.

But that is not the thing that stuck in my craw that day.  It was the hot melting mess of a wedding ceremony on GH. Never mind that there is a mob shoot out about to go down during the nuptials, the vestments are all wrong.

Now, I know that most people would not know there is a protocol for religious attire, but  they would know that one would not be wearing pajamas to a business meeting.  And so Christian clergy have special clothes for special occasions as well, and there is a  certain order of what one dons to each event.

Alb and chasuble

Vestments worn by liturgical centered clerics like Roman Catholic, Episcopal and Lutheran ordained folk, are based on everyday clothing of ancient Rome.  At the celebration that includes a Eucharist, the presider wears an alb ( long white robe), a stole indicating their office and a chasuble if she/he is the priest/pastor, and an alb, stole and dalmatic if he/she is a deacon.  These vestments are in different colors depending on the time of year and the reason for the celebration. During Lent, most of these vestments are purple; for Pentecost, red is the color; green is for what is called "Ordinary Time". And white is for celebrations such as weddings, baptisms and funerals (black is seldom if never used anymore, resulting in many, many black vestment sets being offered on E-Bay).  Oh, there is no mix and match in liturgical vestments; the colors matter and one does not swap out different stole colors for the heck of it.

If a wedding is being performed, and there is no Eucharist, the officiant wears what is referred to as "choir attire" black cassock ( long black robe with a long row of buttons on the front), cassock and white stole or tippet (another scarf-like vestment that indicates the person is licensed to preach).
I guess you are wondering why I was so annoyed at the obvious...at least to me...screw up on the set when the "priest" came out to officiate at the wedding in a black cassock, white chasuble and red stole! Just wrong, wrong, wrong on many levels. Cassock...okay, I grant you a pass on that one. Red at a wedding??? I don't think so.  White chasuble and no Eucharist....no can do. This obvious oblivion to liturgical fashion faux pas annoyed me more than the fact that I knew his wedding ceremony was not going to end happily....this is a soap opera, after all.

Choir Attire

Perhaps I should get a resume together and offer my services as fashion consultant for all things clergy on daytime television; I could be a contender, a "clerical consultant".