Outside Reading Assignment Essay
Outside Reading Assignment Essay
Confessions of Chuck Barris' Dangerous Mind
In Chuck Barris� autobiography, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, he thoroughly tells the unusual story of his life. Chuck Barris was a national celebrity during the mid 1900,�s thanks to his success in producing famous game shows such as The Dating Game, and the Newlywed Game. Also, along with his flourishing career in television, Barris began a second career working as a hit man for the CIA. In his story, Barris discusses how he lived his double life, and while living this life it led to his depression, but it ultimately led to his happiness.
In the beginning of his story, Barris discuss� what his life was like during the 1950s, before he got involved with his careers in the CIA and television. Barris talks about how he was a normal hardworking kid who just wanted something more out of his life. He was fresh out of college, and used to work in Pennsylvania in everyday jobs that consisted of manual labor. He talks about how he had fallen for many different girls, some of which broke his heart, and others tried to make him believe they were pregnant. Eventually by 1963, Barris had found himself out of work for about eight months, either because he couldn�t hold a job or because he didn�t like his job, and he was running out of money to pay his rent. Barris found himself in a desperate situation, and was searching for something new and exciting to add to his life. Eventually, one day he was looking in the paper and he found an add searching for a college graduate who was willing to travel. Barris saw this as an opportunity and followed up on it right away by setting up an interview without even knowing what the job was for. When Barris arrived for the interview he was a little tentative toward rushing into it because, he really had no idea what he was getting himself into. Eventually he decided to go for it, and when his interview began he discovered that it was to join the CIA. Barris was a little reluctant at first during his interview and was very colloquial with his answers to the questions he was being asked. He made up many of answers to what he thought would please the interviewers. �How do you get along with your sisters?� asked the interviewer. Barris, �ok,� �which was a lie, we never got along. I got along better with my sister�s friends then with my sister� (21). Eventually Barris received the job, and started a career as a hit man for the CIA.
Barris began his career in March 17, 1965. He started off slow, going on small missions that didn�t consist of any assassinations, but he was excited none the less. Barris was ecstatic about his new career, and was so happy that he now had something meaningful in his life. Before Barris� first mission, on his way to his briefing, he stated �I walked past the Cathedral and crossed myself. I said thank you, God. I was a very happy boy� (28). After Barris� first few unimportant missions that he found to be somewhat boring, Barris finally went on a mission that really got him involved in the main �circle of the CIA.� Barris was frightened at first because it was the first time he was going to assist in assassinating someone. He was in Europe and was about to actually partake in taking the life of someone he didn�t even know. After a few days of planning and a bit of confusion, Barris with the help of his team completed the mission, and after that he had much more confidence in his work. Barris quickly moved up the ranks, and eventually became one of the top hit men for the CIA. For the first few years Barris was doing something that he loved. He developed many new very dear friends, as well as new romances. Eventually, in 1978, Barris was honored by his superior officers in the CIA for outstanding service, and received a medal and a presidential citation commemorating his work. Eventually Barris was so comfortable with his job, that he found himself having time to try to accomplish other things that he had always wanted to do.
While Barris was working for the CIA, he started his career in television. During Barris� beginning years in the agency he spent some of his time coming up with ideas for television shows, and eventually he hit it big with an idea for a show called �The Dating Game.� Barris� show became a huge success, and it ignited the creation of Barris� empire in television productions. Over the next few decades Barris came up with many new show ideas, some that were successful and some that were not. Barris� new career once again brought a new sense of happiness into his life. As a result of Barris� success in television he became very wealthy and happier than ever. He began living a luxurious lifestyle that brought along with it new friends and many new girls. He bought new cars went to fancy restaurants, picked up tabs, and partied all the time. �I made more money that year than my entire family had in all their collective lives. As a result, my lifestyle changed drastically� (101). Barris had become a celebrity as a result of �The Gong Show,� in which he was the host, and with it brought along special celebrity treatment and respect. Also as a result of his game shows, Barris was able to use his traveling to foreign countries to scope out potential prize vacation locations as a cover to go carry out missions for the CIA. He was killing two birds with one stone.
Although Barris seemed like he was greatly enjoying his careers in the CIA and television, they both brought along with them some hardships. After many years Barris began to grow tired of traveling all the time and going and assassinating people for the CIA. Also, as a result of one of his missions Barris became wanted on the list of many very important Russian federal agents, and was forced to live his life in fear for a certain amount of time. He survived an assassination attempt in his own office in LA, and at that point he wanted out of the CIA. As well as Barris being on hit lists, the members of his teams who were also his close friends were on these lists as well, and as a result many of them were killed. Also while working in the CIA, toward the end of his career he discovered that he and his friends had been betrayed by someone who Barris had grown very close to and had strong feelings for, named Patricia Watson. She was responsible for his friends� deaths, and this devastating for Barris. �Watson the F****** mole. Watson the traitor, the plotter, the killer� (231).
Along with his unhappiness with the CIA, Barris also experienced some hardships with his career in television. To maintain the production of successful televisions shows, Barris had to deal with all kinds of problems resulting form the production. He dealt with problems with the game show contestants, coming up with new ideas, ratings, and other crazy fans who used the show to create mischief. For example one person said he was a recruiter for the dating game, luring young girls to come meet him and when they did he would rape them. Eventually Barris caught the guy. Another major problem that resulted was that in one week, four of his shows were all cancelled at the same time. This brought Barris into a state of depression on which he didn�t leave his house for about a month. Also along with the problems with the productions, Barris began to grow tired of his fame. He found himself never to have any privacy or a moment to himself because whenever the public saw him, they would surround him and not let him breathe. This again kept Barris isolated. His fame also brought along with it criticism from the public saying that his shows were inappropriate and that he should not be allowed in the television business. Barris had a lot of trouble coping with all of this stress.
Eventually in 1981, after Barris had finally retired from the CIA, he found some happiness. Barris was still very wealthy as a result of his success in TV and therefore he decided to settle down. Barris finally married his life long companion Penny Pacino and the story ended with him being happy with his situation. He was going to start a family with Penny and planned to continue to create new television shows. Barris� double life lasted for about two decades. During this time he experienced the necessary excitements and hardships that enabled him to settle down, and for him to ultimately find his happiness.
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�Greg Novick 2006