By FR. JEROME ROMANOWSKI
(Editor’s Note: Fr. Romanowski is a priest of the Diocese of Camden, N.J.)
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He always gets his man or woman. Art imitates life. “Columbo” is the fictitious character played by Peter Falk, the famous actor of many films. Falk is now deceased, but he always will remain “Columbo,” the plain, disheveled detective who lived a simple, good life inside and outside of his solving sinister crimes.
He was always pitted against the famous who thought they could get away with murder because they felt that they were either smarter or more privileged than the rest of mankind — or humankind, if you prefer.
It was Columbo’s personality that captured the imagination and soul of the public, and which made the two-hour dramas as applicable in the 1970s as they are now in the 2010s. He became a pest to the successful, even those who were not the culprits, but who thought or think they know better than the one who cared not for titles or positions of authority.
Other authors used the same technique, like G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown, who was the “Columbo” of the priesthood, and the many versions of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, who used their women’s intuition to nail the sly perpetrator of evil.
There are always subtle indications throughout these tales of something very wholesome about the hero’s or heroine’s life outside of their involvement in bringing the evil perpetrator to justice.
Columbo always referred to his wife, whom we never see, with self-evident love. We know their marriage was always a good and faithful one, as Columbo in his conversations would refer to their daily activities, ones similar to those that we all encounter.
For example, his wife would be at a church function quite often when he mentioned her. Columbo’s eccentricities were also along the lines of everyday foils that never approached anything immoral or in bad taste.
All of this changed in our entertainment with the coming of the pornographic era, which coincided with the horror of child murder. The total breakdown came in the 1990s, when the “heroes” or “heroines” on the television screen no longer fit those healthy “Columbo” categories. There was a gradual turning away from the family values that were part of the Judeo-Christian culture that we senior citizens experienced for most of our lives.
The new “Columbos” could now be promiscuous and very worldly. No need to give examples here. If you are reading this, those examples no doubt flash in your mind’s eye.
All this came about like a hurricane during the era of the lifting of “inhibitions”; this was really a destruction of the Ten Commandments. When someone is portrayed as simply a good person, there is a depiction of God’s perfection touching our hearts.
Columbo’s humility was always refreshing — for example, his deference to those who were successful in their careers, his concern for those who have suffered tragedy in their lives, his satisfaction with the simple pleasures of life. All these were part of the message that he sent. This childlike simplicity is also the message our Lord presents to us at every moment when we recognize His omnipresence.
There is “just one more thing.” Why the title of this article? In one of the episodes, Columbo and his wife are on a luxury cruise. They won the prize in a Holy Name Society raffle.
I refer everybody to the many “Columbos” we have known throughout the years who lived that simplicity of a classic characterization of love. They are happy in Heaven now interceding for us.
How do I know? They touch my heart every time I think of them.
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