bright lights
so i watched a fascinating documentary (if you want to call it that) last night on a certain influential cable network that followed four young people from the midwest as they pursued their dreams to move to new york city. their individual stories were provocative (well, at least more provocative than say the premiere episode of four kings) and held my attention, invoking various emotions and inevitable comparisons to my own journey.
the first girl was an obnoxious, spoiled, 22 year-old brat, who apparently woke up one day and decided "i want to live in new york" and thus her parents made it happen, everything, from job interviews through family connections, to paying half her rent, (which quickly became 75%, plus her utility bills). any money she actually earned went right to clothes, and anything she couldn't afford went on her parents' credit cards. (don't worry, at the end of the show we were notified that her parents have "threatened" to take them away). those who know me might be crying "hypocrite" at this point, and i am not pretending that i did not remain here after graduation without some help from my parents, but those who know me better also know that once employed, I committed 100% of my income to my rent and expenses, and now assume complete financial independence, as i have for quite some time.
it is not the fact that she is supported by her parents that bothers me as much as her general attitude and demeanor towards the entire process. indifferent and unappreciative, she clearly wants nothing more than to impress her sorority sisters from missouri with her best carrie bradshaw imitation, when in fact her real m.o. is that of gretchen weiners, and no amount of shopping sprees at big drop will ever change that.
the second tale of woe followed a corn-fed 19 year-old guy who was told he looked like a model, and decided, huh, he might as well try to be one. so he did some test-shots, and somehow got signed by a new york based agency, and eventually decided to move to the city to attempt a real career in the business. yet another case of having every opportunity--an agent, free housing, an "allowance"--and yet was so lazy and unintelligent that he literally slept through casting calls, couldn't fathom the energy or the drive to complete a passport application to travel internationally, and left an accumulation of parking violations and a subsequent bench warrant waiting for him back home. needless to say, he blew it. at least karma was kind enough to send him packing.
the problem with "jack and jill" is that they went up the wrong hill...for all the wrong reasons.
the final story followed a girl and a guy, gay best friends, who were willing to do anything to get out of suburbia and into the big apple. they painted addresses on curbs for small donations, $5 at a time. they didn't have college degrees. they saved every cent (literally), and eventually made the big move. they rejoiced at winning the lease on a cheap railroad apartment in a bad part of brooklyn. to make rent, they both took low-paying jobs, the best they could get, and spent most of the time the cameras spent with them working, and rarely together. but, at the end of the day, they were living their dream despite the odds, and couldn't be happier.
it may seem trite, but i found their determination inspiring. i have many friends and acquaintances here, most of them privileged in one way or another, and i know few who have struggled (or skrugggled) to get where they are. but, in all of them, i have seen sacrifice, ambition, and appreciation along the way, and it is the drive of those people who want and deserve to be here that gives the city its famous heartbeat. we all walk the streets together--unfathomable extremes of wealth and poverty--ride the same trains, sit in the same parks, live on the same blocks, and have no idea what kind of car the other can afford, and we don't really care. "we are one, but we're not the same." and that is why we are here.
the first girl was an obnoxious, spoiled, 22 year-old brat, who apparently woke up one day and decided "i want to live in new york" and thus her parents made it happen, everything, from job interviews through family connections, to paying half her rent, (which quickly became 75%, plus her utility bills). any money she actually earned went right to clothes, and anything she couldn't afford went on her parents' credit cards. (don't worry, at the end of the show we were notified that her parents have "threatened" to take them away). those who know me might be crying "hypocrite" at this point, and i am not pretending that i did not remain here after graduation without some help from my parents, but those who know me better also know that once employed, I committed 100% of my income to my rent and expenses, and now assume complete financial independence, as i have for quite some time.
it is not the fact that she is supported by her parents that bothers me as much as her general attitude and demeanor towards the entire process. indifferent and unappreciative, she clearly wants nothing more than to impress her sorority sisters from missouri with her best carrie bradshaw imitation, when in fact her real m.o. is that of gretchen weiners, and no amount of shopping sprees at big drop will ever change that.
the second tale of woe followed a corn-fed 19 year-old guy who was told he looked like a model, and decided, huh, he might as well try to be one. so he did some test-shots, and somehow got signed by a new york based agency, and eventually decided to move to the city to attempt a real career in the business. yet another case of having every opportunity--an agent, free housing, an "allowance"--and yet was so lazy and unintelligent that he literally slept through casting calls, couldn't fathom the energy or the drive to complete a passport application to travel internationally, and left an accumulation of parking violations and a subsequent bench warrant waiting for him back home. needless to say, he blew it. at least karma was kind enough to send him packing.
the problem with "jack and jill" is that they went up the wrong hill...for all the wrong reasons.
the final story followed a girl and a guy, gay best friends, who were willing to do anything to get out of suburbia and into the big apple. they painted addresses on curbs for small donations, $5 at a time. they didn't have college degrees. they saved every cent (literally), and eventually made the big move. they rejoiced at winning the lease on a cheap railroad apartment in a bad part of brooklyn. to make rent, they both took low-paying jobs, the best they could get, and spent most of the time the cameras spent with them working, and rarely together. but, at the end of the day, they were living their dream despite the odds, and couldn't be happier.
it may seem trite, but i found their determination inspiring. i have many friends and acquaintances here, most of them privileged in one way or another, and i know few who have struggled (or skrugggled) to get where they are. but, in all of them, i have seen sacrifice, ambition, and appreciation along the way, and it is the drive of those people who want and deserve to be here that gives the city its famous heartbeat. we all walk the streets together--unfathomable extremes of wealth and poverty--ride the same trains, sit in the same parks, live on the same blocks, and have no idea what kind of car the other can afford, and we don't really care. "we are one, but we're not the same." and that is why we are here.
posted by mark at 2:03 PM
4 Comments:
Actually, I enjoyed the premiere of four kings, thank you very much. Give me a sitcom with a PLOT over a reality tv show any day!
And give me a funny, one hour drama full of angst (with PLOT) over a sitcom any day!
Don't you love how I just latch on to one little thing in the entire blog?
haha, okay, in retrospect it does appear that i was overly harsh to "four kings", which wasn't really my intent. actually, i did enjoy it, as far as new sitcoms go (especially sitcoms in the recent past). it's not "will & grace" (which, btw, had one of the funniest episodes all season this week), but it's better than "joey" and "how i met your mother", and whatever other sitcoms have somehow managed to make it past 5 episodes in this post-reality world. i do hope four kings succeeds. without will & grace next season, i really don't know if there will be any sitcoms to watch, and that would be a sad state of affairs!
(but i agree with you about a smart, witty dramedy being the best entertainment on television)
Will and Grace WAS hi-larious this week! I don't even watch it anymore, generally (Thursday is just not a TV night for me), but I'm so glad I did. I could not stop laughing at all the Sound of Music stuff!
you write beautifully.
-mb
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