The "Outrage" of America (two updates in a day, oh boy!)
Yahoo users might have seen this article on their front page today, about a man on "Wife Swap" whose rude and outrageous behavior has ignited a firestorm of anger and publicity. If you're curious, go to youtube and type in "Stephen Fowler" - RDF USA is taking down the clips too fast to link to one.
A brief summary: Stephen (a British expat) and his wife live in a ritzy San Francisco neighborhood, send their kids to a bilingual private school, and seem to wear environmental t-shirts in every scene. His wife gets swapped for a woman from Missouri who likes the quintessential American things: go-karts, hot dogs, etc. Stephen immediately takes a dislike to the woman, telling her that she's ignorant and obese, and probably barely graduated high school. He pokes fun of the US Army, but says he's glad her sons are around, because they can serve in it so his kids don't have to. A quote: "“What is wrong with the United States, with the middle of the country, is that the people frankly, are just like you...... uneducated, simple, and without a clue about what's going on in the world.” He goes to say he was surprised to learn she could read, calls her a dumb redneck, and slams a door in her face.
That particular article I linked to asks why this man has generated such controversy - after all, reality tv is known for bad behavior and fighting. After watching a 9 minute clip of his behavior, I can see why, and I'm surprised no one's calling it out yet: This man is the epitome of everything the middle of the country accuses "us" of being (Yes, I'm adding to the fire by setting my Los Angeles-living self up as the "us", but few would argue that it's not seen that way).
All during the election, the Republicans singled out the Democrats as being America-hating, pacifist, intellectuals, but they didn't have a single person who embodied that persona, until now. After this Stephen Fowler thing, people who happen to live in the middle of the country, and happen to like Nascar, have a face to rail against, instead of the faceless "intelligensia." What's fascinating about this footage is how foul it makes his beliefs sound. Anyone can say "I think Americans should be better educated," and it's hard to deny that's true (education certainly isn't a bad thing), but to hear him rail against this poor woman and call her stupid makes you want to distance yourself from him as far as possible. I firmly believe in well-educated kids with extra-curricular activities, and I believe that we need to see as much of the world as possible in order to be well-rounded citizens of it, but after seeing his poor children slogging through homework and not having friends because of the demands their parents make on them, and after seeing his disdain for our country.... I don't know. I do know that that man does stand for everything I hate, speaking as a Los-Angeles dwelling 20-something who voted for Obama. If that man is "enlightened," that's not what I want to be.
For further discussion, see all my numerous "Why Can't We Get Just Along?" posts. Seriously people!
A brief summary: Stephen (a British expat) and his wife live in a ritzy San Francisco neighborhood, send their kids to a bilingual private school, and seem to wear environmental t-shirts in every scene. His wife gets swapped for a woman from Missouri who likes the quintessential American things: go-karts, hot dogs, etc. Stephen immediately takes a dislike to the woman, telling her that she's ignorant and obese, and probably barely graduated high school. He pokes fun of the US Army, but says he's glad her sons are around, because they can serve in it so his kids don't have to. A quote: "“What is wrong with the United States, with the middle of the country, is that the people frankly, are just like you...... uneducated, simple, and without a clue about what's going on in the world.” He goes to say he was surprised to learn she could read, calls her a dumb redneck, and slams a door in her face.
That particular article I linked to asks why this man has generated such controversy - after all, reality tv is known for bad behavior and fighting. After watching a 9 minute clip of his behavior, I can see why, and I'm surprised no one's calling it out yet: This man is the epitome of everything the middle of the country accuses "us" of being (Yes, I'm adding to the fire by setting my Los Angeles-living self up as the "us", but few would argue that it's not seen that way).
All during the election, the Republicans singled out the Democrats as being America-hating, pacifist, intellectuals, but they didn't have a single person who embodied that persona, until now. After this Stephen Fowler thing, people who happen to live in the middle of the country, and happen to like Nascar, have a face to rail against, instead of the faceless "intelligensia." What's fascinating about this footage is how foul it makes his beliefs sound. Anyone can say "I think Americans should be better educated," and it's hard to deny that's true (education certainly isn't a bad thing), but to hear him rail against this poor woman and call her stupid makes you want to distance yourself from him as far as possible. I firmly believe in well-educated kids with extra-curricular activities, and I believe that we need to see as much of the world as possible in order to be well-rounded citizens of it, but after seeing his poor children slogging through homework and not having friends because of the demands their parents make on them, and after seeing his disdain for our country.... I don't know. I do know that that man does stand for everything I hate, speaking as a Los-Angeles dwelling 20-something who voted for Obama. If that man is "enlightened," that's not what I want to be.
For further discussion, see all my numerous "Why Can't We Get Just Along?" posts. Seriously people!