POP CULTURE [ VERSUS\ REAL AMERICA “I know that the stereotypes of the United States are out there. And I know that many of them are informed not by direct exchange or dialogue, but by television shows and movies and misinformation.”

— President Barack Obama POP CULTURE [ VERSUS\ REAL AMERICA

contents

Introduction by Andrew Ferguson ...... 2

Krusty Burger by Chester Pach* ...... 6 FOOD Farm to Table: Fresh for the Picking by Karen Hofstein ...... 7 Baywatch ...... 12 Lifeguards Saving Lives Takes More Than a Nice Tan by Valerie Due .... 13

Unforgiven ...... 18 Cowboy Modern-Day Cowboy by Candy Moulton ...... 19 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ...... 24 Police Chief All’s Quiet on the Small-Town Front by Brian Heyman ...... 25 Pulp Fiction ...... 30 Gun Owner Safety and Security: Twin Priorities by Megan A. Wong...... 31 Grey’s Anatomy ...... 36 Doctor A Passion to Serve by Megan A. Wong ...... 37 Gossip Girl ...... 42 Teenager Helping Family, Friends, and Her Community ...... 43 by Megan A. Wong Boston Legal ...... 48 Lawyer Ethical Advocate by Karen Hofstein ...... 49 Notorious ...... 54 Musicians Perfecting Their Pitch by Brian Heyman ...... 55

Immigrant Desperate Housewives ...... 60 Family Their Own Support Network by Joshua K. Handell ...... 61 Montgomery Burns ...... 66 Wind farmer Cutting Costs While Saving the Earth by Gail Kalinoski ...... 67 Dr. Phil ...... 72 Psychologist Helping Youth, One Conversation at a Time ...... 73 by Sonya F. Weakley By the Numbers (Facts and Figures) ...... 78

*All television and cinema profiles are written by Chester Pach. Introduction

by Andrew Ferguson

ur opening scene takes He’s a very large man, not that he might, when in Rome, be place in Rome, early fat, necessarily, but brawny and speaking a foreign language. Omorning, late summer, in big boned. He has evidently tried “I’m from Minneapolis,” he the breakfast room of a moderately to pull himself together, though goes on. “My wife and I just got in. priced albergo (hotel), catering to without much success. His A long flight. I told her I’d grab her the tourist trade, a stone’s throw hair sprays off in all directions, a blueberry muffin. Haven’t slept in from the Pantheon. The waiters, defeating his every attempt to a day. We’re from Minneapolis.” Filipino natives, hover in their smooth it into shape with his The waiter points him to white waistcoats as the hotel guests, beefy hand. His shirttails are the buffet. families from the United Kingdom, busy untucking themselves from “Where are the blueberry France, Greece, and Spain mostly, his pants, which are hitched two muffins?” he booms, craning his graze over the croissants and inches too high. His socks are neck and scanning the breakfast sweets and pitchers of juice, white and they droop. breads and bowls of fruit. “She’s maintaining a polite indifference He approaches one of the really hungry. We just flew in. to one another in their respective waiters and vigorously shakes From Minneapolis.” zones of privacy. Everything is a his hand. And so he prattles on, hum of efficiency and competence, “I heard there was a free expressing astonishment, though executed in the hushed tones complimentary buffet breakfast no resentment, that there are appropriate to the hour. down here,” he says, redundantly. no blueberry muffins — “How Then the doors of the elevator And of course he says it in English, can you have breakfast without slide open, and there he is. with no thought to the possibility blueberry muffins?” he wonders

2 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA aloud — and then surprise at the Everyone from the United States Obama said, to see the United absence of bagels and veggie cream lives with the phrase “the ugly States through the icons its pop cheese. He mentions that he’s American,” taken from a best- culture has produced — this flown all night, from Minneapolis, selling book and popular movie means you, Homer — and the where he’s from; his wife too. from the early 1960s, but when icons and stereotypes can best be All eyes have turned to him I recall the muffin-seeker from rebutted by exposing them to that by now. Trying to disguise his Minneapolis, I wonder whether universal disinfectant, real life. dissatisfaction, he heaps two plastic the ugly American hasn’t been As you read along, threading plates with booty and cradles replaced by another caricature: your way between the pop icons them in his arms. Offering a final not sinister but hapless, not rude on the one hand and the real update, he announces, loudly, that but loud, unsophisticated, kind of Americans on the other, you’re he will take the food upstairs to his goofy, a buffoon. We’ve exchanged likely to glimpse several themes wife, who has flown, sleepless, all one stereotype for another — or emerging. One unavoidable fact night. From Minneapolis. for several, just as powerful, just is that many of these stereotypes “Have a nice day,” he calls out as mistaken. contain a kernel of truth. Our as the elevator door slides shut, “I know that the stereotypes gabby Minneapolitan in Rome did just in time to avoid hearing the of the United States are out there,” bear a punch-drunk resemblance snickers from the other guests. President Obama told a gathering to Marge Simpson’s husband. One of the children looks up from of university students in Istanbul If he’s anything like his fellow her buttered toast. in 2009. “And I know that many of countrymen, however, the “Americaine!” she says. “D’oh!” them are informed not by direct breakfasters would have missed a She’s doing a Homer Simpson, and exchange or dialogue, but by lot about him by settling for the the breakfast room rings out in television shows and movies and stereotype. laughter. misinformation.” What they didn’t see — to Since I watched it unfold This book is an effort to correct take a few examples — were the last summer, a week hasn’t gone some of the misimpressions. hours he likely devotes to the by that I haven’t thought of this The premise is simple and the Lion’s Club back home (Americans globalized tableau, sometimes technique is straightforward: The spent eight billion man-hours on amused, sometimes horrified. world is often misled, as President volunteer service in 2008) or the

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 3 Sunday school class he teaches at of hard training in a surprising a girl she won nine gold medals in church each week (more than half range of skills, from rowing to U.S. Figure Skating Association of all Americans regularly attend a rock climbing, with the end in competitions — but she settled on house of worship) or the money he view, always, of preserving human music because, she says, “Beautiful gives to keep the local soup kitchen life. The bouncing is optional. sounds please people.” A life of in operation (Americans donated The pride that ocean lifeguards serious musicianship is unlikely more than $300 billion to charity take in the less eventful aspects to offer the material rewards that in 2008 — that’s three hundred of their work points us towards Christopher Wallace reaped even billion in dough, not D’oh). another theme peeking from in the three years of his fame, as Or ponder the reality of beneath the icons. Americans place Quinnett well knows. “I wouldn’t Baywatch, as Valerie Due does a high value on craft, a job done really judge my success,” she says, here. It’s arguably one of the well. It’s unsettling to note that the “by how well known [I am] or how most popular television shows late rapper, Christopher Wallace, much money [I make].” in history, notable mainly for known as Notorious B.I.G., is That’s another theme echoing demonstrating the large variety deemed an icon of American through these pages: It’s not of romantic entanglements that musicianship around the world. about the money. To the students can befall mesomorphs as they Wallace directed his undoubted in Istanbul, President Obama bounce around in tiny swimsuits. talent to violence, misogyny, lamented how often pop culture There’s a glimmer of truth in the and explicit depictions of sex — depicts Americans as “selfish and caricature; anyone who visits an subjects that deaden craftsmanship crass.” Throw in a good deal of American beach can testify to far more decisively than they bedhopping, and you’ve got an the enviable vigor and ardor of inspire it. accurate description of America’s ocean lifeguards. But beyond the Consider, in contrast, the iconic professionals, the attorneys glimmer (and the glamour) is alternative, the real thing: Robyn on Boston Legal or the doctors the much more admirable reality Quinnett, a young African- on Grey’s Anatomy. But it bears of the job itself, which values American violinist, studying at no resemblance to the life led by dramatic escapades much less Juilliard. Quinnett might have Richard Beilin, who decided to than their prevention. Ocean applied her gifts of perseverance forego high-priced corporate work lifeguarding requires tedious hours and discipline to other fields — as to become a small-town lawyer

4 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA in Morristown, New Jersey, or “In those shows it seems like distorted anecdote. What they by M. Natalie Achong, M.D., a all the girls are focused on the present is less sensational, more native of Queens and Brooklyn, social part of their lives,” says prosaic, and, in the end, more New York, who works in hospitals Katheryn, who has other things moving and more human. It’s that specialize in serving the poor to do. There’s counseling at the a nation of real people, at once while rearing two children of sleepaway camp, volunteering to big-hearted, hard working, her own. tutor classmates, and organizing painstaking, imaginative, stirred “I feel there’s a higher calling toy drives for poor children. Blair by fellow feeling, and on the whole in working and imparting the best and Serena, phone your therapists. quite admirable — even if, once in medicine to those who maybe can’t Every essay here contains a while, we go looking, too loudly, afford the ‘good doctors,’” she says. a surprise like Katheryn — a for blueberry muffins in all the “It’s not just about making money.” surprise, anyway, to those who wrong places. Most Americans would agree were expecting Serena and Blair — doctors or lawyers, fiddlers or and who have taken the measure lifeguards, whether native-born of U.S. culture by the pop icons it or citizens of more recent vintage. has produced, sometimes for good Andrew Ferguson is a senior Katheryn Conde, whose parents but more often for ill. Through editor at the Weekly Standard arrived from El Salvador shortly the icons, the world sees a quite magazine. He has written for the before she was born, enriches a different sort of American: vain New Yorker, the New York Times, life already filled with two jobs and oversexed, miserly and self- the Washington Post, and many and school work by committing obsessed, prone to violence, a other publications and is the author herself to community service. bit nutty. of Land of Lincoln: Adventures in She confesses puzzlement at That imaginary country is Abe’s America. His newest book the iconic American teens she’s ripe for debunking, which is is College Crazy: The Reluctant seen flouncing across the fantasy why the book you hold in your Education of a Baaaaaad Dad (forthcoming from Simon and Manhattan of Gossip Girl, like hands is so welcome. These Schuster). the vampiric Blair Waldorf or are portraits drawn from life, the predatory Serena van der not caricatures inflated from Woodsen. conjecture, misjudgment, and

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 5 Krusty Burger “Puts the ‘Die’ in Diet”

Greasy, fattening, and zero nutritional value: Krusty Burgers are the Simpson family’s favorite meal.

here’s no place like Krusty has shocking blue hair and a huge Burgers to make new ones. When Burger, the fast-food res- smile, but he’s anything but hilarious studies revealed that the Krusty taurant on the television off camera. He has gambling Burger was “the unhealthiest fast- programT The Simpsons, for a quick debts, alimony payments, and an food item in the world,” Krusty meal that’s just a little bit differ- addiction to a prescription pain- created a new Mother Earth Burger, ent. On the menu is the signature killer. He’ll sell almost anything made from barley and packaged in Krusty Burger, “which is deep- under the Krusty brand name to a green wrapper. “I’m saving the fried with love.” Also available is make money, and he couldn’t care Earth,” Homer Simpson exclaimed the Clogger, a pork sandwich that less about product safety. His home as he bit into his “eco-licious” got its name from the effects of pregnancy tests produced so many burger. He soon had a different its greasy contents on stomachs false positives that he pulled them reaction. Like everybody who ate and arteries. Diners can also en- off the market and repackaged a Mother Earth Burger, he got joy a Partially Gelatinated Non- them as coffee stirrers. He put a sick from tainted barley. As usual, dairy Gum-Based Beverage, which jagged metal Krusty O in each box Krusty avoided the consequences tastes like a milkshake but proba- of his breakfast cereal. After eating of another bad product. Instead, bly doesn’t contain a drop of milk, one of the metal O’s, Bart needed the farmers and grain processors or of anything natural. surgery to remove his appendix. who supplied the bad barley went Bart and Lisa Simpson enjoy Krusty also relies on dubious out of business. eating at Krusty Burger because business practices in his chain of — Chester Pach they’re big fans of Krusty the fast-food restaurants. His only Clown, the star of a popular interest in recycling is using the children’s television show. Krusty uneaten portions of old Krusty

6 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA Farm to Table: Fresh for the Picking BY Karen Hofstein

Farmers market shoppers browse a wide selection of locally grown hundred years ago, the is flanked by tall office buildings produce. scene was not unusual. and megastores like Barnes & AFarmers with baskets of Noble, Babies“R”Us, and Best Buy. juicy yellow peaches, crates of ripe Located on Broadway between red berries, and bushels of fragrant East 14th and 17th Streets, Union heavily advertised fast-food green vegetables would set up Square is the year-round site of behemoths, many people seek stalls in the village marketplace. a farmers market that convenes more healthful food options. A Customers would flood into the rain or shine four times a week. number of shoppers, concerned market to purchase food for the Customers perusing the vast array about the environment, like to coming week, bargaining and of fruits, vegetables, dairy products, purchase organic foods that are exchanging the news of the day. meats, and baked goods are likely to free of pesticides. This explains Now the village marketplace is be plugged into their MP3 players, the enormous popularity of located within the busy streets of checking their BlackBerries, or the farmers markets, which are New York City. The small park in attending to their cell phones. sponsored by Greenmarket, a Manhattan known as Union Square Despite the prevalence of privately funded program of the

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 7 Council on the Environment of New York City. In addition to the large market at Union Square, there are farmers markets at 48 other locations throughout the New York City area. Some open only at certain times during the year. One of these more popular seasonal sites is at Rockefeller Center, site of NBC studios and Radio City Music Hall. Tourists visiting during the summertime are surprised to see farmers selling produce, honey, and baked goods at the site of the world famous Christmas tree. Heather Lindsey, a freelance health and medical writer, is a regular shopper at the Union Square farmers market. Growing up in Portland, Oregon, she says she was always used to having access to fresh produce. Since moving to New York 12 years ago, she was happy to discover the farmers markets. Standing outside the Our Daily Bread stall after buying a whole wheat pan loaf, Lindsey says, “I love farmers markets.” She especially enjoys talking with the farmers from the surrounding New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania areas. “I buy bread here a lot,” she says. “I like the egg stand around the corner. There The citizens of Springfield, the home of The Simpsons, cannot get enough is a goat cheese stand. And any artery-clogging fast food. of the vegetable stands are great. I don’t like to focus on just one stand. I like to spread it out so I eating with more fruits and a lot of satisfaction from it.” can support a number of farmers vegetables and reducing meat To that end, she recently took versus just one.” consumption. a course at the Institute of A self-described “big fan of She says, “We have been Culinary Education. Michael Pollan and his book, The cooking in [at home] a lot more She goes on to list an eclectic Omnivore’s Dilemma,” Lindsey due to the economy. I love the array of mouthwatering meals she says she liked the idea of healthful creativity of cooking and I get has whipped up in recent weeks:

8 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA New Yorkers from all walks of life enjoy fresh air and fresh foods at these outdoor markets.

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 9 Kilos of carrots, mounds of melons: Nutrition-conscious consumers search for the best deals on fruits and veggies. Local farmers are happy to help their regular customers.

10 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA vegetable and egg tart with whole sparkling eyes, she is a secondary The farmers market, in fact, wheat crust, scrambled eggs with school teacher who lives with her is full of children who are learning shrimp, whole wheat waffles, teenage daughter in Brooklyn. what onion and garlic bulbs look linguini with clam sauce, and Berkovic marvels at the like when they are pulled fresh quesadillas. The last of these, she freshness of the produce at the from the ground. They are thrilled says, is easy, “You just throw farmers market. Carrying an to find peaches still attached in whatever leftovers you have insulated bag with a frozen to twigs and leaves. They find in the fridge.” pack to keep things fresh, she potatoes still encrusted with rich- Her husband, Michael Mandel, regularly stocks up on the market’s smelling soil. These city dwellers a photo editor, says that they cook fingerling potatoes, cucumbers, are learning about healthful food a lot of ethnic foods at home, carrots, and tomatoes. She says, in its most natural state. including Italian and Mexican. “The food here lasts much longer Lindsey adds, “I try to do some in the refrigerator.” Thai dishes, some Indian dishes. I Berkovic laughs that her own am sure it’s not totally authentic, cooking repertoire is somewhat Karen Hofstein is a writer in but it tastes good.” limited. “I don’t have a big kitchen. New York City. Mandel notes that when So I mainly cut up things and shopping at the farmers market, cook them. ” “You have a real connection to With making sure that her the food.” daughter “eats healthy” as her Following a childhood of priority, she says, “I am looking for eating “classical American fast different vitamins and I prefer to food,” he became a vegetarian get them in food rather than 22 years ago. “At the time it was a tablet.” very political,” he says. “I just As a teacher of biology and realized how everything about earth science in the New York City meat turned me off. The cost. The public school system, Berkovic fact that so much grain and water has seen a marked change in the goes to cattle and not to human school’s cafeteria food in recent beings. The fact that it wasn’t years. She says, “They have taken good for you.” all the junk food machines out He adds, “It has been amazing and have healthier alternatives.” over the past 20 years to see how Specifically, she has observed an [vegetarianism] has become more increase in whole-grain foods and mainstream. When I became a low-fat items. “I have seen a lot vegetarian in the mid-1980s, it of improvement.” She sighs, “Of was still associated with a kind course they still serve French fries. of 1960s revolutionary culture. They will always serve French fries. And health food stores were sort Some kids will only eat that.” of hippie-ish. Over 20 years it has changed. Now you can go to almost any restaurant and get veggie burgers.” Another regular shopper at Union Square market is Shoshana Berkovic. A vibrant woman with

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 11 Baywatch “Fantasy Lifeguards Look Hot in the Sun”

They brave the waves and bare (almost) all.

s a youth, President Ron- and other perils, using their own ous efforts to keep in shape. Many ald Reagan was a lifeguard strength and speed in the water, episodes showed slow-motion who saved 77 people from as well as speedboats and helicop- scenes of them exercising or run- Adrowning at Lowell Park in Dix- ters, to save lives. ning on the beach. Often they on, Illinois. Yet Reagan achieved Maybe it’s because the Bay- wore tight, brief swimsuits that far less fame for his heroics than watch crew makes fearless efforts revealed muscled thighs, ripped Mitch Bucannon and C. J. Parker, to protect the gorgeous waters off abdominals, or impressive chests. members of the Baywatch crew at the California coast for swimming C. J. and her friends were in such Malibu Beach in California. Bay- and surfing. In one episode, Mitch extraordinary condition that their watch became the most popular was poisoned when he swam in appearance could fool beachgo- television show in history. Dur- contaminated waters. C. J. and ers. Once when two of the wom- ing the mid-1990s, it aired in 140 her friends traced the chemical en in the Baywatch crew asked a countries and attracted more to a seedy business engaged in il- photographer to move down the than one billion viewers. Millions legal offshore dumping. She saved beach to a safer area, he looked of people still watch reruns of the Mitch’s life and put the polluters at them and declared, “These are program. Why has Baywatch been out of business. The “green” val- models.” No, they replied. “We’re so popular? ues of the Baywatch lifeguards lifeguards.” Perhaps it’s because of the may explain their popularity. — Chester Pach bravery of C. J., Mitch, and the Or perhaps so many people other lifeguards. Often ignor- enjoy Baywatch because of the fit- ing their own safety, they rescue ness of the lifeguards. Mitch, C. J., swimmers from riptides, sharks, and their coworkers made strenu-

12 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA Saving Lives Takes More than a Nice Tan BY Valerie Due

Lifeguard Katherine Jackson educates beachgoers on how to stay he white truck brakes in the knows where to find his parents safe in the surf. thick sand and a bronzed before both guards return to Tmale lifeguard leaps out, their watches. red plastic rescue buoy in one Lifeguard Sergeant Casey hand, running for the surf. He Owens finishes a radio call in [their child was in danger],” he reaches the water’s edge, white- his lifeguard vehicle, waiting for says. “People look away for a edged waves rushing his ankles, the young lifeguard to return few seconds.” then slows. A female guard from before he continues his patrol The rescued boy has returned the three-sided seasonal watch along San Diego’s busy Pacific to his towel, where his mother tower has beaten him to the surf, Beach. He speaks without turning hovers over him. He was lucky. where a boy about 10 years old from the water, where his eyes slide Lucky because he’s at the beach struggles, arms flailing as his along the splashing crowds and on a beautiful summer Saturday, head dips in the water. The guard bobbing surfers. and lucky because someone was tows the boy to shallow waters “Sometimes you save a kid and watching over him at this beach: and makes sure he’s okay and find out their parents had no idea the lifeguards.

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 13 The beach lifeguard became an goes to work to keep people safe at that never happen, thanks to American pop icon in the 1960s, the beach,” said lifeguard Sergeant preventive actions taken by the with the advent of beach-bikini Katherine Jackson, also of the San lifeguard service, such as stopping movies featuring surfers, Frankie Diego Lifeguard Service. “Our children from playing in surf close Avalon and Gidget, and became an single most important role is the to a current that might pull them international icon after the 1990s rescue and safety of beachgoers offshore, known as a rip current. Baywatch. With his bronzed torso, every day, but that is really about More than 80 percent of all rescues sun-bleached hair, and skimpy surf mitigating the actual need are the result of rip currents. trunks, the image of a lifeguard as for rescue.” Jackson manages a team of a carefree playboy surfed around San Diego’s beaches welcome male and female lifeguards on the world. But for real lifeguards, more than 20 million visitors San Diego’s busy Mission Beach, a a workday focuses on preventing each year, and lifeguards make three-mile (five-kilometer) stretch dramatic rescues whenever about 6,000 rescues annually. of wide, golden sand bordered by a possible through vigilance and But the number of rescues is paved boardwalk on one side and public education. tiny compared with the roughly rolling surf on the other. Each day “I tell my kids that mommy 250,000 “prevents,” or rescues she reports in uniform — officers

Real lifeguards rarely look like those on Baywatch.

14 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA Sergeant Casey Owens scans the surf for signs of trouble, while Sergeant Katherine Jackson keeps watch over a deceptively tranquil beach.

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 15 Lifeguards maintain their equipment with considerable care. They must be ready to respond to an emergency at any moment. Opposite page: The mundane side of the job: record-keeping and logistical coordination.

wear blue police-style uniforms allowed to operate PWCs on the team, which sped to New Orleans, or official tee shirts with swim job. Such training is part of an Louisiana, to help people caught in shorts — to the main lifeguard overall program that encompasses Hurricane Katrina in 2005. tower for one of her 10-hour shifts. far more than just swimming skills. Lifeguards in southern The three-story permanent tower “There’s a lot of training,” California start as seasonal houses a garage, a first-aid room, Owens said. “And it doesn’t end employees, working the summer’s staff lockers, and storage on the after you get the job. From the time peak season, then returning to first floor; offices on the second; you get hired, you have medical regular jobs the rest of the year. and an enclosed observation deck training, first aid, and CPR. There’s Many are teachers, college students, on the third floor, from which a the lifeguard training academy. or emergency medical technicians guard armed with binoculars can Then you start working at the bay in the winter, while they continue watch the beach for more than first, while you continue more to hone their skills. It can take a mile. training to get ready for the ocean.” many years to win a year-round After opening the tower, Training to be an ocean job on San Diego’s permanent staff setting up safe driving lanes on lifeguard is only the start for many of roughly 70 guards, and non- the beach for emergency vehicles, beach lifeguards, who often also lifeguards may not understand the and checking equipment for safety, train to be on special teams that rigors of the job. Jackson and her team drag out rappel down rocks to make rescues “My parents still ask, what do the personal watercraft (PWC) on ocean-side cliffs, don scuba you do in the off-season?” Jackson used for rescues, pulling it to gear for underwater search-and- laughs. “I’ve been a lifeguard for 11 water’s edge for launching. All rescue, hoist fire hoses for marine years. And my friends, they don’t lifeguards undergo training and firefighting, or navigate rushing understand what I do all day.” pass certification before they are floodwaters on the flood-rescue What they do all day is prevent

16 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA accidents through watching, a skill enough, right by these kids I could ‘where are the restrooms?’ to ‘my that’s finely honed in this job. see tiny fingers poking up above friend’s hurt’ and that becomes a “We’re people watchers,” the water, reaching. I grabbed the medical call. We’re ambassadors of Owens said. “You watch little kids kid and pulled out a little boy. He the beach, of the community, of the getting in the ocean for the first was fine, coughing and gasping, he ocean, and the ocean ecosystem.” time. You can tell when people hadn’t been down long. But no one have never been to the ocean, and saw him. No one.” they’re about to dive headfirst into In addition to rescues and shallow water, so you go talk to accident prevention, lifeguards Valerie Due writes about topics them first, prevent the injury. You deal with everything from stingray ranging from farm economics to learn a lot about people by how stings to lost children to enforcing ocean lifeguarding. Her work has they behave and what they do.” smoking and alcohol bans (San appeared in publications as varied Sometimes, even watching isn’t Diego lifeguards are peace officers, as Forbes magazine, health care enough — it takes a sixth sense with the power to ticket and arrest journals, and nonfiction literary for danger. lawbreakers). journals like River Teeth. “My first summer on the bay, And there’s paperwork. Owens I’m watching probably 100 people looks at an open binder on his in the water,” Jackson said. “It’s desk, flipping pages. “I’m doing not like the ocean where you can payroll today; I’ve got 37 people to see people wade out on a gradual manage.” He shrugs. “More people edge, and you can tell they can’t means more paperwork.” swim from the way they react to In his office overlooking the the waves, so you warn them back ocean, paperwork seems like a fair before anything happens. If people trade-off. Owens laughs. “This can’t swim in the bay, they’re is a great job.” Owens still seems teetering along and then they step amazed by the discovery of a off that edge and just disappear, profession that offers a prime work and are drowning.” location, good pay, the chance to Jackson pauses. “I’m watching help others, and the excitement of a bunch of kids, and everyone’s an emergency rescue. fine. I look back, and no one is “Every day, we help people. We reacting as though there’s trouble. interact with people from around But I had a creepy feeling, so I the world every single day, and it’s ran down with my fins, and sure fun. People ask us everything from

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 17 Unforgiven “Gun Slingers of the Old West”

Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman play bad boys on horseback.

nforgiven is a film about some horses. The prostitutes were the trigger. The kid shoots the sec- the Old West, a part of outraged and demanded justice. ond. Things then go terribly wrong. American life that van- They offered $1,000 of their own The sheriff captures Lawson, beats ishedU more than a century ago but money to anybody who would kill him to death, and displays his that still has a grip on popular imag- the attackers. body in front of the saloon. Munny ination. Clint Eastwood, who pro- Munny at first refuses to seek goes to Big Whiskey to avenge his duced and directed the film, also the bounty. “I ain’t like that any friend, killing five men, including stars as William Munny, “a known more,” he tells the Schofield Kid, a the saloon keeper and sheriff. thief and murderer” who has given young gunslinger who admires his Vengeance and money provide up his life of violence to become a reputation for killing and propos- no satisfaction. The Kid, who killed hog farmer in Kansas. But in 1881, es that they team up and split the for the first time, finds murder isn’t he straps on his gun one more time reward. Munny changes his mind, so glamorous after all. “I guess he and makes an unsettling journey however, because of the bounty. A had it comin’,” the kid says as he back into his past. widower with two young children, swigs whiskey and tries to overcome Munny leaves his farm to col- he hopes for a better life. He per- his feelings of guilt. “We all have it lect a bounty in Big Whiskey, Wyo- suades another aging, former out- comin’,” Munny grimly replies. ming, where two cowboys used a law, Ned Lawson, played by Morgan At the end of the film, Munny knife to slash a prostitute, leaving Freeman, to join him and the Kid. leaves his farm and goes off to San her face horribly scarred. The lo- The three bounty hunters track Francisco to work in dry goods. cal sheriff ordered the cowboys down the two cowboys. Munny kills The Old West becomes an even to compensate the saloon keeper the first after Lawson discovers more distant part of his past. who ran the brothel by giving him that he can’t bring himself to pull — Chester Pach

18 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA Modern-Day Cowboy

BY Candy Moulton

Professional cowboy Duane Wood’s responsibilities include driving cattle t is cold in Wyoming and the cattle into corrals, sorting on the ranch as well as running the first snow of the season them, and separating the calves statistics back at the office. Ihas already blanketed the from the cows. ground white, even though it is But during these waning only mid-September. This is the days of summer, Wood, slim, time of year cowboy Duane Wood quiet in manner, and with a neat West, today’s cowboy just as likely likes best, the period when he mustache, also is getting ready works in an all-terrain vehicle or moves cattle to pastures near the for winter. He repairs fences and a pickup truck, as from the back ranch headquarters so they will corrals and positions hay for easier of a horse. be easier to feed and find when winter feeding. He also cuts and In the 1800s, most cowboys the real storms of winter blanket hauls firewood to heat his were young men who helped the countryside. As the days grow family’s home. gather cattle on southern ranges, shorter, his work pace slows ever It is tough to define “cowboy” mainly in Texas, and then drove so slightly. Before long, with other today. Once understood to be a them along where the cattle ranch workers, he will be pushing man on horseback in the American could roam, eat, and grow fat for

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 19 eventual sale. The conventional moving cattle to be certain they dog is an effective assistant for image of the cowboy was one of a have plenty to eat and of otherwise his work. Wood trains his own young man driving hundreds or caring for the herds. The ranch horses for the work, and he has thousands of head of cattle over where Duane Wood works also a dog, Rosie, who helps with the the land, crossing rivers, eventually conducts research to improve the tasks and is a companion when selling the herd, and then spending cattle breed. That means Wood he is working alone, as is often his pay in rail towns like Dodge spends a certain portion of his the case. City or Abilene, Kansas, or time tracking cattle statistics such “My relationship with my Ogallalla, Nebraska. as birth and weaning weights. The horse is not unlike my relationship Over time, more people office work punctuates the physical with my wife,” Wood says. “We moved into the range areas. labor of ranching. depend on each other. He takes Some of the range was fenced, Besides his computer, two of care of me; I take care of him.” and the size of many ranching a contemporary cowboy’s most A cowboy’s work changes operations diminished. Others important tools are his horse and with the seasons. In the fall, have remained sufficiently large his dog. The horse is his means Wood gathers the cows and calves, as to accommodate thousands of of transportation to gather cattle, then separates them (weaning head of cattle. On those ranches, especially in areas where the the calves from their mothers) so cowboys maintain the tradition of country is rough and rugged; the the calves can be sold and shipped

Playing cowboys is big business in Hollywood.

20 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA Wood’s days are as varied as the landscape. He is as likely to mount a pickup truck as a horse, and he spends most of his workday solo.

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 21 to feeders who will continue to raise them for another year until they are eventually sold for slaughter. Most ranches keep some of the heifer (female) calves for eventual breeding to replenish the herd. Others, like the ranch where Wood works, will keep young bull calves, raising and selling them in the spring when other ranchers need to buy bulls for breeding in their own herds. During the winter, Wood keeps the cattle close to the home ranch so as snow piles up it will be easier to feed them hay. No matter the weather, the cattle must be fed every day, and that is the main work on a ranch until calving operations begin in the late winter or early spring. When Duane Wood sets out on a winter day or night to check cattle as a Wyoming snowstorm blows across the mountain country, he wears several layers of clothes: insulated underwear, heavy wool shirt, wool vest, heavy overcoat, jeans, and wool socks inside his insulated boots. His gloves are warm, sometimes made of a waterproof material so if he must clear the ice from a water tank, he can put his hand in, remove the ice, and never get his fingers wet. If a blizzard is howling outside and Wood has cattle to care for, he knows his job. “We just do it. We may dread going out the door, but we just do it,” he said. For calving, Wood moves the cows to a pasture not far from the ranch headquarters Ranch hands come in all sizes: Wood’s eight-year-old daughter, Cora, regularly helps out her dad. where there are trees and other natural protection. This is a hard

22 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA part of the yearly work. Using without chaps. In winter they “I don’t do the same thing a pickup, all-terrain vehicle, or often wear a wool “scotch” cap every day,” Wood says. “My horse, Wood regularly — day and with warm ear flaps and insulated association with other people is night — moves through the herd, overalls for warmth. very limited. Most of the time I’m checking on the calves, doctoring Cowboys come in all shapes, not around a lot of people, and I one with a shot of medicine if it sizes, and ages and are both male don’t mind that. Matter of fact, I is ill, and making sure new calves and female (ranch women who get along a lot better with animals are paired with their mothers. work with cattle often also are than people.” During calving, sleep comes in called cowboys). They might be short snatches, as the herd must be 18 or 38, or in some cases they evaluated every couple of hours. might be eight, as is Wood’s A cowboy is always aware of daughter, Cora. This young girl Candy Moulton is a rancher’s the livestock. “Ultimately we are has been riding and helping her daughter and rancher’s wife, who in animal husbandry,” Wood says. dad move cattle since she was also began cowboy work when she “They depend on us and we’ve three. As a tot she rode Chester, a was five years old. She makes her got to be there to help them.” That Shetland pony, and Wood used a home near Encampment, Wyoming, can mean moving stock from an long lead rope to guide the pony and is the author of a dozen books, area where water or grass is no as they rode. Eventually Cora including Steamboat: Legendary longer available or assisting a cow took the reins herself, and now Bucking Horse and Hot Biscuits: giving birth. she rides a quarter horse just like Stories by Ranch Women and Spring work involves calving, her dad. (Chester has become Cowboys. branding the calves to establish the mount of her little brother, clear ownership, fixing fences, Bonner, who is now five and, like and preparing to move cattle Cora, began riding alone at age out to summer range. During three). Sometimes wife Laurie also the summer the cattle are on helps move cattle. As is usually rangeland farther from the ranch the case on ranches, Laurie and headquarters, eating the natural the children may do the work of grass and forage. At this time of cowboys, but they don’t receive year, Wood becomes a hayfield a paycheck. worker, cutting and baling hay “What keeps me in this life then stacking it in locations where is the outdoors and the cattle,” it will be available as winter feed. Wood said. The opportunity to The image of a cowboy decked “get my kids on horseback once in out in cowboy hat, chaps (leather a while” is also a strong attraction leggings they place over their pants because he wants to pass on for protection against weather or cowboy traditions. Then there is brush), boots, and spurs that jingle the satisfaction of riding his horse when they walk is accurate to a across good rangeland, where the degree; all cowboys wear that outfit grass is abundant and nutritious, some of the time and Wood does, or through a swiftly flowing creek too. But today’s cowboys are just or river, knowing it provides good as likely to have on a short-billed water for the animals. baseball cap (it usually advertises some type of livestock feed, ropes, or perhaps fertilizer) and jeans

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 23 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation “Science Makes Catching Bad Guys Easy”

Just give us some DNA — we’ll figure out the rest.

olice officers call them “the evidence from a crime scene is too In CSI the police almost seem geek squad,” but the foren- small to ignore. In one case, a toe- irrelevant. They have little to do sics experts in the Las Ve- nail clipping proved that someone other than arrest the suspects that Pgas Criminalistics Bureau are the who claimed that he had killed a the forensics experts implicate. heroes on the television program man in self-defense was guilty of The show leaves the impression CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. murder. In another, dirt stains and that analysis of DNA samples and They crack the toughest criminal carpet fibers implicated the killer. hair follicles, rather than the tes- cases by using microscopes or Gathering the evidence and in- timony of witnesses, solves every computers to evaluate each frag- terpreting the clues can lead the crime and that the most important ment of evidence and carefully investigators on a fascinating jour- police work occurs in the labora- piece together the clues. View- ney of discovery. In an episode tory or the morgue. Sometimes, ers enjoy their high-tech gadgetry called “Rashomama,” a reference though, even the smartest “geeks” and quirky intelligence. Since its to the famous Japanese movie and the most sophisticated sci- premiere in 2000, CSI has been a Rashomon, about multiple per- ence can’t solve the crime — in real smash hit, often topping the televi- spectives on the same event, each life, if not on television. In those sion ratings. It’s so popular that it member of the forensics team cases, only a police officer can add has led to the creation of two ad- recounts his or her investigation up the clues and catch the culprit. ditional CSI programs, one set in of the murder of the mother of a — Chester Pach New York, the other in Miami. groom at his wedding. Each story The CSI investigators concen- takes the CSI team one step closer trate on evidence, which, unlike to the identity of the killers — they witnesses, can never lie. No bit of turned out to be two bridesmaids.

24 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA All’s Quiet on the Small-town Front BY Brian Heyman

Chief Richard Guisti scopes out the neighborhood from his he summer sun is shining at a computer in his dark blue patrol car. brightly over the one-story uniform, working on an e-mail, Tbrick police station on taking care of the administrative Route 188 that runs through the end of his job. The computer not-so-wild western Connecticut desk is filled with pictures of his town of Middlebury. Head further wife and his two sons, now in former greats playing baseball for down and you might not even their twenties. His diplomas and his beloved New York Yankees. realize you just drove through training certificates hang on the On the desk behind Guisti, there’s the heart of this tree-lined, wall above. On the opposite wall, a Yankees cap sitting on one side 18.5-square-mile (48.1-square- there are framed pictures on both and on the other is a figurine of a kilometer) middle-class sides of a bookcase, showing one policeman with a protective arm community. It’s about one o’clock son playing high school football, around a girl — with an angel back at the station, and in a side the other competing in swimming. guarding his back. office with the word “Chief” on Above the bookcase, there’s a The police chief is a down-to- the door, Richard Guisti is sitting frame surrounding four photos of earth, 48-year-old family man.

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 25 Guisti coaches youth football municipalities across the country. lockouts. Still the small-time and high school basketball in his “TV, I know you see the chases; community policing.” native Waterbury nearby and has you see the bank robberies; you Guisti was promoted to been a fixture in the Middlebury see the shootouts,” Guisti said. acting police chief in 2005 and community since moving here “We do a lot of community calls permanent chief in 2008. He began 25 years ago. It’s a town of a little for services. Being a smaller in Middlebury as a part-time more than 7,000 people, where the town, we have two major arteries police officer in 1985, left for violent crime rate is very low. that come through our town. another nearby department in Television and movies often So we do a lot of motor-vehicle 1987, and came back full time two depict police work as an endless accidents, a lot of motor-vehicle years later. He has been in two, series of car chases and exchanges enforcement, because we get a lot maybe three car chases here, none of gunfire. But those images don’t of traffic. We’re first responders in almost 20 years. And about match the reality here for Guisti for medical calls. ... We still carry the gun that sits in the holster in this small town and so many the equipment to get into vehicle on his right hip? “We draw our

Armed and imaginative: No shred of evidence is too small for the CSI team.

26 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA Chief Richard Guisti mostly hands out speeding tickets and responds to vehicle lock-outs. He has never fired his weapon on duty.

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 27 Report-writing is a huge part of a weapons at robberies,” Guisti said. from budgets, to training, to police officer’s job. “But I’ve never had to actually fire scheduling, to discipline,” Guisti my service weapon.” said. “I’m also in charge of Now he is in more of a communications. We dispatch leave this office. They could be tied supervisory role, overseeing 14 fire, police, and public works. I’m up on a call, and I would have to go officers and eight dispatchers. Yet the direct supervisor. You have out. I’ve investigated car accidents. the chief will also head to a scene to multitask. I’m not saying I’m I respond to burglar alarms. If when needed. “I have responsibility Superman or better than any other my lieutenant is not working, no for the overall operation of the chief. It’s just that you’re so small, matter what time it is, if we have a Middlebury Police Department, if my guys are tied up, I take calls. I burglary or smash [a car window]

28 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA and grab, I may have to go out and late mom, Ellen, had a real estate program known as DARE: Drug supervise until I can get somebody business with her sister. But Abuse Resistance Education. “It’s to come in.” Richard loved sports from the gratifying to see the kids that you When he or his officers time he was five and wanted to taught are now grown up and they investigate further, Guisti said be a professional baseball player. have children,” Guisti said. “I see they use “the phone, e-mails, Then, at about age 14, he was children that are now doctors, computers. When I came on in playing in a summer-league game dentists, police officers, teachers. ’85 ... you didn’t have e-mails, you in Waterbury when a policeman Several of them, I’ve been to their didn’t have cell phones, you may spoke to him. “If you’re not going weddings. That’s what I tell my have had a computer. These officers to play professional baseball, officers. If you can influence one right now can get in their cars, why don’t you become a cop?” person, you did your job.” and if they have a burglary, they the officer said to Guisti. “I said, can type it into their computer ‘Yeah.’ You laugh at it,” Guisti and send it to just about every said. “He goes, ‘Be a cop. Be like department in the state [to check] me. You’ll like being involved with Brian Heyman has been a if they had a suspect or anything people.’” sportswriter in the New York area for similar. ... You’d be surprised by It led him to a career that 27 years, earning numerous national the amount of information that began in 1982 with work as and regional journalism awards. He comes back, saying, ‘We had a sheriff at the Waterbury is a staff writer for the Journal News, something similar,’ or the exact courthouse, where he learned a lot a Gannett daily newspaper based same description of the car, the about law enforcement. Now Guisti in White Plains, New York, and he suspects.” These officers also go out can look back with a sense of pride. freelances for the New York Times and use their training to interview There have been crimes he helped and the Associated Press. people. Or they stake out areas. solve, like the time when an elderly “Technology has gone a long way person experienced a burglary to help law enforcement, but you of items with much sentimental still pound the beat,” Guisti said. value. Nearly all were recovered. Unlike on TV, it can take “That was gratifying because you considerable time to solve a crime. knew that … they were going to be “In CSI, they solve everything in victimized themselves every day eight hours; that’s not realistic,” because of that reminder of what said Sergeant John Desmarais, a they had in their house that was 15-year veteran of the Middlebury there for years,” Guisti said, adding force who coaches football with that it was solved “just through Guisti. “I would say our percentage legwork, information through of solves ranges from 60 to 70 other departments, information percent, which is very high. ... We that we ascertained through our know our community. We know department.” who to talk to. For example, on Beyond that, he hopes he the midnight shift, the paper boy made a difference in a role you [person who delivers newspapers] don’t usually see on police shows, sees everything.” steering young people on the Back when he was a boy, right path through the work he Guisti’s goal wasn’t to protect did for eight years in the local and serve the public. His father, school system. He taught about Fred, was a toolmaker, and his the dangers of drugs through the

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 29 Pulp Fiction “Shoot First. Ask Questions Later.”

Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent (John Travolta) are addicted to violence.

ulp Fiction is one of the found the sordid world of the vehicle hits a bump. With the help most acclaimed, influential, film, teeming with gangsters and of Winston Wolf (Harvey Keitel), a and controversial movies drug addicts, depressing and even “fixer” who deals with such crimi- ofP recent years. Only the second disgusting. But the single issue nal complications, they scrub away feature film from director Quentin that produced the strongest criti- the blood and the brains from the Tarantino, Pulp Fiction premiered cism, as Tarantino explained in an car almost as if they were cleaning in 1994 at the Cannes Film Festi- interview, was “violence, violence, up after a food fight. Winston even val and won the coveted Palme violence, violence, violence.” arrives in a tuxedo and takes time d’Or, the festival’s highest prize. It The film begins and ends with for coffee as he supervises the also earned Tarantino an Academy a man and woman who casually disposal of the body. Award for best original screen- decide over breakfast at a restau- “Nothing is predictable or fa- play, as well as honors for best rant to draw their guns, empty the miliar within this irresistibly bizarre director and best film from the cash register, and rob the other world,” wrote New York Times film National Board of Review. Taran- patrons. The two main characters in critic Janet Maslin. “You don’t tino’s dark humor and distinctive the film — Vincent, played by John merely enter a theater to see Pulp narrative style spawned many imi- Travolta, and Jules, played by Sam- Fiction,” she explained. Instead, tators. Time magazine critic Richard uel L. Jackson — are hit men who like Alice in Wonderland, “You go Corliss called Pulp Fiction “the carry on bizarre conversations be- down a rabbit hole.” most influential American film” of fore blowing away their victims. In — Chester Pach the 1990s. one instance, Vincent accidentally Other reviewers, however, kills a man in the back seat of a car were not so enthusiastic. Some when the gun discharges after the

30 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA Safety and Security: Twin Priorities BY Megan A. Wong

Malcolm Blundell meticulously cleans his prize pistol — after double- he cupcake-yellow home surrounding homes are inhabited checking that it is not loaded. of Malcolm and Jacque by white-collar professionals: TBlundell is festively lawyers, lobbyists, and high-tech decorated for fall. Homegrown workers. The light is golden and pumpkins line the front steps the weather mild for mid-autumn. and a string of orange and black The Blundells do not exactly fit The first time Blundell held a cardboard letters wish “Happy the image of violent, gun-wielding gun was at a Boy Scout camp in Halloween” to passersby. The thugs. Jacque (pronounced Hawaii, where he spent part of his Blundells relax on a wicker couch “Jackie”) is a longtime volunteer childhood. He was 12 years old on the porch with their small black with the local animal welfare and was vying for a merit badge in dog, Charlotte Sophia, at their feet. league, an organization for which rifle shooting. Blundell still recalls From this vantage point, one sees she has fostered kittens in the the thrill of shooting a gun for the couples pushing strollers down the past. Blundell works as a manager first time. That was the moment street and clusters of neighborhood at a local software development when his lifelong fascination with children exiting a school bus. The company. firearms began.

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 31 After attending college on a People have different also people like myself — a lot of Reserve Officers’ Training Corps motivations for owning guns, us — who own guns for sport or (ROTC) scholarship, Blundell he explains. Some are hunters competition or self-defense.” completed his obligatory military who use shotguns to shoot game. There are specific times and service with the U.S. Marine Corps Others, like Blundell and his conditions in which Blundell over the next five years. When he friends, are hobbyists who shoot feels it is appropriate to discharge got out of the Marines, he took a for sport in weekend competitions firearms — and plenty of occasions 15-year hiatus from firearms while held at shooting ranges and gun when it would not be responsible he concentrated on building his clubs. At these venues, safety to do so. In the United States, gun career in high tech. It was not until precautions are constantly drilled laws vary widely from state to state 2004, by then fully ensconced in a into participants. “There are (sometimes even region to region career as a software developer, that people who belong to street gangs within a state). Some states enforce Blundell once again picked up his and there are criminals who have strict regulations on firearms hobby as a sport shooter. guns,” says Blundell. “There are (such as licensing, registration, or

Don’t mess with the gangsters in Pulp Fiction.

32 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA Malcolm Blundell and his wife, Jacque, are vigilant about storing their guns in a locked safe when not in use.

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 33 Above: The Blundells on their front porch playing with their dog, Charlotte Sophia. Right: Blundell is careful never to handle a loaded gun unless he intends to shoot it.

permits), while other states take a more “hands-off” approach to gun possession. Virginia, the state in which the Blundells live, has severe restrictions on brandishing firearms in residential areas. But the Blundells have friends who live in a rural part of the same state where the local attitude toward and on one section they have built the property. The absence of firearms is very different than a firing range. Their sprawling bystanders there makes it unlikely that held by many city dwellers rural oasis is one place where the that someone could accidentally and suburbanites. These friends Blundells feel it is acceptable to get hurt by a stray bullet. of the Blundells own 60 acres (24 discharge firearms in a controlled “It’s just part of the culture,” hectares) of forested private land, capacity because of the size of says Blundell, referring to the

34 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA permissive attitude toward gun the habit of a lifetime. And I can show too many rounds being fired ownership in some rural areas. attest that having those habits will without reloading and scenes in Still, he observes, “There is no hold you in very good stead.” which novice gun users somehow more or less violence there than Above and beyond their hit their target with no practice any place else.” Blundell believes personal code of safety when and no kickback. that it is possible to possess and handling guns, the couple “I hope people realize that use firearms in a safe manner requested a voluntary home movies were designed to be provided that owners are educated review from the police when entertainment,” says Blundell. properly and behave responsibly. Blundell rekindled his interest “There’s a certain amount of shock While the Blundells support in sport shooting five years ago, value. They’re trying to show you freedom to possess and use to make certain that they were what they think will keep you firearms responsibly, they take taking every precaution in storing entertained for two hours. It’s not guns seriously. “You don’t play their firearms. necessarily American life.” with them,” declares Blundell. Blundell believes deeply in “I’m either cleaning them or personal freedom tempered by I’m shooting them or they’re in personal responsibility. He has no the safe.” tolerance for those who handle Megan A. Wong is a writer and This is more than just guns irresponsibly or with the editor in the Bureau of International responsible talk. At this author’s intent to commit criminal acts. Information Programs of the U.S. request, Blundell retrieves a “When I hear about people doing Department of State. pistol from his 1,000-pound irresponsible things with firearms, (450-kilogram), refrigerator- I’m irritated because it makes it sized black safe. He immediately more difficult for the rest of us,” opens the magazine and hands says Blundell. “It makes things it — muzzle down — to his wife, harder for the vast majority of uttering just one word: “Clear.” firearm owners who behave It is both a question and a responsibly.” request. Jacque checks the pistol Respect is the unmistakable to make sure it is not loaded. To theme in any conversation with non-gun owners, this may seem the Blundells about firearms. “The like an unnecessary step. But to penalties are very severe if you use the Blundells, safety is standard a firearm in a crime of violence,” operating procedure. “It’s very says Blundell. “You are allowed to important to make sure it’s defend your life. But this is not the unloaded before I start handling Wild, Wild West.” it,” says Blundell. “It’s just a At the mention of cinema, precaution.” Blundell starts in on another Even if one thinks a firearm pet peeve of his: the laughable is unloaded, it still deserves the portrayal of firearms in films. utmost respect, repeats Blundell Movies frequently have “nothing on several occasions. “You don’t to do with reality,” he chuckles. point the muzzle of any firearm, “What I see is what’s technically loaded or unloaded, at anything or wrong. They’re movies; they’re anybody that you’re not willing to fiction. What they show you destroy,” he says. “One takes great is impossible.” He cites the care with handling firearms. It’s mismatched sound effects that

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 35 Grey’s Anatomy “Flirting With Medicine”

We’re too sexy for these scrubs.

reating severe illness, ex- a close relationship with a woman former lover, Dr. Mark Sloan. The treme trauma, or a difficult he was treating for injuries and interns are also close; George medical condition is all in amnesia after a ferry accident and O’Malley, Izzie, and Meredith lived aT day’s work for the physicians at eventually slept with her. Izzie, an together. George slept with both Seattle Grace Hospital. A heart intern, became engaged to Denny and had an extended relationship transplant or brain surgery is a Duquette, a cardiac patient who with Izzie, even while he was mar- routine task for Preston Burke or was awaiting a heart transplant. ried to Callie Torres, an orthope- Derek Shepherd, two of the most The doctors on Grey’s Anato- dic surgeon with whom he worked. accomplished surgeons on the my spend much of their time tak- The complexities of these tangled television program Grey’s Anato- ing care of each other. The chief relationships often seem to con- my. More challenging was saving of surgery, Dr. Richard Webber, sume as much time as diagnosing the life of a man who suffered a has a special interest in an intern, illnesses or performing surgeries. heart attack during sex and had to Meredith Grey, who has had a long With all these personal and pro- be “separated” from his lover. Then and complex relationship with fessional challenges, there’s never there was the case of a student Derek. Coincidentally, Dr. Web- a routine day for the physicians on who became encased in concrete ber had a similar relationship with Grey’s Anatomy. while trying to impress a friend at Meredith’s mother, who was a re- — Chester Pach a building site. nowned physician. Derek’s wife, The physicians on Grey’s Anat- Addison, also a doctor, had been omy care deeply about their pa- living in New York but joined the tients. Dr. Alex Karev developed staff at Seattle Grace, as did her

36 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA A Passion to Serve

BY Megan A. Wong

Dr. M. Natalie Achong is committed to helping the needy both on the job . Natalie Achong, Achong’s early experiences and in her community. M.D., grew up in the greatly influenced the person Mworking-class New York she is today. At her elementary City boroughs of Queens and school — where both the students Brooklyn, where her neighbors and teachers, including the her eventual decision to become were predominantly other African- principal, were African American a physician. Achong developed American families. While she was — young Natalie was educated into a woman with a strong sense by no means raised in the lap of about the historical struggles and of her ethnic and cultural identity luxury, the 41-year-old mother of notable contributions of African as an African American and is two likes to focus on the blessings Americans within the fabric of determined to affect the world in and privileges that she has enjoyed the American experience. These creative and meaningful ways: in her life: caring, attentive parents important lessons instilled in her both inside and outside of and a close-knit community that a sense of civic responsibility and the hospital. instilled in her a sense of ethnic a desire to contribute positively to From a young age, Achong pride and civic responsibility. society as a whole, culminating in and her two younger siblings were

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 37 Grey’s Anatomy doctors are more expected to succeed, regardless Davis School of Biomedical interested in each other’s anatomy of circumstances. Their father, Education at the City University than their patients’. Opposite page: Dr. M. Natalie Achong is dedicated an immigrant from Trinidad, of New York (CUNY), a program to serving low-income and minority was a major role model. He never that would enable her to become clients. missed a day of work in his life a doctor by age 22 — the age and used to tell his children that when most of her peers were just his job was to go to work every finishing college. day and that their job was to do During her medical training, experience convinced her that she the very best they could in school. Achong further solidified her could make a real difference True to her parents’ urging, young commitment to social justice in the lives of young women by Natalie Achong excelled in the and public service. Although specializing in obstetrics and New York public school system. she had never before lived away gynecology upon returning After graduating from high school, from home, the then-20-year-old to New York to complete she was accepted to all of the Ivy medical student initiated a project medical school. League universities to which she that took her to the Deep South Her experience in the South had applied but instead opted to to work with teen mothers at a during the 1980s also illustrated enroll in a prestigious, accelerated community health clinic in the the disparities present in modern B.S./M.D. program at the Sophie Mississippi Delta. This profound medicine. Determined to reduce

38 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 39 these inequities, she declined sponsored community service, not just about making money, as a offers to join private medical and actively supporting the arts, physician. It’s also about doing my practices that might have afforded youth services, and international best to support my family and also her a more lucrative lifestyle. affairs through involvement in give back to the community.” Instead, Achong chooses to serve an organization called Links, Achong’s many obligations in hospitals that treat a broad comprised of female African- require a great deal of energy, spectrum of needy patients. She American professionals. “I feel time management, and, above also volunteers in many extra that there’s a higher calling in all, personal commitment. clinical activities, including working and imparting the best, She rises daily at 5:00 a.m. for acting as “camp doctor” for her excellent and valued medicine to morning prayer and meditation children’s summer camp, taking those who maybe can’t afford the before diving into the many a leadership role in church- ‘good doctors,’” Achong says. “It’s activities that characterize her

There is more to being a doctor than treating patients: Above, Achong steals a few moments to update a patient’s chart. Achong’s colleagues are personable and professional.

40 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA days. Needless to say, Achong’s where they set up free medical are mothers and physicians, even life extends beyond the hospital. clinics for local residents. with all their so-called titles and One of her greatest joys is her Achong meditates daily but education, they’re still the ones family. In addition to raising two admits that finding time for that tend to the sick and the home, children, which means everything self-care is a constant dilemma more often than not.” from getting them to school on for many doctors. “Doctors may time to helping them with their not always have the time they homework, Achong takes an would like to devote to keeping active role in their extracurricular themselves fit, in balance, and Megan A. Wong is a writer and activities as well. “I have the work eating well. It’s really challenging editor in the Bureau of International that I do at the hospital and I have to do that when you’re being Information Programs of the U.S. the work that I do at home,” she pulled in so many directions,” Department of State. says, emphasizing that “the work says Achong. She humorously at home is as pressing, important, adds a self-deprecating reference and demanding physically as to the television medical dramas anything I do in the hospital. that feature physically stunning Doctors lead lives that are physicians who look flawless at any complicated and pressured. And hour of the day or night: “Most as a mother raising kids, it really is doctors don’t look like that,” a juggling act.” she laughs. Aside from a hectic schedule Beyond volunteerism and that includes commuting between church-sponsored activities, her home and the various hospitals Achong regularly lectures to and clinics in which she works, medical providers (community Achong maintains a full agenda clinic staff, medical students, of professional and community nurses, physicians) about topics service commitments as well. In ranging from cultural awareness addition to working full time as to how better to meet the needs of both an assistant clinical professor underserved communities. “There in the Department of Obstetrics is still a lot that needs to be said and Gynecology at the Yale School … on issues of ethnicity because it of Medicine and as an attending does make a difference. I certainly physician at St. Vincent’s Medical see that in terms of heath care Center, she spends more than when it comes to women’s health,” half her spare time on nonclinical Achong says. This belief is at the duties. She volunteers at a local core of her devotion to women’s health clinic, participates in health, both locally and globally. church-sponsored activities, takes “More often than not, women are a leadership role in the National the ones who decide health-care Medical Association, publishes issues in a given family. They’re original research in peer-reviewed the ones who take the kids to the medical journals, and volunteers doctor, they’re the ones who take with overseas medical missions. care of the sick children, they These missions take Achong and make the appointment, they’re the her colleagues to places like the ones that drive all that,” Achong Dominican Republic and Ghana, says. “Even for my colleagues who

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 41 Gossip Girl “Busy Spreading Lies”

Chatty, catty, and rich: We’ll dig up your dirt and tell the whole school.

“ ossip Girl here — your one main a secret. Serena had sex with Some adults Blair knew must and only source into the Blair’s boyfriend, Nate Archibald. have reassured her. Nate’s father, scandalous lives of Man- And to make matters worse, Nate a cocaine addict, fled the country hattan’sG elite. And who am I? That’s had never slept with Blair. to avoid arrest. Catherine Mason one secret I’ll never tell.” Gossip Girl just loves a “cat- Beaton, the stepmother of Blair’s Nobody knows her identity, fight” between “hotties,” and Blair new boyfriend, Marcus, had affairs but everybody at the fictitious and Serena didn’t disappoint her. both with Blair’s old boyfriend, Constance Billard School, the They became rivals in their snob- Nate, and with her own stepson. oh-so-exclusive academy for girls by clique of privileged youth on “Do you ever feel like our whole on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, the Upper East Side. Their nas- lives have been planned out for devours Gossip Girl’s blogs and ty encounters occurred at lavish us?” Nate asks his friend Chuck. text messages. They learned from parties, designer fashion shows, “That we’re just gonna end up like Gossip Girl about “the biggest and even at the dean’s home at our parents?” news ever” — the unexpected re- Yale University when they made “That’s a dark thought,” Chuck turn of Serena van der Woodsen a campus visit. Eventually the two replies. a year after she suddenly left New estranged friends reconciled, yet “You know you love me. XOXO. York for boarding school in Con- they still schemed over sex and Gossip Girl.” necticut. Serena’s departure came status. “I just need to know that in — Chester Pach without warning; she didn’t even this misbegotten corner of Man- tell her best friend, Blair Waldorf. hattan, wealth, ambition, and mor- What happened on her last night al laxity are still alive and well,” in New York, however, didn’t re- Blair declared.

42 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA Helping Family, Friends, and Her Community BY Megan A. Wong

Kathy Conde (second from left) is devoted to her parents and helps n a summer afternoon Conde, who likes to be called contribute to the family’s welfare in August, Katheryn Kathy, graduated in 2009 from by excelling in school and working OConde’s California home an all-girls Catholic secondary part-time jobs. is socked in with fog. Conde, school. Like most teens, she 18, lives with her parents in a enjoys hanging out with friends working-class neighborhood of and playing with her dog, a Great San Francisco. The homes here Dane named Tobby. She was Conde describes her friends are modest: no mansions, no even on the cheerleading team as supportive of one another, not swimming pools. In fact, many of during her sophomore year. But back-stabbing or competitive. They the houses in the neighborhood Conde and her pals don’t shop often confide their problems to one could use a new coat of paint. The for entertainment — their school another and rely on each other for sage green Conde home is neat requires uniforms. For fun, advice, especially about boys. But and well-kept, however, with three Conde’s friends mostly watch Conde’s romantic life is not filled recycling bins responsibly placed DVDs at each other’s houses, and with dating drama. She does not out front. no one in her group has a car. currently have a boyfriend, but

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 43 Left, top and bottom: Who’s hot and who’s not — that’s what matters to these teens from the television program Gossip Girl. Above: The carefree lifestyle of TV’s most privileged, who are obsessed with shopping.

she did attend her prom — with a don’t have to be a superstar or a Researching and Inspiring for male friend from another school. nerd. You can be a little of both.” the Vitality of Education), and Students at Conde’s school do like Conde’s real passion is organized a successful toy drive for to have fun and throw parties, but community service, which underprivileged children. She was she thinks that TV shows tend takes up virtually all her spare also elected to the student council to exaggerate the social aspect time. During secondary school, and assisted voters as a poll worker of American teenagers’ lives. “In Conde peer-tutored classmates, in the last four elections. those shows, it seems like all the volunteered as a counselor at a Conde’s home life is typical of girls are focused on the social part sleepaway camp for middle school her classmates, many of whom are of their lives,” says Conde. “But students, founded a college/ also the children of immigrants. in reality, I have to balance my scholarship awareness club called While she was born in the United academics and my social life. You S.T.R.I.V.E. ( Scholarship Team States, Conde’s parents both

44 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA More than a pretty face: Conde is an honor student committed to community service and helping the needy.

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 45 The Conde family takes their immigrated from El Salvador in she would need to find a way to dog, Tobby, for a walk in the hopes of a better life. Yet, on their help fund it. Raising awareness neighborhood. Kathy has shown modest salaries (her mother is a about enrichment and scholarship resiliency and drive in the face of various challenges. housecleaner and her father works opportunities among her in the kitchen at a local hotel), school’s student body is what the the Condes cannot afford to send S.T.R.I.V.E. club aims to do. their two daughters to college Despite such challenges, without financial assistance. Conde refuses to feel sorry for who have given her so much, Conde knew that if she wanted to herself. She is driven by a desire including her parents, teachers, attend her first-choice university, to succeed and give back to those and school. “All these people really

46 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA want me to do good. And I can’t let summer. But Conde is not one to The past suggests Conde will them down. I want to go to college rest on her laurels. The summer do plenty with the opportunities and actually have it all pay off at after graduating, she worked two she has been given. the end,” says Conde. “There was jobs — totaling six days a week — a point at which my dad had two to save money for college textbooks jobs to pay for my school. [I want] in the fall. She interned at the San to show them that I appreciate Francisco Superior Court and also Megan A. Wong is a writer and what they’ve done for me.” worked as a program assistant at editor in the Bureau of International Despite a challenging course a local real estate office. Conde Information Programs of the U.S. load (including several honors won a number of scholarships — Department of State. classes) and a heavy load of enough to pay her tuition at the extracurricular activities, Conde University of San Francisco (a maintained excellent grades private college and her first-choice during all four years of secondary school). But Conde still lives at school. She is bilingual, proficient home, which enables her to save in Spanish and English, and fluent on rent and stay connected to her in conversational French; and she community service activities. took math as an elective during More than anything, the her senior year — because she experience of Conde’s parents liked it. In recognition of her high convinced her that, if given basic academic achievement, Conde opportunities, most people can was admitted to two prestigious make something of themselves scholastic honor societies, the in the United States. “They came California Scholarship Federation during the [Salvadoran civil] war,” and the National Honor Society. says Conde. “They had to start Her efforts have been over. Just to see that they came recognized. Conde received here and were actually able to do numerous awards and something … what’s stopping scholarships, including several me? I’ll bet what they had to go community service awards and the through was harder than what I Spartan Award, the highest honor do.” Conde feels not only pride and for a graduate of her school in inspiration from her parents’ story recognition of superior academic but a responsibility to do well and performance and demonstrated make their sacrifices worthwhile. commitment to school and “What [money] they do make they community. But public recognition have to spend on food, on clothes, is not what drives her. “Doing and things that we need, so we community service felt rewarding,” don’t have a lot of extra money,” says Conde. “Just to know that it’s she says. “I want to get a good job actually going to make a difference and a house and then help out my in someone’s life.” parents because I feel like they’ve One might imagine that done so much for me.” maintaining such a demanding schedule during the school year would leave Conde exhausted and ready to watch television all

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 47 Boston Legal “Attorney Antics”

Barely legal: These lawyers are experts at bending the rules, in both their professional and personal lives.

enny Crane and Alan rageous reasons. Claiming self- ciates in his firm and even with a Shore are both high-pow- defense, Denny shot a client that judge who presided over some of ered attorneys at Crane, the court assigned to him because his cases. DPoole, and Schmidt, the fictitious he didn’t want to defend someone Yet despite their incorrigi- law firm on the television program who raped and murdered a teen- ble womanizing, Alan and Denny Boston Legal. They are close but ager. Denny and Alan have even ended up together. Since Denny improbable friends, since they ended up on the opposite sides of appeared to be suffering from disagree on practically every con- politically charged cases. Alan was Alzheimer’s disease — what he usu- troversial issue. Denny favors the the attorney for the plaintiff and ally insisted was Mad Cow Disease death penalty; Alan opposes it. Denny was the counsel for the de- — he and Alan decided to marry Alan has strong reservations about fense when the town of Concord so that Alan would have spousal the war in Iraq; Denny brusquely tried to secede from the state of rights in managing Denny’s medical told his friend, “You’re either with Massachusetts. care and finances. Supreme Court us or against us.” Alan favors gun On one issue, however, Denny Justice Antonin Scalia performed control; Denny considers any regu- and Alan agree: They both think the ceremony. lation of firearms an infringement that they should be able to in- “We’re married,” Denny of his constitutional rights. Denny dulge their “interests” in women. exclaimed. keeps guns in his office and oc- Denny has propositioned clients “Can you believe it?” Alan casionally brandishes one when and coworkers. He even has a life- replied. talking to colleagues or clients. size, blow-up doll in the image of — Chester Pach He is even willing to pull the trig- his fellow senior partner, Shirley ger, sometimes for the most out- Schmidt. Alan has slept with asso-

48 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA Ethical Advocate

BY Karen Hofstein

Most of Richard Beilin’s time is spent at his desk pouring over client he room is lined floor-to- did what they were supposed to files — not kicking up theatrics in a ceiling with bookcases do, you wouldn’t need lawyers’ courtroom. Tholding thick volumes because every single thing a lawyer bound in hand-tooled leather, does is based on the premise that bearing the titles American somebody isn’t going to do what Jurisprudence, New Jersey Practice, they were supposed to do. That and Uniform Commercial Codes. is why you have to write down state of New Jersey. The holder of A long table in the center of the contracts. That’s why things end up a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers conference room is surrounded in litigation. As society gets more University and a law degree by a series of comfortable chairs. and more complicated, you need from The George Washington Seated at the head of the table is people who understand [these University, he is currently part of a friendly looking man with dark complexities] enough that other the firm of Wacks & Hartman, auburn hair who leans back and people can rely on them.” located in Morristown. says, “One thing I always say to For the past 20 years, Richard Established in 1715, people is, ‘If everybody always Beilin has practiced law in the Morristown enjoys a special place

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 49 Anything goes at the law firm of Crane, Poole, and Schmidt on Boston Legal.

in American history as the site When asked how the real trial. “Many attorneys I know who of General George Washington’s practice of law compares with what do trial work won’t have more than headquarters during part of the is seen in television and films, one or two trials a year.” Revolutionary War (1775–1783). Beilin laughs, “The one time I Films and television also rarely Today the town is a quiet watched Ally McBeal [a television represent accurately the amount of community filled with Victorian- program], it made me nuts because time lawyers spend at a courthouse style houses, office buildings, the client would come in and the waiting for their cases to be heard. stores, and restaurants. As the very next day they would have “I remember at the time I was county seat, Morristown is also the a trial.” The reality, he says, is doing a lot of work in bankruptcy site of a large courthouse teeming very different, as a case may take court,” Beilin says. “You could with daily activity. months or even years to come to show up at court at 9:00 a.m. and

50 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA Beilin stands by the law.

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 51 be literally number 115 on the These days, Beilin says, it is deals with the day-to-day issues motion list. You’d sit there for very rare for him to be in court, that arise in the enforcement of three and a half hours before your as the majority of his work is these regulations. case got called. I would always nonadversarial in nature. Most Much of Richard Beilin’s time bring other work or reading to do of his time is spent representing is spent attending town council while I was waiting. But they never the interests of homeowners meetings at night. In the month show that on [television shows], associations (including following the introduction of how someone has to sit around for condominium boards) and an ordinance, there are public three hours with nothing to do. municipal governments. He drafts hearings before the council votes They don’t show the down time the ordinances and resolutions that on whether it should be adopted. when you are not on trial.” become law for the towns. He also He notes that when an ordinance

Attorneys study mountains of paper to defend their clients properly.

52 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA is to change the speed limit on a “Many times a lawyer will tell a eclectic variety that includes ET, street, “You’d be surprised at how client that they will win them a Apocalypse Now (“it has a great many people show up.” $1 million judgment only to try literary quality to it”), Woman of Beilin says, “You are writing to persuade them later to accept a the Year, Auntie Mame, and It’s a [laws] that affect people on a day- $30,000 settlement. A lot of times Wonderful Life. to-day basis. … This is the ground the biggest impediment to settling The last of these films is a level of democracy.” He continues, a case is not knowing how to particularly apt selection for “At town meetings you see what manage your client’s expectations.” Beilin in that he is very similar the most important issue is to a He adds, “Ultimately you have to to the George Bailey character particular person and it really does really care about the people you (played by Jimmy Stewart). Both get discussed and listened to. The are representing.” are dedicated, hard-working council members look at people’s As a member of the local family men who have committed problems — like street road access attorney ethics committee, Beilin themselves to improving the lives to fire protection services — and does a great deal of work on ethics of the people in their respective try to solve them. … issues. He says, “When advising a communities. “I genuinely do like the fact client you can think of other than that most of the members of the purely legal issues — like economic boards and councils are volunteers, issues and moral issues.” and they are doing a job that is His cell phone chimes out Karen Hofstein is a writer in thankless a lot of the time, but they with a ringtone set to the theme New York City. really do try as hard as they can. from the classic Italian western They are overwhelmingly honest film The Good, the Bad and the people. It sounds corny but it’s nice Ugly. He excuses himself to answer to help people.” a call from his wife. For the past Beilin adds that he has 19 years, Beilin has been married found a great deal of fulfillment to his high school sweetheart, in representing the needs of Lorraine. They live in Morristown individuals and fondly relates a with their two children, 13-year- particular exchange he had 15 old Katie and 10-year-old Sam. years ago with a grateful client. Beilin is a dedicated husband and “When I was doing bankruptcy father who says that one of his law, a client called me and said, “most favorite things to do in the ‘Last night was the first good world is to go to Sam’s baseball night’s sleep I’ve had in months. games.” About daughter Katie, he Thanks.’ ” says with pride, “She’s an excellent Among the many things student and all-around great kid.” Richard Beilin considers essential Beilin is a “huge baseball fan,” to being a good lawyer is “having with the New York Yankees as his the ability to separate the things favorite team. As a former college that are important from the things English major, he frequently that aren’t.” He also says, “It is relaxes at night by reading important to know when you are 19th-century books and what right and insist on it but also know he describes as “big fat Russian when you are wrong and have the novels.” He is also a film buff with ability to explain to people why an encyclopedic knowledge of they are right or wrong.” He notes, old movies. His favorites are an

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 53 Notorious “Rapper With a Rap Sheet”

Notorious B.I.G. had a short, sensational, and troubled life.

otorious B.I.G. was one of “I wasn’t the man my mom wanted With money and fame came rap music’s greatest per- me to be,” he said in the film. more difficulties. Biggie became formers, and the film No- Wallace then went to jail on a involved in a feud between rap Ntorious tells the story of his short, drug charge, and he was behind artists that turned violent. Tupac sensational, and troubled life. “Big- bars when his daughter was born. Shakur, another famous rapper, gie’s” real name was Christopher He expressed his frustration by was gunned down in Las Vegas in Wallace, and he grew up in a poor writing rhymes in a notebook. Af- September 1996, although Biggie neighborhood in Brooklyn, New ter he got out of jail, Wallace used was never implicated in the murder. York. His mother, a teacher and those rhymes to land a recording Despite death threats, Biggie went single parent, provided direction contract. At first, he used the stage to Los Angeles to promote his new and discipline, but young Christo- name Biggie Smalls, a play on his album. On March 9, 1997, he, too, pher decided he could never make large size — over six feet and 300 died in a barrage of gunfire during it big by staying in school, even pounds. Later, he started calling a drive-by shooting. He was only though he was a good student. As a himself Notorious B.I.G. and re- 24 years old. The film ends with teenager in the 1980s, he became a leased his first album, “Ready to scenes of devoted fans mourning street hustler, selling crack cocaine. Die,” in 1994. Among the raps on that Biggie’s death and celebrating his He had money for hip clothes and album were “Suicidal Thoughts,” life because he had “proved that no fancy jewelry, but his life was full “Me and My Bitch,” and “Who Shot dream is too big.” Two weeks later, of problems. His girlfriend became Ya?” Although darkly violent and his second album was released. pregnant, and his mother threw explicitly sexual, these raps won The title was “Life After Death.” him out of their apartment when praise from many critics and fans — Chester Pach she found out he was a drug dealer. for capturing life on the streets in inner-city neighborhoods.

54 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA Perfecting their Pitch

BY Brian Heyman

Juilliard students Robyn Quinnett and Benjamin Harris know that enjamin Harris sat on the The two 21-year-olds are music success in the classical music stage in front of the Sphinx students at the Juilliard School, a business takes discipline and BSymphony Orchestra. He highly selective and prestigious endless practice. put his bow to his large double New York City school of drama, bass and played a movement of a music, and dance. Harris and concerto for the crowd watching Quinnett were participating in the final concert of the 2009 the Sphinx Organization’s annual chosen for the semifinal. Sphinx Competition at Orchestra event for black and Latino string Harris began making a Hall in Detroit. Robyn Quinnett players, part of its program to name for himself by reaching the had played in the semifinals a few develop young minority artists ultimate round and being selected days earlier at another Michigan and to enhance diversity among by the judges as the runner-up venue, Rackham Auditorium in classical musicians. While young among the three finalists. He took Ann Arbor. She put her bow to her musicians nationwide submitted home $5,000 and a glass trophy. violin and let the soothing sounds audition tapes, only 18, Harris “It was definitely a rush,” Harris flow for the panel of judges. and Quinnett among them, were said, reflecting later in the year at

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 55 Juilliard. “Just performing there I’ve done a lot of them. You have Quinnett said. “I love for people to with a good orchestra behind me, to put your best foot forward and enjoy. Music, in general, just takes it was quite a feeling. That’s what hope you have a good day. I think you away from all the gritty things it was all about. I didn’t really care I had a good day. You learn a lot in life. It can clear your mind. about the prize at that moment. from the judges’ comments.” It’s very therapeutic. The violin is Getting to the finals was good Both Harris and Quinnett really expressive.” enough.” aspire to earn their living in While Quinnett began on the Quinnett would have loved to classical music, to put their piano at age six before switching to have made the finals and could try lessons, talent, and passion to use the violin, Harris wanted a more again, but she looked back from by performing for others. They pulsating soundtrack when he was school and expressed no regrets can’t help but have a connection to a child. Although he lived for a about her semifinal performance. their music and their instruments. little while in Florida and Ohio, he “I wouldn’t have changed a thing,” “Beautiful sounds please people, was born and mostly raised in the she said. “Competitions are funny. and I love to entertain people,” city of Xalapa in Veracruz, Mexico.

Fighting his way to the top: Notorious B.I.G. mugs for the crowds.

56 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA “Music … takes you away from all the gritty things in life,” says Quinnett. She started learning piano at age six and later switched to violin.

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 57 Harris doggedly pursues musical perfection. At age 21 he already has the talent and the drive to make his dream a reality.

“My mom tried to put me into 13. But he explored other music, the price was right. “My mom was classical and take me to operas, including jazz, and took a new encouraging me to get into that and I didn’t want to have anything direction at 16. “I started double music school because they give you to do with it,” Harris said. “I didn’t bass and I started listening to a lot the instruments for free,” Harris understand it. It was too serious. I of classical music,” Harris said. “I said. “We didn’t have the money couldn’t stay still for two seconds.” just realized that’s what I wanted to pay for instruments. I was like, So he took up the electric bass to do for the rest of my life.” ‘Wow, the double bass is expensive, guitar when he was 10 and made He studied for two years at so I might as well take advantage.’” money playing in clubs with rock the Instituto Superior de Musica It was no surprise he pursued bands beginning when he was del Estado de Veracruz because music. Harris is from a musical

58 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA family. His mom, Cecilia Ladron grace on skates, competing as a “I wouldn’t really judge my de Guevara, is a singing teacher at figure skater. She said she won success by how well known [I am] the conservatory in Veracruz. She nine gold medals and a silver in or how much money [I make]. But is in that university’s choir and U.S. Figure Skating Association I would definitely want to be well sings once a year in an opera. His competitions in her age groupings. liked. I would want people to want American father, Arlan Harris, “I just had a great time with it,” to hear me. Then I would be doing went to the North Texas School of Quinnett said. “I’ve always been something valuable.” Music and is a piano technician into athletic things.” in New York City. He used to be a But at age 15 she gave up drummer in jazz bands and played skating to focus her energies on percussion in a symphony. making music. “I had to choose Brian Heyman has been a Benjamin Harris came to New between the two of them because I sportswriter in the New York area for York and auditioned at Juilliard. couldn’t take them both seriously,” 27 years, earning numerous national He received a scholarship and now she said. “I liked violin a lot and regional journalism awards. He is in his third year at the school. better.” is a staff writer for the Journal News, “My future goal professionally After reaching the semifinals a Gannett daily newspaper based is first to try to find a job in an of the Junior Division in the 2006 in White Plains, New York, and he orchestra,” he said. “That’s where Sphinx Competition, she went to freelances for the New York Times I would get my steady income. study violin for a year in Georgia, and the Associated Press. And then I would also like to then came to New York City on keep playing solos and have a solo her own. She eventually auditioned career as well. I like being soloist of at Juilliard. The acceptance meant an orchestra. I think I would like everything to her. “It was like to be in the U.S. for a while and being reborn,” Quinnett said. “It pursue being with great musicians was a dream come true.” Now she everywhere around the world.” is in her second year and thinking Quinnett entered the musical about playing professionally and world with her piano lessons possibly teaching someday. on the small Caribbean island “The sky’s the limit,” Quinnett of Montserrat, where she was said. “I would love to have solo born. She was a seven-year-old opportunities. I also really love living in North Carolina, where chamber music, but it’s hard to her American father, Larry, was be in a group that you click with. stationed in the military, when she It’s like being married to a few saw a symphony orchestra. She other people. My hope is to find asked her parents for a violin and people that I really like to work finally received one about a year with and have the creative freedom later and started lessons. to decide who I want to play with Quinnett then lived the life of and what I want to play. In that a military child, moving to bases way, you’d have to be in a soloist in places like Texas and Tennessee. tier. There are a lot of factors that She returned to North Carolina go into whether you can become and took secondary school courses successful at it. But if I’m working online so she could have more hard, sometimes it surprises you. time to devote to her two passions. It’s just little steps at the time, Besides violin, she also showed I think.

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 59 Desperate Housewives “Love Thy Neighbor”

We share everything — even our spouses.

isteria Lane, the street san’s ex-husband and with another life. Then there was the tornado on which all the main neighbor, Carlos Solis, in between that devastated the neighborhood characters on the tele- his two marriages — both to Gabri- and seriously injured Carlos, leav- visionW program Desperate House- elle Solis. ing him blind for years. wives live, winds through a typical Wisteria Lane seems like a Despite the charms of life on American suburban neighborhood quiet street, where life is safe and Wisteria Lane, some residents oc- in the city of Fairview. The hous- secure, but sometimes accidents — casionally endured extended ab- es are large and comfortable, the or worse — occur. In the opening sences. Carlos served a prison lawns are lush, and the neighbors episode, Mary Alice Young com- sentence when he pleaded guilty are — well — neighborly. Susan May- mitted suicide. Her neighbor, Rex to assault. Orson went to jail af- er, who was divorced, married her Van de Kamp, also suffered an un- ter he confessed to running down neighbor, Mike Delfino, divorced timely death when his pharmacist, Mike with his car. Mike did jail time him, and then married him again. who had fallen in love with Rex’s for manslaughter and drug dealing Susan’s old friend and neighbor, wife, Bree, tampered with his heart before he moved to Fairview. All Katherine Mayfair, was living with medication. Susan accidentally set these former criminals have paid Mike and planned to marry him Edie’s house on fire; Edie, in re- their debt to society and are now until he suddenly decided to get taliation, did the same to Susan’s living “typical” suburban lives on back together with Susan. Mike house. Orson Hodge, who became Wisteria Lane. was a very good neighbor to Edie Bree’s second husband, intention- — Chester Pach Britt, with whom he had a romantic ally hit Mike with his car, inflicting relationship before he married Su- serious injuries. Even worse was san. Edie also had affairs with Su- the car accident that took Edie’s

60 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA Their Own Support Network BY JOSHua K. HANDELL

Katarina Podlesnaya shows affection for her grandmother. ineteen-year-old Katarina immigrated to the United States “Kate” Podlesnaya comes from Russia in 1993, first settling Nfrom a blended family. in Baltimore, Maryland, before Like nearly 11 million other moving to the Washington, minors in the United States, Kate D.C., area. It was in Potomac, moments, the family is eager to lives with one biological parent Maryland — just a few miles share impressions of their adopted and one stepparent. But Kate’s outside the nation’s capital — that country and reminisce about family is blended in another, very Marina met Yuri Nakshin and his the pros and cons of life in American way: They represent daughter Natalya, Ukrainian-born Eastern Europe. immigration from different immigrants who had also arrived After reciting a list of common nations. Half of the Podlesnaya in America in 1993. After receiving American stereotypes of Russians family was born in Ukraine and her visa, Kate joined her mother — “Siberia is the worst place on half in Russia, and all of them now in the United States during the earth, we drink lots of vodka, all of live in the United States. summer of 2001. With their slight us are in the KGB or the mafia…” Kate’s mother Marina accents, evident only in fleeting — Marina and Yuri get misty-eyed

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 61 Sin in suburbia: Being “neighborly” takes on sinister connotations in Desperate Housewives.

reflecting on the loved ones they versions of the American Dream: determination to make the most had to leave behind to pursue their Not only have they immigrated of her opportunities in the United American dream. “I have this to the United States and settled States, Marina has built up her nostalgic urge to return to Kiev,” into a comfortable lifestyle, but clientele from a few close friends to Yuri muses wistfully. “All of my they also have built a business a large and devoted customer base. best friends still live there. But from the ground up. Marina owns “I’ve heard people talk about with Marina’s business, it’s hard and operates her own hair salon Russia under the Soviets and for us to get away for long periods.” just outside of Washington. With Russia today as entirely different Katarina’s family has lived two the support of her family and the countries,” reflects Marina. “It’s

62 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA The extended Podlesnaya family reconnects over a meal. These Ukrainian and Russian immigrants integrate traditions and values from the old country into their new lives in the United States.

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 63 No backstabbing here. The Podlesnayas demonstrate that the family that plays together stays together.

true [that] a lot of things are very and argue about American politics. starting over in America. Though different, but there is still not the This tradition has been around the immigrant experience in the equality of opportunity that’s ever since Yuri moved to the States. United States is not always an everywhere here. It’s not as bad These Saturday nights refuel the easy path to prosperity, the new in many ways as the Soviets were, Russian aspect that our lives might family that Yuri, Marina, Natalya, but the success I’ve achieved here be missing.” and Katarina formed in their would’ve been nearly impossible Leaving the country of new homeland has prospered in Russia.” one’s birth is always difficult; tremendously. Yet economic security cannot leaving after growing up there, “Life in the U.S. is simply fully compensate for far-flung establishing a career, and starting easier compared to life in the friendships and displaced relatives. a family is harder still. But Yuri post-Soviet bloc,” Yuri explains. Sharing a twinge of melancholy, and Marina both saw advantages “During Soviet times, when Marina remains circumspect: for themselves and, most we were growing up, there “Every Saturday night, we meet up importantly, for their children was a deficit on everything, with our [Russian] family friends, that far outweighed the costs of ranging from school supplies drink a couple of bottles of vodka, moving across the world and to even bread.” “Except perhaps

64 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA vodka,” Marina chimes in with prestigious Ross School of a mischievous giggle. “Yes, well, Business. Looking ahead, she plans except perhaps that,” concedes a to pursue a career in marketing grinning Yuri. “Job search and and public relations in the United successful advancement depended States, which she calls “the land of entirely on your relationship with the free.” the [Communist] Party.” “The U.S. was very welcoming Marina shares a story about to us, and we are thankful for her father, a skilled pilot, who that,” reflects Natalya, speaking was repeatedly passed over for for herself and her stepsister. promotion for his refusal to America is thankful too. join the Communist Party. For Immigrant families like Kate’s her, immigrating to America defy simplistic stereotypes of was about providing a future of the American family. Neither economic security and educational scandalous nor self-absorbed, Yuri opportunity for her daughter. and Marina made great sacrifices Kate’s stepsister, Natalya, was only to win what some might consider nine years old when her father an unremarkable middle-class brought her to the United States life. But the opportunities they for much the same reason. enjoy and seek for their children While television often depicts are remarkable, and they are a American families as the home of reminder that the United States spoiled teenagers and “desperate remains a land of opportunity, not housewives,” the Podlesnaya least for new Americans of every family suggests a more accurate race and color and creed. depiction might include strong cross-cultural connections, a deep work ethic, and a strong priority on obtaining a good education, Joshua K. Handell was an intern ideally at a world-class university. in the Bureau of International Describing “equality of the sexes” Information Programs in the summer as one difference between Russia of 2009. He is an undergraduate at and the United States, Kate attests the University of Michigan in Ann that her mother has consistently Arbor, where he plans to pursue “placed great emphasis on graduate studies in the Gerald R. education.” Ford School of Public Policy. “It makes sense,” Kate says. “Parents come to the U.S. to provide their children with an opportunity for a brighter future. As their children, we have to follow suit by studying hard and making the most of our chance.” True to her word, Kate is working toward a degree in business administration from the University of Michigan’s

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 65 Montgomery Burns “Show Me the Money”

Maniacal mogul: Nothing but dollar signs are in the eyes of Montgomery Burns.

fter watching a movie with ployee at the nuclear plant, but a child. Through an unlikely series scary characters, Homer Mr. Burns treats him, like all his em- of accidents, Bobo ended up with Simpson tried to reassure ployees, with utter disdain. Burns Maggie, Homer’s youngest child. Ahis son Bart by telling him, “There’s even tried to take away one of the After hard bargaining, Mr. Burns nobody that evil in real life.” Per- workers’ most important benefits agreed to pay Homer one million haps not, but in Springfield, where — their dental plan — but Homer dollars as well as three Hawaiian the Simpsons live, there’s Mont- became union president and led islands for Bobo. No amount of gomery Burns, who delights in evil the workers out on strike. They money, though, would make Mag- deeds. Burns is the billionaire own- didn’t give up even after Mr. Burns gie relinquish her teddy bear. But er of the Springfield Nuclear Pow- turned off all the electricity and when she saw how sad Mr. Burns er Plant on the television program plunged Springfield into darkness. was without Bobo, she gave him The Simpsons, and he’s willing to In the end, the triumphant workers the bear for nothing. “Something do just about anything to increase sang, “They have the plant, but we amazing has happened,” the de- his power and wealth. He steals oil have the power.” testable old man blurted out. “I’m from the Springfield Elementary Mr. Burns has lived a long and actually happy.” School. He activates a device that luxurious life. He is more than 100 — Chester Pach blots out the sun so that Spring- years old; he lives in a mansion with field will be totally dependent on the largest television in “the free his power plant. “What good is world” and a collection of priceless money if it can’t inspire terror in treasures. Yet there was one thing your fellow man?” he asks. that Mr. Burns still wanted — a ted- Homer has been a loyal em- dy bear named Bobo that he lost as

66 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA Cutting Costs While Saving the Earth BY Gail Kalinoski

Small-business owner Steve Rigoni gets his hands dirty helping out with teve Rigoni’s interest in something else,” the 55-year-old every aspect of his wind farm. wind power dates back to Rigoni notes. Rigoni, a married Sthe 1970s, when the United father of three grown children, States was feeling the effects of an turned to crop farming. “We grow energy crisis and oil prices had corn, soybeans, and hay for the risen dramatically. He built his local horse people and grass for built on his sprawling, 600-acre own wind turbine then. Though it drying the corn. We do custom (240-hectare) farm in Pavilion, worked, Rigoni, a third-generation [corn] drying for other farmers in New York, located about 90 dairy farmer in upstate New York, the area,” Rigoni says. minutes from the Canadian border. admits it wasn’t terribly reliable, He also decided that year He is part of a growing trend and he eventually took it down. to give wind power another try. in the United States: residents, By 2006, Rigoni had decided Now when Rigoni looks out in his farmers, and small-business to give up dairy farming. “It was backyard, he sees a 10-kilowatt owners who are creating their own my grandfather’s dream. I did it Bergey wind turbine attached electricity through wind power. for 35 to 38 years. It was time for to a 140-foot (42.5-meter) tower The small wind market has been

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 67 growing rapidly in recent years, 78 percent in 2008 alone, according to Ron Stimmel of the American Wind Energy Association. Stimmel says government incentives are helping people like Rigoni, who seek energy independence and a way to reduce their carbon footprint, to manage the cost of the wind turbine systems. Rigoni was one of the first in his area to put up a wind turbine on his property for his personal use, but others have been cropping up around town since Rigoni’s was erected more than three years ago. Even the local school district has turned to wind power, Rigoni says. Rigoni obtained his turbine from Sustainable Energy Developments, Inc. (SED), a dealer in turbines from the personal size up to commercial models, including a 1.5-megawatt project at Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort in Hancock, Massachusetts. But the company takes a lot of pride in its small wind projects like the one at Rigoni’s farm. Ernie Pritchard, cofounder and director of small wind at SED, says Rigoni and others like him who install wind turbines on their properties are “looking to make a statement and believe in renewable energy.” Since SED is a small Cruel, conniving, and obsessed by profits, Montgomery Burns cares company, Pritchard remembers even less about the environment than he does about installing Rigoni’s windmill his workers in The Simpsons. and still talks with him about maintenance issues. “He loves his turbine,” and many state governments measures helped Rigoni make the Pritchard says of Rigoni, sounding offer tax credits, interest switch to wind power. like a proud father. discounts, and other incentives Rigoni’s turbine produces Rigoni’s wind turbine system, to help Americans convert to about 800 kilowatts of electricity including installation, cost this environmentally-friendly, a month, just about enough to $55,000. But the U.S. government energy-efficient technology. These power all the appliances in his

68 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA Steve Rigoni is one of a growing number of Americans looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint and their fuel costs.

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 69 Capturing the wind’s energy is safe, clean, and renewable.

home and office. Before Rigoni installed the wind system, he and his wife, Susan, had a natural gas-powered clothes dryer and hot water heater. They switched both to electricity to take full advantage of their windmill. Rigoni’s electric bill used to be about $120 to $140 a month. The windmill makes those bills a thing of the past. He usually only pays a basic fee of about $16 a month to the utility company, National Grid. During a visit to his farm, Rigoni, dressed in a plaid shirt and blue jeans, demonstrated how his system works. Although it is

70 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA only 200 yards (182 meters) from still take about 15 years before the “Supply and demand, it’s his home, Rigoni says he never wind turbine pays for itself. But something we farmers know all hears loud noises. His windmill Rigoni believes it is important for about,” Rigoni says, adding, “I has become something of a town Americans to do what they can to believe we all have to do something landmark as others considering decrease dependence on oil and about the energy crisis.” erecting their own turbines have coal for power and to use more stopped by to see his. renewable sources of energy like Rigoni says he has never been wind, solar, and biofuels. approached by a large commercial “One of the ways I look Gail Kalinoski is a freelance writer wind farm developer seeking to at the wind turbine is it is a and editor living in Wappingers Falls, erect bigger windmills on his land, diversification in my investment New York. A journalist with more but other farmers in neighboring portfolio,” Rigoni says. “I put than 25 years of experience, she has towns have been. Today, large money into buying the windmill written about alternative energy, white wind turbines dot the now and I get my electric bill paid commercial real estate, and other rolling landscape of many upstate when I retire.” business topics for newspapers, Web New York communities as they While he notes that wind sites, and trade publications. supply clean wind power to utility power is still “one of the loves companies. of my life,” these days Rigoni is Even though Rigoni’s putting his energies into another windmill is much smaller than type of alternative energy: the commercial-size wind biomass, which is fuel or heat turbines, he still had to get created from plants and plant- approval from local officials to derived materials. In Rigoni’s case, set up the system because of its he burns the switchgrass he grows height. Since there are no other on his farm to dry corn instead of neighbors near his property, he using propane gas. was given the go-ahead. As with the windmill, Rigoni Wind turbines require an becomes excited as he explains annual wind speed average of about this new system — how he built 10 miles (16 kilometers) per hour to it, how it works, and how it saves make them practical for personal both money and the environment use. This works for Rigoni, whose because it is carbon dioxide upstate New York town benefits neutral. By burning switchgrass, from stiff seasonable breeze he saves about 1,000 gallons (3,800 blowing off nearby Lake Erie. liters) of propane a day during the On a late summer day, there fall corn-drying season. Propane was a light breeze in the air and can cost at least $2 a gallon so the the three white 10-foot (three- savings add up quickly. meter) fiberglass blades of Rigoni’s While the savings are windmill were spinning gently important, especially to a farmer, across the brilliant blue sky. He for Rigoni a big part of his notes it takes five or seven good switchgrass-burning project is days of wind to get most of the convincing others to invest time electricity for the month. and money in creating renewable Even though his electric bills energy sources and the markets are covered every month, it will for them.

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 71 Dr. Phil “Tough Love, On Cue”

Dr. Phil knows best. And he’ll tell you so. Again and again.

r. Phil makes millions of from experts. Dr. Phil is always Kaylee in tears. The parents ex- house calls each day, there, too, bluntly telling them to changed “disturbing accusations” coming into the homes of “get real” and improve their lives. and engaged in what the announc- Dviewers of his television talk show Many people watch Dr. Phil er promised viewers was “a con- to provide help with the challeng- because the program makes com- frontation that you’ll never forget.” es of daily living, including relation- plicated issues simple and dramat- “Does anybody have this child’s in- ships, parenting, weight loss, and ic. On one show, Dr. Phil brought terest at heart?” Dr. Phil asked, as sexuality. Phillip McGraw earned a mother to tears when over and he sensationalized a sad situation a Ph.D. in psychology in 1979 from over he played a video of her that would usually be resolved by North Texas State University, but screaming at her son, “Shut up, the discreet intervention of pro- he gave up his clinical practice. He Vincent.” fessionals in social work or law gained widespread attention with Dr. Phil sometimes deals with enforcement. the publication in 1999 of a best- sleazy and salacious cases, giv- Dr. Phil no longer has a thera- selling book, Life Strategies, and ing viewers and members of the pist’s license, but the state of Cali- then launched his popular televi- audience a chance to peer into fornia, where he tapes his show, sion show, Dr. Phil, in 2002. Each troubled lives and dysfunctional decided that he didn’t need one. day’s program has a theme, such families. He devoted two pro- State officials concluded that his as “Sibling Abuse,” “Sex Offend- grams to allegations that a father program is more about entertain- ers Next Door,” and “My Big Fat was mistreating his three-year-old ment than psychology. Spoiled Family Member.” Guests daughter, complete with what the — Chester Pach grapple with their problems on the show’s announcer described as show, sometimes receiving advice “heartbreaking footage” of young

72 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA Helping Youth, One Conversation at a Time BY SONYA F. WEAKLEY

Dr. Perette Arrington respects those she counsels. This includes r. Perette Arrington knows She is the only person who protecting their privacy. what it’s like to listen to hears them. She meets with people Demotional outbursts of in a private office in a confidential anger and confusion. She knows setting where her visitors can feel about the pain of people who are safe about expressing their feelings. separate it” from her personal life, suffering emotional stress. Her No cameras. No television. No she said. career as a psychologist sometimes public drama. When she goes home, she means she has to accept and hold During her career, Arrington doesn’t tell anyone about any of the the emotions of her patients. She is has worked with patients who are people she has seen. “It’s part of a container. very sick, and the sessions could what makes my job special.” “When they can’t contain it, be difficult. “Sometimes people ask Arrington has a doctor of they project it out and it has to go me how I do the work that I do. It psychology degree from The somewhere,” she said. “I will sit is sad to think what some people George Washington University in in a session and contain all their go through with mental illness, Washington, D.C., and a master’s emotions.” but I wouldn’t do it if I couldn’t degree in counseling psychology

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 73 from Howard University, also in In her group sessions, she She also periodically goes into Washington. works with sixth-, seventh-, classrooms to teach an entire class Though she has worked in and eighth-graders on a single and works directly with teachers many settings, Arrington recently topic, such as conflict or anger and parents on managing different became the resident psychologist management. Her goal is to types of behavior. Recently, she at John Philip Sousa Middle prevent problems before they taught a class to help students School in Washington. The city happen. She also sees children understand the signs of suicide. has a mental health program one at a time to help them work “I teach them how to figure out the to help schools work with out personal problems, such as signs within their friends, siblings children one on one and in small a conflict with a friend or a and how to get help. Sometimes private groups. family concern. kids just don’t know; they might

More about entertainment than helping people, the Dr. Phil show is truly a spectacle. Don’t argue with Dr. Phil. It’s his show, and he is always right.

74 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA Dr. Perette Arrington has counseled youth in shelters and in public schools.

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 75 Helping middle school students turn their backs because they don’t an eighth-grade student. “You can is Arrington’s specialty. She takes know how to respond.” come to her if you are feeling down their problems seriously and they, For a group of eight sixth- and or have a problem.” in turn, confide freely in her. seventh-grade girls, Arrington She also intervenes in “mini led a weekly lunchtime anger crises,” such as when two students management discussion about get into an argument, but the what it means to have a “low- problem is not discussed in front and the students at the school. frustration tolerance.” This type of other students; the disagreeing The school is lucky because most of “intervention” is meant to stop students work it out privately. schools do not enjoy the benefit problems before they occur. Sousa Principal Dwan Jordan of having a full-time staff person “You can tell Dr. Arrington described Arrington as being focused on the mental health of your special feelings,” said Lajuan, able to work well with the adults the students, he said. “It has been

76 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA a blessing to get Dr. Arrington,” hours a day and also served as a Her work has helped her to he said. The students “all trust her. familiar face if they needed to go understand the way teenagers She’s very ethical, and she always to a hospital or if they faced other think and how to channel their has a plan.” emergencies. competitive nature, and they are Arrington didn’t initially “I was so drained and tired,” comfortable talking to her. “I choose to study psychology. As but it became easier when she understand the pressures they a top volleyball player (starting could see any of the children are under and I can connect middle hitter for three years) making progress, she said. with them. If you enjoy what you at Seton Hall University in She also has worked in youth do, it is easy for people to feel New Jersey, she found herself shelters, in Washington’s public comfortable around you.” overburdened majoring in biology school system, as an associate in a pre-medical studies and being a group practice, and as a researcher year-round athlete. “I was losing for the National Association of sleep. I had to make a decision.” Social Workers. In addition to her Sonya F. Weakley is a writer and Her decision was to put her full-time job at the middle school, editor in the Bureau of International plans to be a cardiologist on hold Arrington has her own part-time Information Programs of the U.S. and explore another health care private practice where she sees Department of State. field. “I switched to psychology children and adults in individual and loved it. It made sense to me.” counseling sessions in her office. She understood the different She also works as a consultant for theories of psychology and how another practice. they help explain different types And never did she give up of behavior, and she seemed to volleyball. She has been the head have a natural ability to apply coach of the girls volleyball team them in specific situations. From at Woodrow Wilson Senior High that point on, Arrington knew School in Washington for 10 what she wanted to do. Helping seasons, and her team has won its people work through personal league championship for each of problems felt like “an innate skill,” them. “It’s a full-time job in itself,” she said. she said. She plans practices and While pursuing her degrees, tournaments and even coordinates she took advantage of many getting parents and others to drive opportunities for internships and the girls to games. “I do it because research projects, including an I enjoy it. I do it for the girls.” internship at a boarding school Coaching volleyball takes a and clinic for teenagers with great deal of her time, and she severe emotional disabilities often talks about giving it up, and a program working with but she continues putting off the children living in foster (usually decision. “I keep getting these temporary) homes. wonderful athletes and I want to At the boarding school, help them and mold them and Arrington worked several months give them the same opportunity in a special care program for I had.” patients who were diagnosed with advanced mental illnesses. She was available to the children 24

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 77 By the Numbers Facts and Figures

• 5,274: Number of farmers markets in the United • 45 million: Number of people who visited New States (Farmers Market Coalition) York City in 2009 (New York Times)

• 8.9: Percent increase in the number of farmers • 6.4 million: Number of Americans who use public markets in the United States from 2005 to 2009 transportation to commute to work (Farmers Market Survey) (U.S. Census Bureau)

• 55: Number of varieties of vegetables in the White • 33: Percentage of that number who work in New House garden (New York Times) York City (U.S. Census Bureau)

• $200: Cost of seeds and mulch for the White House • 722: Miles of subway track in New York City vegetable garden (New York Times) (Metropolitan Transit Authority)

• $2.5 billion: Total spent by Americans in 2008 on • 700,000: Number of cars kept out of New York City home food gardening (Reuters) per day due to public transportation use (Metropolitan Transit Authority) • 43 million: Number of U.S. households that grow their own fruits, vegetables, and herbs • 34,000: Number of police officers in New York City (Reuters) (Reuters)

• 20: Average percentage growth of U.S. certified • 1,619: Number of police officers in the state of organic farmers each year for the past 10 years Vermont (U.S. Department of Justice) (Organic Farming Research Foundation) • 8,000: Number of police officers at the 2009 • 40.8: Percent of U.S. land area used for farmland inauguration of President Barack Obama (U.S. Department of Agriculture) (New York Times)

• 17: Percent of U.S. land made up of coastal • 26 out of 44: Number of U.S. presidents with law communities (not including Alaska) (National degrees (ABC News) Ocean Service) • 23,119: Number of lawyers in Japan (Japan Times) • 55,054: Number of rescues by lifeguards in the United States in 2009 (United States • 1.14 million: Number of lawyers in the United Lifesaving Association) States (Wall Street Journal)

• 176.4 million: Number of people who visited a • 788,000: Number of medical doctors in the United U.S. beach in 2009 (United States States (New York Times) Lifesaving Association) • 82 million: Number of people around the globe who watch the world’s most popular TV show, the American medical drama House (Foreign Policy)

78 POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA • 16,000: Number of students who graduate from • $6.3 billion: Money pledged by the U.S. U.S. medical schools each year (New government towards state and local York Times) renewable energy and energy efficiency efforts (The White House) • 650,000: Number of international students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities in 2009 • 627: Number of wind turbines at the world’s largest (Washington Post) wind farm, the Roscoe Wind Complex in Texas (CBS News) • 12.5: Percent of the U.S. population that are immigrants (United Press International) • 1941: Year of the first wind turbine to feed into an electrical grid (Wired) • 10.9 million: Number of school-age children (five to 17) who speak a language other • 371.7 million: Total energy (in thousand kilowatt- than English at home (U.S. Census hours) produced by renewable Bureau and State University of New sources in the United States (U.S. York-Albany) Department of Energy)

• 54: Percent of all U.S. households with a member who plays a musical instrument (Bolz Center for Arts Administration)

• 61.8 million: Number of Americans who engage in a volunteer activity (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

• 8.24 million: Number of young Americans (between the ages of 16 and 24) who regularly volunteer (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

• 22: Percentage by which students who participate in community service are more likely to graduate from secondary school than those who don’t volunteer (New York Daily News)

• 89: Percent of American households that give to a charity (National Philanthropic Trust)

• $1.416 billion: Proposed AmeriCorps funding for 2011 to strengthen America’s volunteer sector (AmeriCorps)

POP CULTURE VERSUS REAL AMERICA 79 Photo credits: Picture credits are separated from top to bottom 20: AP Images — © Warner Bros./Photofest; by dashes, and left to right by semicolons. © Warner Bros./Photofest. 21- 22: Candy Moulton. Cover: © Fox Searchlight/Everett Collection — © 24: CBS/Landov. 25: Seth Harrison. 26: © CBS/ Paramount Television/CBS/Photofest; Michael Landov (3). 27-28: Seth Harrison. 30: © Miramax/ Desmond/© ABC/Photofest; © Warner Bros./ Photofest. 31: Ken White/State Dept. 32: © Photofest — Ron Tom/© Everett Collection — Miramax/Photofest (3). 33-34: Ken White/State Miramax Films/Photofest — © All-American Dept. 36: © Frank Ockenfels/ABC/Photofest. Television/Everett Collection; Robert Voets/ 37: Seth Harrison. 38: © Frank Ockenfels/ABC/ © CBS/Landov — Timothy White/The CW/ Photofest; © Richard Cartwright/ABC/Photofest Landov — 20th Century Fox Television/Photofest. — © Vivian Zinc/ABC/Photofest. 39-40: Seth Frontispiece: Erwin Wodicka/PhotoSpin. Page 2, Harrison. 42: © The CW/Landov. 43: David Paul top: 20th Century Fox Television/Photofest; Morris. 44: Andrew Eccles/The CW/Landov — © NBC/Photofest; © Warner Bros./Photofest. Timothy White/The CW/Landov; © The CW/ 2, bottom: Seth Harrison; Robert Benson; Candy Landov. 45-46: David Paul Morris. 48: © Scott Moulton. 3, top: CBS/Landov; © Miramax Films/ Garfield/ABC/Photofest. 49: Jill Walker. 50: © Scott Photofest; Michael Desmond/© ABC/Photofest. Garfield/ABC/Photofest (2) — © Blake Little/ABC/ 3, bottom: Seth Harrison; Ken White/State Dept.; Photofest. 51-52: Jill Walker. 54: © Fox Searchlight/ Seth Harrison. 4, top: Andrew Eccles/The CW/ Everett Collection. 55: Seth Harrison. 56: Mark Landov; Scott Garfield/© ABC/Photofest; © Fox Lennihan/AP Images (2); © Fox Searchlight/Everett Searchlight/Everett Collection. 4, bottom: David Collection. 57-58: Seth Harrison. 60: © Danny Feld/ Paul Morris; Jill Walker; Seth Harrison. 5, top: ABC/Everett Collection. 61: Joshua Handell. Danny Feld/ABC/Everett Collection; 20th Century 62: © 2004 Moshe Brakha/ABC/Photofest — Reed Fox Television/Photofest; © Paramount Television/ Saxon/AP Images; ABC/Everett Collection. 63-64: Everett Collection. 5, bottom: Joshua Handell; Joshua Handell. 66: 20th Century Fox Television/ Gail Kalinoski; Seth Harrison. 6: 20th Century Fox Photofest. 67: Gail Kalinoski. 68: 20th Century Fox Television/Photofest. 7: Seth Harrison. 8: 20th Television/Photofest (2). 69-70: Gail Kalinoski. Century Fox Television/Photofest (2). 9-10: Seth 72: © Paramount Television/CBS/Photofest. Harrison. 12: © NBC/Photofest. 13: Robert Benson. 73: Ken White/State Dept. 74: © Paramount 14: © NBC/Photofest; © All-American Television/ Television/Everett Collection — © Paramount Everett Collection. 15- 17: Robert Benson. Television/CBS/Photofest (2). 75-76: Ken White/ 18: © Warner Bros./Photofest. 19: Candy Moulton. State Dept. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Bureau of International Information Programs 2010 http://www.america.gov/publications/books.html

Chester Pach Executive Editor: Jonathan Margolis The television and cinema profiles in this book Director of Publications: Michael Jay Friedman are written by Chester Pach. He teaches history Design Director: Min-Chih Yao at Ohio University, where he holds the title of Managing Editors: Martin J. Manning Outstanding Graduate Faculty Member. He is the Megan A. Wong author of three books on U.S. politics and foreign Contributing Editors: Sonya F. Weakley policy. His next book, which will be published Nadia Shairzay soon by the University Press of Kansas, is The Joshua K. Handell Presidency of Ronald Reagan. Photo Research: Maggie Johnson Sliker POP CULTURE [ VERSUS\ REAL AMERICA

Bureau of International Information Programs U.S. Department of State http://www.america.gov/publications/books.html