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BACK
in the 'early' days of cinema, and we mean, all the
way back to 1979, actor Richard Gere portrayed a young
man who made his living as a stud for hire.  He
serviced lonely, rich, married, women in Beverly Hills. The
film was called American Gigolo, and was directed
by Paul Schrader, who showed us his view of
the seamy side of Southern California, and, by extension,
America. In its way, this tale of immorality, though it failed
as an attempt to glamorize extra-marital sex and violence,
has both alarming and attractive elements to it. Even today,
over twenty years later - people are still writing about and
discussing this movie. This movie was made in America, and
all of its elemental people were American as well.
More
recently, in 1991, author Bret Easton Ellis wrote his
memorable novel American Psycho, which  was
a horrifying look at a younger man caught up in the ritual
of achievement and gratification. You may recognize these
typical motivators as distinctly American. Ellis's novel was
a graphic look at sex and mayhem, up to and including the
dismemberment of beautiful young women. At Amazon.com,
you can read reviews of this book, written by readers only
a few days ago. This novel has attracted and continues to
attract readers. Again, this book was a product of American
creativity.
Today
we are going to talk about various American 'icons', and what
it means to carry the legend Made in America. There
are images, songs, movies, and books that have become deeply
ingrained in our collective psyche, and are definitely part
of our lives, our speech patterns, and our memories. American
Gigolo and American Psycho have just served as
introductions to our thesis. These, as well as others that
we shall bring out into the light, shall be linked -- as in
connect the dots, the 'American' dots.
Do
you know these words?
They
were singing bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die...
Don
McLean penned these lyrics a generation ago. It was in
May of 1971 when he wrote the song. Its first performance
was in June 1971 when he sang it at the closing of the Fillmore
East, a rock venue that is a  cherished
memory to many. McLean's song did not evoke much response
that night...but by November of '71 it began its climb up
the charts and into history. Nearly thirty years later, in
February of 2000, a new version of this American classic will
be released by another American icon. Her name is Madonna.
What is it about this song...and why did McLean call it "American
Pie"? I don't have the answer yet. Do you?
Amongst
the best known of American Paintings is American Gothic
by Grant Wood. This painting is not  electric,
and will not excite you. But there is something about it that
attracts you. You see it and say, this is representative of
American art, of American people. The somberness of the subjects
brings to mind such terms as Middle America, or The Bible
Belt, but then, you might make a 180 degree turn and begin
to think of the lyrics from this quintessential American musical
by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein,
Oklahoma...
Where
the wind comes sweepin' down the plain,
And the wavin' wheat
Can sure smell sweet,
When the wind comes right behind the rain....
The
original production of "Oklahoma!" took place
on Broadway in 1943, then became a Hollywood production in
1955, and is still beloved, as the show is  still
produced and performed even today. Its story, an idealized
vision of a simpler time, is a tale of tender romance and
violent passion. Certainly, these words bring to mind images
of America. We haven't yet defined America, but we are sure
you can see where we are heading. America is more than a country
- it is a way of thinking, a way of life, and when we say
"Made in America" you are immediately aware that it means
something more than just the country of origin.
Want
some more? How about the rock group America?
Or the song American Woman by the group
Guess Who. Shall we look at television? Let's begin
with Dick Clark's American Bandstand, a
show where many American teenagers learned about music, dancing,
and being close. Then there is American Gladiators -
the modern re-creation of the popular Gladiator Games that
were so popular in the days of the pagan Roman civilization,
now updated to a 90's sensibility. And one more, just for
balance - have you watched America's Favorite Home Videos?
These are generally hilarious pictures from real life that
had been captured by Americans on video. The sum of this is
we sang and danced, we fought, and we laughed, all from entertainment
products that were made in America and became a part of the
fabric that is our country.
More
movies? America, America (1963) directed by
Elia Kazan, is about the dream of passage, an evocation
of the immigration experience in the late  19th
century. American Beauty, which might do very
well in the upcoming Oscars, is a look at what might be your
basic American neighbors. And isn't that a scary thought?
American Flyers was released in 1985 and was
a feel-good movie about two brothers, one of whom is dying,
who entered a bicycle race together. The movie featured a
young Kevin Costner who today represents the idealized
American movie leading man type. His career was made in American
films.
American
values and styles were carried to the far corners of the planet,
and were adopted by other film directors. German director
Wim Wenders gave us, in 1977, The American Friend,
a film about American gangsters. The Americanization of European
cinema was the subtext. Dennis Hopper, an American
icon to the strange or offbeat, was brought in as a
featured player, the title character who remained a  mystery
throughout the film, and this was a statement by Wenders about
how he feels about American values. From Britain in 1991,
we got American Friends, about a very repressed
senior tutor at Oxford who meets a young American girl in
the Swiss Alps and he learns a lot more about life and love.
We cannot forget a film made by the master of the Italian
"spaghetti westerns", Sergio Leone. This was not a
western. Instead it was homage to America gangster movies.
The protagonists were young Jewish men in New York City who
grew up differently than most of us. They became hoodlums
and this 1984 movie was called Once Upon A Time in America.
Back
home in the States, there was an excellent coming-of-age film.
 American
Graffiti (1973) was directed by George Lucas
before he even thought of "The Force". This was an important
film and introduced America to the likes of Richard Dreyfuss,
Ron Howard, and Harrison Ford. You can rent this
film and see what life was like for high school students in
the 1960's. That generation became what is now known as the
'boomers,' an apt description for the upswing in babies born
just after World War II. And although this film is more than
25 years old, it is still representative of values we live
by today.
On
the lighter side, we have such film fare as An American
Tail, made in 1986, and its sequel, produced in 1991,
An American Tail - Fievel Goes West,
both of which are animated films by Don Bluth and produced
by Steven Spielberg. Like Kazan's film America,
America, this was also about the  immigration
experience. Where Kazan's film was about Greeks, An American
Tail is about a family of Russian mice. Their name was
Mouskewitz, and the son, was named Fievel. America drew everyone
to its shores, and still does. Even poor mice in Russia knew
to come here. In 1988, American comedian Eddie Murphy
starred as an African tribal prince in a movie called Coming
to America. This wasn't a hugely successful film but
its title helped it. By adding 'America' to the title, immediately,
films are more attractive to ticket buyers. How do I know
this? Just look how many films have "America" in the title.
It is a very long list.
A
classic novel by Theodore Dreiser, called An
American Tragedy, was made into a movie. This is a
story that has "American" written all over it. A weak young
man is torn between a poor girl friend and a beautiful, wealthy
girl he meets. Which one does he pick? Why not rent the film
and find out? The movie version is called A Place in
the Sun, which along with 'streets paved with gold'
was another description for one or more American Dreams. The
film starred Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift,
both of whom became American icons themselves. This film won
6 Oscars, but today, you might feel that the film's depictions
of American morality and the idle rich are somewhat dated.
One
last film for our discussion is The American President
(1995) which was directed by Rob Reiner who himself
 was
an American icon during his "Meathead" days, as a member of
the cast of Archie Bunker. This was a very successful
movie that starred Michael Douglas, Annette Bening, Martin
Sheen, and Michael J. Fox. The screenplay was
written by Aaron Sorkin, who also wrote A
Few Good Men, a movie about the United States Marine
Corps, who themselves are American icons. Sorkin today is
writing The West Wing, this year's best new
television drama, set in another American icon and landmark
known simply as The White House. This movie, The American
President, perfectly fits our treatise. America is now,
has been, and always will be seen as THE ultimate place for
wish fulfillment; a land where handsome and honest politicians,
that we can look up to, exist, a place in the sun, and a place
where the streets are paved with gold. What's that? You say
it's not true in real life? It's only possible in the movies?
You're probably right. Oh well. Mai Pehn Rai...
But
there is such a thing as wish fulfillment. Anything
is possible. And this column, which appears in BEhavior,
will not let you down. Please remember the title of
this piece: just scroll back to the top of the page if you've
forgotten. Forthwith, we offer a classic example of an American
Dream, which many men and women in America share, and has
been manufactured with tender loving care. Maybe this image
will be the new standard for 'Made in America'. I know you
will like it. It can have but one name: I give you...
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