Sat Sep 13, 2008 7:46AM16 comments ›
Sat Sep 13, 2008 — by Martha Thomases
Smallville, by Martha Thomases
Brilliant Disguise
The media narrative for the last week has been about “small town values.” According to several speeches made during and after the Republican convention, they are the party of these values, and Democrats are not.
What are these small town values? Among those traits cited are safety (you can leave your door unlocked), church, and concern for your neighbors.
To me, the quintessential small town is Smallville, and Clark Kent is its quintessential citizen. He helped his parents on their farm, and worked in their store. He made friends that lasted for his entire life. And as soon as he learned what he could, he left for the big city.
For Clark, Smallville is a place where he could make his mistakes. He could count on his family. When he felt confident in himself and his abilities, he went to Metropolis, so he could share his gifts with the most people possible.
Bart Allen learned how to use his speed in a relatively small town as well. Again, it was a place where he could learn to make mistakes without a lot of witnesses.
Some of my favorite movies are about the idyllic life in small towns, like this or this or especially this.
I grew up in a large small town. Youngstown, Ohio, had a population at that time of about 100,000 people. We did not lock out doors at night. In the summer, we shopped at farm stands that were just a few miles away from our home. Not only did I know my neighbors, but I hid under their sinks when we played hide-and-seek. Not only did we go to synagogue on Friday and Sunday School on, well, Sunday, but the rabbi’s son used to walk me to kindergarten.
I went to high school in a small town. There were 300 students in my graduating class. Many of the friends I made there remain my friends today, nearly 40 years later (Hi, Swayze! Hi, Randy! Hi, Patience!). We’re scattered around the world, but we still keep in touch.
I went to college in a small town. The student population was close to half the population. I knew the local shopkeepers, the kids in the park, and the guy who delivered the comic books to the newsstand.
In all these cases, I couldn’t wait to get out.
A small town is lovely if you are part of the majority. The kids who are popular in high school, the cheerleaders and the quarterbacks, have every reason to stay. The kids who are close to their extended families and friends have reason to stay. They have good memories and a support system already in place. They are comfortable with the expectations of their neighbors.
For the rest of us, the opportunity to go someplace and reinvent ourselves a real attraction. No one in the big city ever saw you wet your pants in kindergarten, or fall on your face at the prom. You can find other people who are gay, or who share your interest in playing chess, or who want to play soccer.
If you’re ambitious, you can set high goals in the city, but if you’re arrogant, you get put in your place. It’s almost impossible to be the most successful person in New York. There will always be someone with more money, more social standing or more art. There is always someone more beautiful, and more intelligent. The conventional categories are impossible to top, so you find your own category.
The thing about living in a big city is that, really, it’s not that much different from living in a small town. I know my neighbors. I know my butcher, and the people at the pasta store and the cheese store. When my son was in school, I was part of the PTA. We take care of each other’s pets, we volunteer, we work together. As you read this on Saturday, my husband is helping to run the Sidewalk Sale for the block association.
Seven years ago, the rest of the country saw New York’s allegedly small town values. They saw people helping each other through the horrors of September 11, for weeks afterwards. We held each other’s hands. We gave food and clothing and blood. We were all Americans, with American values.
We have values in the big city. We don’t do this.
Martha Thomases, ComicMix’ Media Goddess, would like a front porch.
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Comments (16)
Linda Gold (10:19 AM on Sat Sep 13, 2008)
Great column Martha. I too grew up in a small town . It measures a mile by a mile and my graduating class was the largest ever at 100 people. I learned a lot of good values there and some hard lessons about trying to be yourself when that was different from most everyone else. At 18 I left for NYC, the only place I ever wanted to live growing up. I found a lot of good people with good values there as well and no one who would have approved of what was done to rape victims in Wasilla.
John Ostrander (12:23 PM on Sat Sep 13, 2008)
Great column, Martha. There are good and bad people everywhere -- including in the Big Cities. Trying to foist "small town values" as being superior is just another way of trying to divide people in this country -- make it "us" vs "them" within our own borders. We're all US.
Heck, I even know some good Republicans.
Joe in Philly (3:36 PM on Sat Sep 13, 2008)
"Heck, I even know some good Republicans."
I'm glad someone does.
Mike Gold (6:01 PM on Sat Sep 13, 2008)
I suspect John's thinking about the old days when anti-Daley politicians were thought of as Republicans. Sadly, John's mistaken. During those thrilling days of yesteryear, there were no Chicago Republicans -- only Democrats who ran as Republicans in the mayoral elections to cop some free meals. The last time a Republican was elected mayor of Chicago was 1927, and he (William Hale Thompson) was the most corrupt of the bunch.
However, he wasn't stupid. Mayor Thompson once threatened to punch the King of England in the nose if he were to dare to come before him at the Chicago city council. Amusingly, said king had no such plans.
Why is that smart? Chicago had one of the highest concentration of people of Irish heritage in the world. Including Ireland.
This is why John and I often wax poetic about our home town.
John Ostrander (8:40 PM on Sat Sep 13, 2008)
Actually, I was thinking of Richard Ogilsvie (mis-spelled but i'm too lazy to look it up at the moment) who I liked at the time. But most of the Republicans I like are not politicians -- they're just voters who happen to be Republican. Like a lot of my family. Oddly, a lot of those are voting Obama this time.
Mike Gold (8:55 PM on Sat Sep 13, 2008)
Oh, I liked Dick Ogilvie as well. Good man. Actually had a conscience.
Elayne Riggs (11:43 AM on Sun Sep 14, 2008)
A real winner of a column, Martha! As a city/suburbs gal I've always kind of romanticized small towns. Robin grew up in English villages (their equivalent of small towns) so I get a lot of the feel for that second-hand, but I must imagine it's nothing like living there. I'd guess that most people who grew up in larger places romanticize smaller ones and vice-versa, the grass always being greener and so forth.
Alan Coil (8:42 PM on Sun Sep 14, 2008)
I've lived in my present location for about 6 years. I have locked the door to my vehicle maybe 10 times. Small towns are usually safer because evetybody knows everybody else. It's when you don't know your neighbors that it becomes easier to disrespect them.
I've lived in small towns of less than 5000 people for almost all my life, but will be moving shortly to a city. With the cost of gasoline, I'm just too far away from the action.
Michael Davis (9:09 PM on Sun Sep 14, 2008)
Maybe the best article I have ever read on the topic. Damn-I hate giving other people props. That said-this was freakin great. Hey-let's you and me move to a small town!! Won't that be fun?
Michael Davis (9:11 PM on Sun Sep 14, 2008)
BTW-I'm still out of the country so these posts cost me 5 million bucks or so to send...that's how good I thought this piece was!
Martha Thomases (9:23 AM on Mon Sep 15, 2008)
In a heartbeat.
Chris Gumprich (9:20 AM on Mon Sep 15, 2008)
It's not the neighbourhood, it's the neighbours. Excellent column!
Gil (12:03 PM on Mon Sep 15, 2008)
Fantastic column!
I couldn't agree more!
All the best to you, neighbor!
FangsFirst (4:22 AM on Tue Sep 16, 2008)
Wait, seriously? Someone considers 100,000 a "small town"? That's a city, gosh darnit. When you've got 6 high schools and 10 television stations, you're not even close to a small town. It's a very small city, certainly...but not a small town. In 100,000 people you actually kept track of the best quarterback or what have you in town? All of them saw you fall on your face at prom?
Madness!
I went to high school in a COUNTY that has a population of under 40,000, and a single high school for the entire county. THAT is a small town (and not even close to the smallest!). The town has a population of 15,000 for the record. I lived in a town (which I left for the 15k town when attending high school) which had a population of just over 2,000.
That's a town for ya. Even the 15k is technically still considered a city.
Just saying. I was shocked when the television Smallville's population was given as 45,000--and they suggested it was easy to sort through 45,000 people! Good grief, even living in a more heavily populated area now (and having grown up in one prior to high school) I cannot imagine I've met 45,000 people with even just time for a name from them...
If you want to talk "Small town values," they tend toward gossip conflicting with secrecy, backstabbing, and ruthless competition.
Mind you, there are the positives, like a sense of unity, but that's about it.
Martha Thomases (8:26 AM on Tue Sep 16, 2008)
There are more people in my zip code than there were in Youngstown when I was growing up. And only three television channels.
But I take your point. That's why I qualified it as a "large" small town.
Anonymous (10:26 AM on Sat Sep 13, 2008)
My first teaching job was in a small town. Everybody told me I didn't have to lock my doors. Then I came out one morning to find my car door hanging open. Kids in the playground probably had some fun looking through it. The professor's son who cat sat for me also stole from me on a regular basis. Guess I wasn't paying him enough. Jews had to drive an hour to the nearest synagogue. At least the Catholics got mass from a visiting priest...on Saturday night.
My favorite small-town movie is "To Kill a Mockingbird." It shows both the good and the bad and has the kind of hero I admire, someone who articulates values I share and sticks to them when things get tough. I doubt if Atticus Finch could make it today in national politics.
The Other Frank Miller