Admittedly, I’ve always been very scared of extreme patriotism, Americana, flag flying vibes. But I’ve always been really proud to be an American, just unsure of A. how to express my patriotism and B. what makes me actually proud of America. And usually around Flag Day and Fourth of July, I feel like a putz if I don’t flag wave and parade around with other proud Americans.
But what I grew to realize was that my patriotism like my spirituality was very private and usually celebrated internally. And then Michael Jackson went and died and I had to work through some emotions and came to realize that I was proud of Americans, usually artists, who had come from nothing and grown to great levels of fame using their craft.
Equating patriotism with pop icons didn’t really start until I had children and became this arbiter of culture for my children. As early as five, my son was listening to early Who, Rolling Stones, Al Jones records as not only an introduction to sound but to quality music. And luckily, his kindergarten teacher chose “Thriller” for the year-end performance, giving us the green light to introduce Michael Jackson into our world.
I vividly recall watching on YouTube The Jackson 5 perform “ABC” with my son and him asking me if I would let him tour in a band like that at that age. What I didn’t tell my son was that Michael’s parents sort of pushed him and of all his siblings on stage and instead said, “Sure! If you wanted to sing and dance all day in front of millions of fans, I would totally support that action.”
And that is very American. The drive to be stars, to perform in front of millions, to sing and dance about everything important to us to any audience. Look at Broadway, Britney, Kate and Jon, etc. Luckily the cream rises to the top and we’re rewarded with talent like Michael Jackson, Andy Warhol and Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Imagine if you’re from China and your biggest cultural export is Chairman Mao, the first chairman of the Communist Party of China, who really only became truly iconic in mainstream culture when Andy Warhol produced him various colors.
No wonder everyone wants to move to America. We export the “dream into reality” ideal every single day with our pop icons, leading billions of people around the world to believe that if you have the drive and a little bit of talent, this land can make you rock in front of millions. That’s so awesome and that makes me so proud to be American, if only I had flags with all their faces on them.
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Lisa Degliantoni is the Editor in Chief of El Paso Media Group. She periodically contributes to Newspaper Tree, when the spirit moves her, and can be reached at lisad@epmediagroup.com.
