’30 Rock’ is one of my favorite shows. It is very fast and cutting edge and it takes place in New York so many of the jokes have to do with being in NY. A recent episode talked about the two opposing views of New York (you can read a little about this episode in this article on the Entertainment Weekly website:http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/02/17/30-rock-season-6-episode-7/) – the wonderful, magical aspect of New York and the malicious and rude part of the Big Apple.
If we look at Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York”, the magical aspects of the city fill most of the lines – the fact that if you make it in NY, you can make it anywhere; the city that never sleeps etc. In the episode of ’30 Rock’, Alec Baldwin’s character believes this theory full-heartedly even after he is mugged. Whereas Tina Fey’s character proposes all the evil stereotypes of NY and New Yorkers – rude, pushy and that the city is trying its best to take everyone down.
Recently I met up with someone who had recently moved to the city. I asked her what her impressions of the city were. She said that she thought that the city was trying to get the best out of her while the people were just great. She provided examples and I told her how most people I knew thought the opposite – that the city was great but the people were horrible.
As a Native New Yorker, I like to think of myself as one of the great people in the city – the kind that helps tourists with directions or wants to show newcomers the cool spots of the city. But I find that a lot of the people that live here (who are not native New Yorkers) are rude, pushy and inconsiderate because someone told them that is the way they need to be to live here. I don’t see how this kind of behavior would be appropriate anywhere. But it happens and it happens a lot in this wonderful city. I am one of the believers that the city is great but the people stink.
Who can deny the awe one feels when they peer up a the skyscrapers? Or who doesn’t feel like there are parts of the city that don’t fell like hectic and chaotic places – like Central Park or along the River’s edges? The Broadway shows and the Museums draw so many tourists to the city every year along with the history of Yankee Stadium and Time Square. It’s a shame that there are such opposing views to the city but it’s also what makes it endearing. Where else in the world could shows like ‘Seinfeld’ or ’30 Rock’ have been created but in a place that most people simultaneously love and hate?
1 comment:
It's true. NYC is a world capital where you can find the spectrum of good, bad, ugly, kind, mean, wonderful, and discouraging. No wonder so many movies and TV shows are set there and so many songs have been written about it.
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