Can We Give Ourselves a Break?

Drive down any street, turn on the television or sit in any specialty coffee house and you’re likely to hear a singular recurring message: You/I/We are not good enough. You need plastic surgery, therapy, drugs and ab training to better yourself. I could use a refinance to rehab my remodel. We’re killing the earth and  psychologically damaging our children. Our pets are no better off—they need several cable channels and satellite radio stations dedicated to their plight.

Over the last fifty or sixty years, the American identity has been shaped by the media. Film and television creates a lens through which we define ourselves and others. It’s almost as if we have all become documentary Film-makers, wandering the streets of our everyday lives, filming, editing and interjecting commentary, for our next big Sundance hit.

... more