Team USA

Oklhoma, land of the very flat. "Native America" according to the license plates, though it seems to have escaped the licensing authorities that most Native Americans were chased out long ago. Home of the Boomers – capitalist profiteers from the oil boom - and the Sooners – cheats who snuck in before the allotted time of the land run, claiming land when really they shouldn’t have. What’s more: not only is this their home, but they’re celebrated – Everywhere! "The Sooners" is the name of the University of Oklahoma football team, based here in Norman. College football is huge in Norman and it’s almost impossible to go anywhere without an OU banner, a Sooners bumper sticker or license plate holder, not to mention that whatever shop you’re in will have a corner or an aisle of the shop dedicated to selling Sooners merchandise and that’s both in and out of season! It seems strange to me to name your team after a bunch of cheats but I’m sure that’s not the only thing I’ll find strange about Competing America.
This is Bible-belt country and not just the leather. This is the metal, the buckle. Churches line up along main roads competing for business. The buildings themselves could often easily be mistaken for warehouses if it weren’t for the occasional perfunctory steeple added, as if an afterthought, to the roof or for the billboards outside offering salvation. This isn’t the only way the various churches compete, last week I picked up a copy of the local classifieds only to find a Gospel supplement tucked inside. There’s a general religious fervour here which seems to go hand in hand with patriotism. Unless you’re a God-fearing Christian with Christian family values how could you possibly love America?! Again, within the pages of the classifieds, hidden amongst the ads are patriotic and religious exclamations. The US is the best and knows the best. (see "From Pastor Bob" excerpt from aforementioned Norman Classifieds Gospel supplement)
Last Saturday the Olympics finally came to a close. The opening ceremony was a spectacle to behold, not only because of the wonderful job done by the Greeks to remind us of the history of the Olympics and the celebration of the Olympics returning to its home after so long, but because of the spectacularly jingoistic commentary provided us by the American commentators. I would think it could be taken for granted that every country will have its own interpretation of events like this, especially one that pits them all against one another. Moreover that it’s even the job of the commentators to "big up" the national team a bit. But NBC’s commentators Katie Couric (America’s Lorraine Kelly) and Bob Costas (the USA’s youthful and tooth-perfect Des Lynam) really had me gagging. Apparently what makes the American Olympic team so great is the combination of the "Midwestern balance of power and grace" and the "Californian beach dynasty". I’m not entirely sure what happened to the rest of the country. In-line with the media’s policy of terrifying the nation into a complete state of panic, an entire between-ads-section was devoted to talking about security at the games. We were told that The Games, in a world where "terrorism [is] a constant threat" provides "a convenient intersection in a tough neighbourhood". Goodness! Even I was frightened! It all just made me very thankful for all the extra security than they assured us of in the next segment: the cost being five times more than at the Sydney Games, and twenty-five times more than that at Atlanta in 1996. With this kind of manipulative media it’s no wonder that many Americans are looking to lumbering brutes like George W. Bush wading in with his tough words and action. There’s a man really doing something about the many "tough neighbourhoods" and "convenient intersections" occurring all over the place all of the time! There was something else that bothered me about this American opening ceremony coverage though and it didn’t take me long to be bothered…about 3 minutes at a guess…the ridiculous number of commercial breaks. The show was just off to a start, the presenters had just introduced themselves and *BAM* it’s time to be sold to! Back again to some more smug commentary and just a smidgen of pageantry before it’s time for another break… This pattern continued throughout the whole show and although it wasn’t being shown live anyway, so it didn’t really matter it just made me wonder: Is America a country of tiny bladders? Perhaps they all suffer from attention deficit disorder? Maybe it was particularly bad form of hypoglycaemia causing them to all need to eat something every few minutes? I wish one of these were the reason, but ultimately it’s all about money. Even The Olympics, which is supposed to be about nations coming together, becomes a celebration of capitalism on America’s TV screens. Competition within The Competition!
So far I’m noticing a dichotomy in Competing America. Competition seems to be both incredibly important but at the same time they give the impression of being utterly convinced that they are the best. Perhaps it’s a sign of some deep-seated insecurity or perhaps just an astoundingly arrogant and wrong-headed need to prove it to everyone else. Perhaps as I delve deeper into Middle America I’ll discover which.