Perfection American Style

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2007/sep/15/weekend7.weekend1


To begin with I would like to comment on how much I like George Saunders work. Although I have to say (and rather in eloquently I might add) that the short stories in In Persuasion Nation are some of the most disturbing words I have ever read in the 17 years I have been reading books. Seriously! I was shocked and appalled by some of the material because it so obviously relates to contemporary America. And that frightens me. Even more than Bush and Sarah Palin did.

George's articles in The Guardian however are completely different and I thoroughly enjoyed reading through them to find an article to comment on for this week. So the topic is Perfection and how well the Americans embrace it and to some extent abuse it. After reading the article, one realises two things; we all strive to achieve perfection in one form or another and Americans (in particular Britney Spears) are willing to inflict this on their infants. I can only assume that she would want to whiten her child's teeth because he is an extension of her and therefore must remain perfect at all times. They don't call it La-La Land for nothing.

The article is slightly reminiscent of the first of the short stories in In Persuasion Nation, 'I Can Speak!' A disturbing story, it is written in letter form and details how a company have invented a mask that fits onto your baby's face and allows it to 'speak'. You really have to read it to understand what I'm saying. But this is the issue Saunders is talking about. The contemporary American fights for perfection. Children from a young age seek to grow up so quickly to become the perfect girl, trying to emulate their Barbie dolls or little boys wanting to be like their favourite sports star. And parents so eager to mould their child into the perfect off-spring, eliminating any flaws that they had themselves. It seems that no matter what age your are, it will never be enough. Saunders himself was nearing 50 at the time and was trying to straighten his teeth! America is almost the motherland of cosmetic surgery, whether it be liposuction, breast implants or cosmetic dentistry. The never ending stream of media images that portray the latest in 'self improvement' have become the new fashion of the 21st Century. A notion that Saunders mocks, and quite right too. As he notes, each nation has their peculiarities. Apparently us Brits are scrappy in times of hardship. Americans on the other hand see something nice and think: can we make it better? I don't believe such a statement is so apt, so perfect, than that to describe America today.