Steady Going Nowhere

Saturday night, L and I were supposed to go to Bahama Breeze a suburban restaurant where soccer moms and dads drink fruity cocktails and eat standard fish dishes with Caribbean names. L has a gift certificate and wanted to use it. But I did not feel like it.

Earlier in the day, my parents and I went to see Bobby. Estevez’s film on a day in the life of people at the Ambassador hotel the night Bobby Kennedy was shot. Even with the minor flaw of too many characters over too short a film, the writing and acting lift the movie to what it desires to be not just a picture honoring the values of RFK but an appeal to the audience to work towards a better society dedicated to respect for one another.

The film put me in the mood for conversation and community not usually found at Bahama Breeze. So, I called an audible. Instead of heading into the burbs, L and I went into city and The Royale.

There among pictures of the Kennedy brothers and other leaders of the past, I reflected upon the movie. With a faintly shadowed purpose, Estevez used old footage of RFK to speak about the issues of today: war, poverty, the environment and equal rights. As the director would have wanted, I thought about how little has changed in thirty-five years.

There are issues, even with the best efforts, could take generations to solve poverty, racism and crime remain stains on American prestige. None offer a sure fire solution; rather, they will require decades of patient toil.

The environment will not be corrected in a generation or return to its previous balance. Instead of focusing on how we can improve our actions towards the earth, America continues to stick our heads in the sand and increase our oil demand every year.

The war Bobby spoke of is one I learned in history books. In high school and college, Vietnam was pinnacle of American hubris: a blunder that tore both the American nation and Vietnam in two. Now, we are in Iraq and faced with eerily similar discussions. Why are we there? How do we best support the troops? Should we pull them out? What will happen if we pull them out? Is our force ever right or wrong?

This one bothers me the most, because Vietnam could have stayed in the history books. My generation X could have viewed it as an experience of our parent’s not to be repeated in our lifetime. And yet, here we are again facing the same questions against terrorism they faced against communism. All I could think of America was we are caught in a Fiona Apple line, "Steady going nowhere".