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I know something about elitism, having grown
up in the exclusive Sanctified Brethren — we
refused to commune with 99.85% of
Christendom, we looked down on Baptists,
Anglicans, you name it, we found fault with
them all, and if a Lutheran guy made off with
one of our young women, we forced ourselves to
attend the wedding though it was actually a
funeral. And then I got a job in public radio
where I got to see elitism from below. I was a
mere entertainer in the midst of serious
journalists and scholars, and I was seriously
looked down upon by many people whom
income from my show was supporting. But then
parents of teenagers have gone through the
same thing and survived and I did too.
I sort of regret that I didn't become truly elite
when
Minnesota almost became part of New France,
this territory having been "discovered" by
French explorers, and France battled the English
for dominance here but then Louis XV was
more interested in sugar from the Caribbean
than fur from the North and so he withdrew and
Voltaire said, "All we lost was a few acres of
snow." This remark still stings, centuries later.
We could've grown up speaking French and
saying "Joie de vivre" with real élan and "Plus
ça change, plus c'est la même chose." and "C'est
la vie" instead of saying "Well, that's life," which
doesn't have anything like the savoir faire of
"C'est la vie." And with "C'est la vie," you don't
need to stick the "well" in front of it to sound
casual.
French is an elegant language and we envy it,
and if a fellow American tosses off a French
phrase such as "S'il vous plaît," we see him as an
elitist and take it as a cue to drop our own
pretensions and admit that we don't like boeuf
bourguignon nearly so much as we like meatloaf,
that a French label does not make the wine
superior.
What brings this to mind is the new movie, "A
Complete Unknown," which gives Bob Dylan
fans the chance to be even more fascinated by
their own obsession about the man, as a poet,
prophet, visionary genius, and the Voice of a
Generation, but to me, a Minnesotan of his era,
it's all rather amusing. We knew plenty of male
undergraduates in the Sixties who practiced
being oblique and self-contradictory and
affected mystery. It was a style. There was one at
every party in Minneapolis, sometimes two and
then one of them had to leave. They wanted to
be considered poets, prophets, geniuses, but you
need more than ambiguity.
The Prophet Bob didn't get where he got by
being cryptic, he practiced some classic
Minnesota virtues such as steady hard work —
no writer's block for Bob — and industrious
touring and being on time for gigs and avoiding
addictive substances that make you stupid and
then dead, and also tolerating jerks, including
ones who love you.
He had to work to become iconic — in some of
his early recordings he sounds a lot like Ray
Benson of Asleep at the Wheel and he had to
learn how to sing through his nose so he could
be a Bob instead of a Ray and there he is today,
a self-invented object of fascination.
Minnesotans are not big on fiction though.
There probably are people in Hibbing who
think, "If Zimmerman had really applied
himself, he could've become a terrific
neurologist."
As I proceed through my eighties, I go back to a
Minnesota point of view: life is complicated,
take it one day at a time, the urge to be top dog
is not a useful ambition, be grateful for what you
have and learn to cherish your portion. As the
French would say, "Carpe diem."
The lust for world domination does not make
for the good life. It's the life of the male raccoon
who battles for preeminence and winds up in a
ditch being pecked at by crows. It's not for
sensible people. Be at peace, read books, cherish
your friends, take walks, love life until the first
coronary walks up and slugs you in the chest.
Charisma is pure fiction, and so is brilliance. It's
the dummies who sit on the dais, and it's the
smart people who sit in the dark near the exits.
I had to make many mistakes to learn all that
and now I've saved you the trouble of doing
likewise. You're welcome.
Garrison Keillor is an author and radio personality. His latest book is "Cheerfulness". Buy it at a 38% discount! by clicking here. Sales help fund JWR.