Rainbow Rowell
Movie renews faith in career
Denzel Washington made me
a very happy girl last night.
I spent a whopping $ 1.50
to view “The Pelican Br ief. ” The movie
itself was okay. It was no “Bufly the
Vampire Slayer.”
Luckily, I’m not an unbalanced
John Grisham fanatic, so I didn’t leave
the movie sneering and sputtering,
“Omigod, the book was so much bet
ter.”
1 like pelicans and Julia Roberts
(when she isn’t glorifying prostitu
tion), the plot was sort of exciting, and
someone else paid for my popcorn, but
none of these things were what made
my $ 1.50 worth every penny.
The absolute highlight of the
evening for me was Denzel Washing
ton. Firstofall—shivermetimbers—
he’s Denzel Washington. But more
importantly, he reaffirmed my career
pians.
Washington played a good-guy
reporter who saved Roberts’ charac
ter from the rest of the world and
uncovered a plot behind the assassi
nation of two Supreme Court justices.
I’ve wanted to be a journalist for a
long time. Looking back, I didn’t
have much of a choice. I was always
pleasantly pudgy growing up, so when
I was looking for a role model, all I
could find was Natalie from “The
Facts of Life.” Natalie edited
Eastland’s student newspaper, and she
was going places fast.
When I was in high school, I fol
lowed suit. I was the best little high
school journalist this side of the At
lantic. Move over, Andrea Zuckcrm an.
1 fantasized about the days when
I’d become a real reporter — when I
could wear a cool fedora with a press
card stuck in the band and say things
like “Can I gel that on the record?”
I learned to love the gritty, inky
smell of newsprint. Every night, I fell
asleep with the First Amendment
dancing in my head.
Journalism seemed exciting and
I fantasized about the days
when I’d become a real reporter
— when I could wear a cool
fedora with a press card stuck
in the band and say things like
“Can I get that on the record?”
heroic. Journalists were watchdogs
for the American people. They were
quality control, champions of the
people. They had integrity. They were
idealists.
And if I became a journalist, I’d be
in good company. Superman was a
journalist. So was Spider-Man, Mary
Tyler Moore and the mom on “Grow
ing Pains.” •'
Sometime between Natalie and
now, journalists stopped being the
good guy. Sometime since Lou Grant,
journalists became nosy, scandal-lov
ing, yellow-bellied, stop-at-nothing
to-get-a-juicy-scoop, slimy, sleazy
creeps.
By the time I was in college and a
declared news-editorial major, jour
nalists were part of the cultural elite.
As a college freshman, working for
paltry wages at the student newspa
per, I didn’t feel like part of any kind
of elite.
And yet, when I told people that I
wanted to be a reporter, they accused
me of being part of an ultra-liberal
elitist group, plotting to bring our
nation to its knees.
I heard my friends saying that news
papers and reporters couldn’t be
trusted.
ft was reporters who were respon
sible for bringing the nation news
about Roscannc Barr’s personal life
and Michael Jackson’s plastic sur
gery. ReportcrsplottcdagainstGcorge
Bush. And TV reporter Murphy Brown
was tearing apart the family.
They made me ashamed. “Are you
the Rainbow who writes for the DN?”
No, not me, that must be some other
Rainbow. I’m an engineering major
— I love America.
So, sitting at the Starship 9 (wish
ing that I was in that cool theater with
the glow-in-the-dark spaceship),
Denzel Washington gave me hope.
He renewed my faith in my profes
sion. Well, actually, I never thought
reporters were sleazeballs, so I guess
he renewed my faith in other people’s
faith in reporters.
He had his weaknesses, but he was
still the hero. It was nice to see a
reporter saving the day. It was nice to
see a reporter being what I want to be
— a good guy.
Of course, if I want to be like
Washington, I have some work to do.
Firstof all, I’ll need to work out. Ifl’m
going to be running from terrorists
and fooling secret agents all the time.
I’d better be in good shape.
I could probably be a snappier
dresser, too.
Maybe Washington’s role made a
few other people like reporters again,
too. Who knows, maybe his latest role
in “Philadelphia” will even make
people like lawyers.
Kowell is a senior news-editorial, adver
tising and English major and the Daily Ne
braskan opinion page editor.
i:. Ill (.HIS SHANKS
We’ve got catch phrase fever
Several weeks ago I heard a
story on National Public Ra
dio about a Massachusetts city
council that denies access of some city
services to families of those convicted
of hate crimes in their community. I
thought that was a great idea. But I
also wondered, “What about other
crimes like rape and murder?” Don’t
they deserve special attention, loo?
“Hate crime” is a catch phrase for
a crime against a person or group that
is determined to be perpetrated be
cause the victims arc from a particu
lar group.
We tend to use catch phrases a lot,
especially when we’re bringing atten
tion to less fortunate or persecuted
peoples.
I believe special attention should
be paid to these kinds of crimes. How
ever, I fear that the duality with which
we define them enables us to remain
detached from these unpleasant things
(hat make us feel uncomfortable.
These arc often things we arc guilty
of ourselves but tend to blame others
for. It’s safer and easier to look at hate
from a distance.
I suppose then, a rape is not a hate
crime unless it is performed within
certain parameters. For example, the
rape of a black woman by a white
supremacist may be considered a hate
crime.
The rape of a white woman by a
black man doesn’t usually seem to
meet the definition of hate crime. If
the rapist was a Black Panther and the
victim a Mormon, perhaps that would
constitute a hate crime, but 1 doubt it.
Murder also would apparently not
be a hate crime unless it met certain
criteria. For example, the killing of a
member of the Sierra Club by a mem
ber of the National Rifle Association
might be considered a hale crime. But
usually the term “hate cri me” is needed
to put focus on the crimes against
racial or ethnic groups (not upper
middle-class whites who are gener
ally believed to make up the Sierra
Club).
It seems silly, but it is necessary.
We should pay special attention to
crimes against specific groups.
It would be easier to call a spade a
Left-wing: white Democrat.
Radical: left-wing black.
Republican: white person.
Southern Democrats: Southern
whites who vote Republican or
southern blacks who don't vote
much.
spade and take the special ness out of
any kind of hate. Why not just call all
crimes against anyone hate crimes?
Why do we need catch phrases to
help us address “complex social is
sues" in a country that is founded on
one’s right to social freedom?
Without catch phrases we would
be blurting out controversial things,
constantly offending all kinds of
people.
We usually use catch phrases with
out even thinking where they come
from. The originators don’t come into
question unless someone becomes of
fended. And then we blame the origi
nators instead of ourselves for using
them.
When someone usesa catch phrase
we don’t like, we point the finger at
them and make them the cause of
trouble. It’s wrong to label some catch
?hrasesas “bad” and others as “good. ”
hey’re all bad.
Here are several catch phrases we
commonly see and use, and what I
think they really mean:
Mulatto: a person who is half black
and halfwhite. From the word “mule,”
because race-mixing was thought to
produce sterile offspring. This one is
of particular offense to me, consider
ing that my mother is half black and
half white.
Inner-city: lower-class black
people. Ethnocentric: anything but
British. Gender equity: sex-based in
equity.
Nontradi tional: th ings whi tc people
do. Alternative: things white people
do with each other and with others.
Athletically inclined: black ath
lete. Prop 42: black athlete. Student
athlete: athlete. Junior-college trans
fcr: black athlete.
Left-wing: white Democrat. Radi
cal: left-wing black. Republican: white
person. Southern Democrats: South
ern whites who vote Republican or
sou the rn bl ac ks who don ’ t vote much.
Role model: whatblacksand whites
say black children need. Mentor: a
white person. A black minister: a
leader in the black community. Elected
official: a leader in any community.
Rural: white. Poor Southern blacks:
rural blacks. Urban: poor urban blacks.
Black-on-black crime: urban crime.
Crime: what most whites fear will get
them and what most blacks arc vic
tims of. Ivy League: white people.
S&L: where white people put their
money and other whites steal it. Reor
ganization: job layoffs.
Soft rock: white rock. Soul: soft
black rock or hard white rock. Funk:
Red Hot Chili Peppers. Funkadelic:
backup band for Red Hot Chili Pep
pers. Spiritual: black Christian mu
sic. Christian music: white Christian
music. Gospel: black Christian mu
sic.
Dale rape: what white men do to
their dates sometimes. Rape: what
bl ack men and wh itc men do to women.
Fatherless homes: what white people
think of most black homes. Single
parents: mostly white parents.
You may not agree with these in
terpretations. I didn’t originate them.
Unfortunately I have used many of
them. If some of them make you un
comfortable, ask yourself why. Don’t
shoot the messenger.
Shuki li i graduate student and a Dally
Nebraskan columnist.
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