Over the past few days, an article from the Onion was posted all over Facebook.
Like all pieces from the Onion, it was satirical, and featured the headline:
"8.4 Million New Yorkers Suddenly Realize New York City A Horrible Place To Live"
The article was really funny, but I was surprised to see so many people post it.
Then it occurred to me that perhaps it had struck a chord with people because of something I'd been feeling a few months ago.
I was getting really frustrated with seeing so many of my friends move to New York. That's not unusual when you're a performer, and obviously New York is a fantastic city to live in when you're an artist, but it was just sad to me that so many people felt there were no options for a career in the arts outside of New York.
On top of that, I was hearing left and right about "New York" actors.
Outside of New York, an actor who has lived in New York can always turn a few heads when they mention where they're from at an audition.
Notice that I said "lived" and not "worked." I have a friend who lived in New York for two years, was never able to book a job, never took any classes, then came back and landed three jobs in a row because the places he worked at loved the idea of casting "a New York actor."
That didn't make much sense to me.
I could go on a day trip to New York and come back. Would that make me a "New York actor?"
When I mentioned my frustration to a friend, we started talking about how I felt like people were constantly trying to make me feel bad for not being an actor living in New York, while she talked about how people were always telling her to give up on New York and move somewhere else.
So the people outside of New York tell you to move there, and the people there tell you to move on.
Neither one of us could believe what we were hearing.
Between "Empire State of Mind" and all the countless Facebook updates from the people who live there, it always seems like New York is just a utopia of glamorous parties and adventures.
Nobody ever mentions how hard it can be to live there with the higher cost of living and other factors involved. My friend's theory on it was that you don't want to complain about living in New York because then it'll seem like you're failing at it.
So instead you spin a little, and everybody who's not living in the city with you thinks you're just being obnoxious rubbing your amazing lifestyle in everyone's face.
Our conversation ended with my friend saying--"It's hard to live here sometimes, but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else."
I can respect that. I feel the same way about where I live.
I think people saw the Onion article and were happy--not necessarily to see New York bashed--but just to hear someone say something other than "If you're not living here, you're missing out."
Even if it was just a parody, I think it made people feel good to hear something other than Alicia Keys for a change.
Like all pieces from the Onion, it was satirical, and featured the headline:
"8.4 Million New Yorkers Suddenly Realize New York City A Horrible Place To Live"
The article was really funny, but I was surprised to see so many people post it.
Then it occurred to me that perhaps it had struck a chord with people because of something I'd been feeling a few months ago.
I was getting really frustrated with seeing so many of my friends move to New York. That's not unusual when you're a performer, and obviously New York is a fantastic city to live in when you're an artist, but it was just sad to me that so many people felt there were no options for a career in the arts outside of New York.
On top of that, I was hearing left and right about "New York" actors.
Outside of New York, an actor who has lived in New York can always turn a few heads when they mention where they're from at an audition.
Notice that I said "lived" and not "worked." I have a friend who lived in New York for two years, was never able to book a job, never took any classes, then came back and landed three jobs in a row because the places he worked at loved the idea of casting "a New York actor."
That didn't make much sense to me.
I could go on a day trip to New York and come back. Would that make me a "New York actor?"
When I mentioned my frustration to a friend, we started talking about how I felt like people were constantly trying to make me feel bad for not being an actor living in New York, while she talked about how people were always telling her to give up on New York and move somewhere else.
So the people outside of New York tell you to move there, and the people there tell you to move on.
Neither one of us could believe what we were hearing.
Between "Empire State of Mind" and all the countless Facebook updates from the people who live there, it always seems like New York is just a utopia of glamorous parties and adventures.
Nobody ever mentions how hard it can be to live there with the higher cost of living and other factors involved. My friend's theory on it was that you don't want to complain about living in New York because then it'll seem like you're failing at it.
So instead you spin a little, and everybody who's not living in the city with you thinks you're just being obnoxious rubbing your amazing lifestyle in everyone's face.
Our conversation ended with my friend saying--"It's hard to live here sometimes, but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else."
I can respect that. I feel the same way about where I live.
I think people saw the Onion article and were happy--not necessarily to see New York bashed--but just to hear someone say something other than "If you're not living here, you're missing out."
Even if it was just a parody, I think it made people feel good to hear something other than Alicia Keys for a change.
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