Essay on Jennifer Price's "The Plastic Pink Flamingo: A Natural History"

America is one of the most extravagant nations on earth. Obsessed with the appearances, citizens go to great lengths to appear wealthy. In Jennifer Price's recent essay "The Plastic Pink Flamingo: A Natural History" she crafts her rhetoric to convey her view of the superficiality of American culture as made evident through her sarcastic attitude, focus on the color of the flamingo, and analysis of the cultural significance of the flamingo to other cultures around the world.

Price's sarcasm reflects her cynical view of the shallow obsession with appearances in American culture. She states "a flamingo stands out in a desert even more strikingly than on a lawn." In making this observation, Price mocks the American sentiment that favors appearances over making logical decisions, such as placing a flamingo in a habitat that is completely opposite to its natural subtropical habitat. Sarcastically including "even more," Price makes known her view that while the placement of flamingos on lawns was irrational, placing them in the desert is an act purely for appearances. Additionally, Price mentions that it is "a little ironic, since Americans had hunted flamingos to extinction." Despite this, the general attitude was apathy, marked by the statement "but no matter." Price mentions this historical fact to criticize that Americans are using the image of a bird that they had themselves once slaughtered with no serious consideration. She condemns that Americans use only the likeness of the bird without interest in the real bird through her ironic view. She also describes that flamingos are "forward-looking rather than old-fashioned, just right for a generation, raised in the Depression that was ready to celebrate its new affluence." The reference to the Depression mocks American culture in that the extravagant spending and living beyond one's means are the primary causes of the Great Depression. Representing American extravagance, the flamingo is used by Price to focus on the fact that though still reeling from the Great Depression, Americans are back to the habits that lead to their suffering. In this way, Price describes the persistence of American superficiality.

Price's focus on the color of the flamingo also reveals her view of American culture. She notes "the plastic flamingo is a hotter pink than a real flamingo, and even a real flamingo is brighter than anything else around it." Being brighter than its surroundings, the flamingo ultimately attracts attention. Therefore, with the plastic flamingo a "hotter pink" than the real one, Price decries the American hunger for attention as, like the plastic flamingo, unnatural and artificial. Additionally, her repeatedly describing color throughout her essay is symbolic of American fixation on bright colors and ultimately appearances. Price links the color of the flamingo to the concept of celebrity when she mentions that, "right after he signed his first recording contract, Elvis Presley bought a pink Cadillac." Always in the public eye, celebrities are very much concerned with appearance. In describing the color of Presley's car, Price illustrates that American culture favors attention and "flashy colors." Price goes on to detail how "washing machines, cars, and kitchen counters proliferated in passion pink, sunset pink, and Bermuda pink." Price employs the sheer number of appliances that are results of American superficiality to censure the obsession with bright colors and attention.

Price's description of the cultural meanings of the flamingo to other cultures conveys her attitude towards American culture. To "Egypt, it symbolized the sun god Ra. In Mexico and the Caribbean, it remains a major motif in art, dance, and literature." Having no cultural implication in the United States, Price asserts that the flamingo is used merely for its appearance. Furthermore Price notes that, "the people who lived near these places have always singled out the flamingo as special." Instead of respecting the flamingo, they were killed "for plumes and meat." Price utilizes a contrast between the United States and the other countries in order to highlight that while other cultures use flamingos, they are used in culturally enhancing venues and are respected rather than hunted.Through her sarcastic view, examination of color and culture, Price crafts her rhetoric to convey her distaste for the shallow obsession with appearance in United States culture. Popularized by icons of wealth and leisure in the 20^th century, superficiality in American culture is abundant and continues to grow.