The Age of Apology

Today, I read an article where actress Sienna Miller had apologized to the whole city of Pittsburgh. Her great crime? She doesn't like it. Well, she did show off her punning abilities and replace the "P" with an "Sh," but the sentiment is the same. A firestorm erupted in the city and apparently she felt the need to repent. WHY?

Fifty-five years ago, writer/director Preston Sturges released a movie through Paramount called Sullivan's Travels, which is now a classic of American comedy. One of the first jokes given by Joel McCrea's character in the film in a direct slam against Pittsburgh. When told that the people of Pennsylvania's second city know what they want to see in a movie, the character responds, "If they knew what they liked, they wouldn't live in Pittsburgh!"

There isn't a bone in my body that can imagine Sturges apologizing for that remark. Want to know why? First, he actually believed it, and second, I'd like to think that once upon a time men had chest hair and women had whatever the feminist-speak equivalent is. I don't know when that mythical age ended and when we found it necessary to listen to the people who scream and yell every time someone says something off-color, but I think it was a sad day for the world.

I'm not talking about people using inappropriate terms. I'm talking about people apologizing for bona fide opinions, not standing behind things they supposedly believe. Maybe that means people need to think more before they speak, but more often I feel it comes down to superficially trying to appease everyone.

It seems like every week, someone is apologizing for something that is completely irrelevant to anything that actually matters one iota in the world. Here's what a quick Google news search brought up: Pope apologizes for Islam remarks, Durbin apologizes for remarks on torture, Democratic party chair apologizes for race remarks, Israeli Ambassador to Norway apologizes... There's more...just from the last ten days.

I think the reader knows what I'm talking about. We literally are living in the Age of Apology. We as a society have let the hypersensitive among us control the limits of discourse. Yes, sometimes an apology is both needed and genuine. But who can honestly say that even half of the apologies given in this day and age are heartfelt? Does Sienna Miller really feel remorse that she lampooned Pittsburgh? I highly doubt it. In fact, I imagine she honestly feels that Pittsburgh is a crappier town as a result.

See, there are two problems with having a society where everybody has to apologize every time they offend a small cluster. The first is that it narrows debate to a somewhat dull, phlegmatic groupthink where we all are corralled into publicly agreeing that "yes, Pittsburgh is a nice city, perfect for raising a family." The second is that apologies soon become worthless; when remorse is based on bending to a societal norm rather than sincerity, it loses all meaning.

I remember a while ago the clothing chain Urban Outfitters released a tee shirt whose slogan was "New Mexico, Cleaner than Old Mexico." This angered some minor Hispanic groups, but to date I do not believe the organization has apologized and I think they sold the shirt anyway. Good for them if that is true. Because guess what! Instead of complaining about a silly tee shirt worn by hip suburbanite teenagers, maybe they could actually work to erase the cause of that stereotype, namely that most Americans who cross from New Mexico into Mexico first note the condition of the land and the smell of the air.

Having people with bold opinions is fundamental to a healthy society. If we keep a very narrow control and force a retraction from 2nd-tier British celebrities every time they insult one of our 2nd-tier cities, we will wind up with an Orwellian hellhole where everyone has to bend to this beast we call "political correctness."

Thankfully, I've seen some signs that many are tiring of the apologetic society, but Miller feeling like she had to say something about her Pittsburgh remarks means we're very much living in it. What were the people of Pittsburgh going to do? Threaten her? Harm her? Here's an idea: why don't you keep trying to make your city better so that people don't feel like putting in an "Sh" instead of a "P."

Here is the truth, without apology. Pittsburgh's wealth and stature as an American city was built on steel, coal, industry, and shipping. Sorry, you deprived people who live in Pittsburgh, but that package comes with it's price, namely making your city somewhat unattractive in the years after your industry dies down. That whole darned thing we call the Rust Belt suffers from the same thing. You name it, Dayton, Akron, Buffalo, Toledo, Detroit, Cincinnati, Gary, Erie, et cetera. Most of them are flavorless carcasses of industrial cities that have absolutely no sex appeal whatsoever. They suck, and certainly aren't for anyone looking for glamour, top entertainment, or high-level shopping. They're boring. Most of them are environmentally unfriendly and have little, if any, genuine cultural value.

I've been to pretty much all of them and they all have serious image problems. Instead of whining when a ditzy actress tells you that your city is a boring cesspool, why not try and make your city a little nicer? Some of them have done marvelous jobs addressing this (see, for example, Milwaukee's art museum or Pittsburgh's two new sports stadiums), but frankly, despite their progress, they have a long way to go to clean up decades of industrial muck, both literally and figuratively. However, every second their citizens waste screaming about some criticism some idiot made is one that could have been spent improving their city's image in the eyes of America. Instead of writing Sienna Miller a nasty letter, why not volunteer some time to the city, especially the tourism bureau?

Be bold, world. Stand by your opinions, and if someone criticizes you or your group, see how you can improve yourself or your image. Don't scream for an apology, earn one. Clean up your own backyard; stereotypes and widely-held beliefs aren't erased through arbitrary rules and forced contrition, they're erased through counteraction. Making people apologize every time they say something offensive to a minority does absolutely nothing. Telling the small minority who complains to shut up just might. Therefore, I beg you, world, grow some collective nuts and the female equivalent to them (we need to find a word for this...suggestions?), hold strong opinions strongly, apologize to no one for your spoken beliefs, and tell the whining minority to try actually doing something besides complaining.

Because if we don't, we're all going to end up in a boring, groupthink society of Shitsburghs.