My Peace City | nonviolence & social change

Several years ago, I attended a “White Privilege” conference in Pella, Iowa hosted by Dr. Eddie Moore (http://www.eddiemoorejr.com/). The issue of privilege has long been a topic of interest to me and the conference was one of the most inspiring and informative I have ever attended.

Privilege is a topic I really would love to explore in an essay that is now just floating around in my head. In the meantime, I thought you’d enjoy viewing this YouTube video from the script of “Cousins” by Jim Jarmusch. This clip probably illustrates privilege better than any words I could ever put to paper (or screen).

As a little background for the clip: The scene is a meeting between two cousins. One cousin, Kate, is a TV personality (seemingly a Lara Spenser type from a show like ET or Insider). The other cousin, Shel, is the cousin whose life has taken an obvious different turn. The two cousins meet in a restaurant in the hotel where Kate is staying. The crew is upstairs getting ready for the next celebrity interview and the dialogue that takes place in a short amount of time is dramatically revealing. The most poignant and quotable moment in this scene, I feel, is Shel’s observation about swag that takes place after Kate gives her a gift bag.

This scene was shot with one camera in a little restaurant in LA and was edited in split screen by David Sebastian. The actress who plays both Shel and Kate is none other than my very own daughter, Bethany Pagliolo (www.bethanypagliolo.com) !!! While I’m pretty sure Beth picked this script to display some of her acting prowess, I’m hoping that somewhere in the back of her mind, when making that scene choice, were the messages I brought home from the conference in Pella, Iowa years ago and my lifelong belief that disparity between classes or within any one class can lessen only with awareness of disparity’s impact on those who are on the short side of privilege.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC7jouvmUMs