American problems

I just finished reading Amy Schumer’s autobiographical account of snippets of her life. This is right after reading a similar work by Trevor Noah. It’s interesting to see how two people from background that couldn’t be more different both end up in similar circles.

Trevor ended his book right before he got famous, or rather, right before he moved to the States. There was barely any lighthearted tales of him rubbing elbows with Jay Leno or any other glamourous encounters. From reading his book, it isn’t immediately obvious that this guy was going to be a mega star. Because in some sense, his tale is very unlikely. In come Amy Schumer, a distance niece of Chuck Schumer, the senate minority leader. Her plight to fame-dom isn’t more trivial, but it is distinctly more american.

The book was by design not chronological, but rather disjoint snippets of her life, alternating between somber and giggle worthy. It is sensational in delivering her second-hand experience with gun violence, but only after her name appeared next to a shooting. It would be hard for someone not to view it as a marketing ploy rather than a genuine concern. It was almost as if she wrote that chapter only to boast a conversation with President Obama.

Similar in tone to the group of New Atheists (I am reading Hitchen’s God isn’t so great right now), I would categorize her as one of the late comers to New Feminist, whose membership include Tiny Fey, Lena Dunham, Amy Polter, and so on. Coming from the same professional background of comedians, and SNL, and celebrates unabashed womanhood to the point of grotesque.

In direct contrast to the image of well-manicured wife with a gut-showing beer-stained husband, she lays bare her “dragon-breath” in the morning, “cavernous vagina” in the evening. With the clear message, any guy whom I find worthy must accept all my flaws, but must be perfect himself. Is it meant to be endearing, or is it to mask subconsciously a deeper insecurity that she only alludes to in passing. She does spend a considerable amount of works discussing how undesirable she is.

What is distinctly American? Her well-to-do family fell from financial security to bankruptcy when she was young, and I assume her parents made a great effort to make sure she wasn’t directly impacted by it. She describes it as “still getting Christmas presents”. So basically, middle class. I contend she’s never been poor a day in her life. Her father suffers from a string of infidelities (or he rather encouraged them), then as apocryphal as it sounds, went from being a sexy man to a wheel-chair bound MS sufferer. A MS sufferer who defecated in front of his daughter(s) twice. The mother, who obviously isn’t allowed to cheat, confessed love of another man to her. The man is the father of her best friend, whom decided never to talk to her again. That relationship ended after a few short months. Domestic abuse. She was struck by her previous partners, and was fearful of her life. This is difficult to get wrong. Before pulling a knife on her, this boyfriend repeatedly struck himself on the head against the wall. I have had these tendencies to self-harm, at moments of extreme agitation, and knowing hurting the other person isn’t an option. I just wanted to knock myself out.

It’s hard for me to write these things, which can be read negatively, when I actually enjoyed the book as a light reading. It really is only upon reflection that these thoughts inadvertently pop up. I think it is a lack of introspection in the book that allows the reader to form their own opinions of the author.