ARTS

'Real world' not so far away

Rumaan Alam

While standing in the driveway of an off-campus house last weekend, I was surprised when I heard one of my friends say something to the effect that once we graduated, we would be free of Oberlin society once and for all. This was, just to clarify, during a party with which we were less than impressed. This was just a clever expression of our discontent.

This was not the first time in my three years at Oberlin that I have heard someone contend that Oberlin is nothing like the real world. Actually, it seems that I hear that all the time. I don't think that Oberlin is as far from larger society as many would like to believe.

Perhaps it is because we are a society populated primarily by bright and creative people, but we are no better than any other community. There is the same pettiness, hypocrisy and jealousy here as anywhere.

We strive, it seems, to create a society on our own terms, an enlightened version of the world outside Oberlin. But we do it on the same terms we criticize. My impression was that this party would be students in their Sunday best milling around with wine glasses, perhaps discussing the state of the American presidency. Maybe I'm the one with the problem, harboring, as I do, such a narrow definition of what a party should be.

What I got was a bunch of college students in their job interview suits and Betsey Johnson dresses sipping from plastic cups and congregating in the driveway. I heard comparisons to an after-prom party and a Bar Mitzvah. It was the Oberlin low-budget version of the party I envisioned.

So society here is not really so different from society elsewhere. And it's time we started realizing that. I thought it very interesting that at this party I saw the (not-so) anonymous author of the incendiary "Indi and Po-mo Quarterly." In that publication, a one-page cut and paste job which appeared only once, the author attacked certain students for their elitism. He cited specifically that, "the Prom was a great extravaganza run a couple of weeks ago in a private house off campus. Guests were allowed in by invitation only and it was a night filled with the elite and beautiful."

There seems to be a contradiction here. The author was willing to be seen at this party last weekend, which was really the same thing as the prom. It was exclusive, in that one had to buy tickets for admission. So is the author a hypocrite? Or has he merely grown up and accepted that people go to parties?

This is a complicated issue and very difficult for me to address clearly. My point is that, here in Oberlin, plastic cups and Polo ties are our versions of martini glasses and Armani suits. Here, the Review equals The New York Times, the Inn equals Spy Bar, and the Art Department is the Met, the MOMA and the Whitney all rolled into one. (A word: I'm not from New York; I'm merely using this language to reach the broadest audience. New York centrism is so rampant here it seems that it is the most obvious model for our own construction of society here in Oberlin. One would think the novels of Bret Easton Ellis were required reading for admissions here.)

In society, there are rich and poor, elite and not-so-elite. There is everything we look down upon in society right here at home. It can be dog eat dog at times, and I think it's important to recognize the similarities between life here and life elsewhere. Don't view this lesson as a kick in the face of your idealism. Simply recognize that it's all really a game, and you should play but can't take it too seriously. I feel no shame in knowing Armani from Gucci, but I don't think that this fact makes me a shallow snob. I can still know what's right and wrong. I shouldn't condemn people who enjoy going to parties with their friends, nor should I be condemned for it. Recognize where your life ends and larger society begins. It just might be one of the most important lessons you learn in your years here.

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Copyright © 1998, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 127, Number 3, September 18, 1998

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