Submitted by Kylie Boggs on the 2019 World Scholars fall semester program in New Zealand…
Local professional theatres in Auckland have had quite the American kick this season – the two latest shows have been School of Rock and American Idiot, two musicals that are inextricable from their American context. I never planned to attend because I did not come to New Zealand to learn more about America, but the closing night of School of Rock happened to fall on the night before my birthday, so I thought it was a perfect opportunity! While I anticipated just enjoying a night out with some friends, I did not realize that I would be coming away from it with a new understanding of how America is seen on the global stage.
Everyone knows that America is stereotypically viewed as an obnoxious, patriotic, global superpower. We even self-reflexively acknowledge that reality in most of our own media – the movie for School of Rock has a particularly strong penchant for displaying American music and pop culture in this way. This musical was trying to capture that egocentric, American vivacity in its set design – there was an American flag over the main character’s bed and even in the bar. However, there was a clear lack of depth to this presentation, as the New Zealand set designers did not know to put an American flag in every classroom for the morning pledge. Reading into this minor detail, we can tell that while America holds a strong presence abroad, our relations lack nuance and specificity. Everyone knows that we have patriotic citizens and that we are loud lovers of rock and roll, but they don’t know that we have a daily pledge. We share our products and our artists, but we don’t share our day-to-day experiences or our woes with any real sincerity.
Being an individual American abroad has involved answering a million questions about life and politics back home, and as much as I want to learn about my host country, I know that the people here want to learn about my home just as much. It is important for me, as an ambassador for America, to recognize my role in perpetuating or deconstructing American stereotypes and fostering a genuine understanding between my culture and that of my host country. The same way Kiwis may not know that every American classroom has a flag in it, I didn’t know that all New Zealand primary schools had mandatory dance sessions to promote national exercise until I was made to do one for a warm-up in a rehearsal. Little details like this may seem trivial, but relating to other human beings relies on daily experiences, and sharing those is the individual basis of international relations.
Sitting in the audience of the beautiful Civic Theatre of Central Auckland