Jim and I were looking forward to seeing scenes of Alaska inasmuch as we have never been there and probably never will visit there during our lifetimes. Dutifully, we have turned on the television for two weeks in a row to watch “Sarah Palin’s Alaska.” The landscapes are breathtaking. The eagles soar, the baby bears romp and all is right with the world.
The lesson she seems to be trying to drive home is that she is a “Mom,” an ordinary, family-centered person just like anyone else. The program strikes me as disingenuous for a number of reasons. The family interactions seem “scripted,” not authentic. The camera cuts away as a bear reaches their boat, getting a little too close for comfort. No one is alarmed enough to attempt to move out of the bear’s way, even when it is approaching. Was there some trick photography involved? In the next show, she raises her fingers to her lips, licks them, and then attempts to remove something (I won’t say the disgusting word she uses) from her grandson’s nose. I was not entertained. Then, at their destination on a fishing boat, she gets down and dirty, like any good blue collar worker would, while trying to bonk Halibut over the head to stun them, and then slit their gills to bleed them, ostensibly “just for the Halibut.” It’s all in a day’s work. She returns to her luxury RV to trek to a pull out spot where she can cook the fish in the great outdoors, and “rough it” (my words, not hers).
On the positive side of things, the view of Mt. McKinley was gorgeous. On the questionable side is the fact that Todd Palin leapt up the side of a rocky hillock while Sarah agonized about every placement of a toe or finger to climb the same terrain. In another scene, when she is getting ready to broadcast from her home studio, she turns to Todd and says something like, “What should I tell them? If taxes are lower, you’d hire more employees?” This begs the question, “Exactly how many staff members have the Palins’ hired?” She claims to have just a few.
Palin will have the last laugh. At a pay rate of $250,000 per episode multiplied by eight, it does not take a mathematical genius to figure out that, at the very least, she knows how to market herself. Add her book sales, the revenue from personal appearances, and wow – there you have it, a “self-made woman.” If riches could buy the White House, then perhaps she can succeed in becoming the next president in 2012. On the other hand, I hope that people are paying close attention to her words. Sometimes, they don’t add up. In politics and foreign relations inexactness can be really unacceptable. One does not call North Korea “one of our finest allies that deserves our support,” when that is not the case.
One attribute of President Obama is that he is clear and concise in his speech. He takes his leadership position seriously, and unlike other former occupants of the Oval Office, he chooses his words carefully. We shall continue to need eloquent communicators in the role of president. In fact, it is imperative that such individuals seek office. In the meantime, I may just continue to tune in to “Sarah Palin’s Alaska.” She offers a view of a style of life that most of us will never know.
