10 Observations About
Bloom's Iowa Story
Univ. of Iowa journalism professor Stephen Bloom wrote an article for The Atlantic called "Observations from 20 Years of Iowa." It was written with the upcoming Iowa Caucuses in mind. It has not left Iowans very happy, and he's now scratching his head at to why why. I will try to keep my observations technical and not personal. But I have lived her for 26 years, so I do have some Hawkeye pride.
1. Stereotypes abound to the point of absurdity. You would think an educated scholar would avoid such an elementary, lazy and sloppy mistake.
2. It is full of errors (3, so far, have been posted at the end by The Atlantic). Others have been documented through the many comments. Shouldn't a professor of journalism check and double-check his facts?
3. Being from the river city of Dubuque - one of the "skuzziest cities" he's ever been to ... he obvioulsy hasn't been here lately. And, oh by the way, professor, it's spelled "scuzziest."
4. It is so condescending, it just adds to the already negative image of many smarter-than-thou professors (notice, I didn't stereotype all professors with this comment as Bloom often stereotypes ALL Iowans)
5. Why has he stayed here so long if he hates it so much? And hate does come out in his writing, from religion to farmers to hunters. (A colleague says the article was a satire; right.)
6. What did a transplanted San Francisco resident expect? The ocean or mountains? Had I lived in SF for 20 years, I am sure I could have written an equally scathing commentary full of the stereotypes of that city (or state, for that matter).
7. Negative, over-the-top exaggeration is so rampant, it's ludicrous. You can't read 3-4 sentences without seeing it. Using the comparison again, imagine how insulted Bloom would be if a writer exaggerated everything San Francisco.
8. He almost cowardly wrote this while away for a year in Michigan. I wonder if that Midwestern state is to his liking (probably, because it has a "large city" the size of Detroit, with all of its benefits. Right.)
9. He even makes fun of friendly small town neighbors greeting each other or talking to one another at the grocery store. Maybe they'd talk to Bloom, too. Some actually tried to be friendly (see No. 10).
10. The ending is unbelievably stupid. He's walking a labrador - one of the most popular hunting dogs around - and criticizes friendly neighbors who ask him if the dog is a good hunter. If he had been walking a poodle or a chihiahua, I'm pretty sure even we imbecile, all-rural, Iowa hicks wouldn't have asked if the dog was a good hunter.
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