15 June 2010

Desperate Housewives

Love thy neighbor

 

We share everything — even our spouses.

We share everything — even our spouses.

By Chester Pach

This essay is excerpted from Pop Culture versus Real America, published by the Bureau of International Information Programs. A profile of a real immigrant family appears here.

Wisteria Lane, the street on which all the main characters in Desperate Housewives live, winds through a typical American suburban neighborhood in the city of Fairview. The houses are large and comfortable; the lawns are lush; and the neighbors are — well — neighborly. Susan Mayer, who was previously divorced, married her neighbor, Mike Delfino, divorced him, and then married him again. Susan’s old friend and neighbor, Katherine Mayfair, was living with Mike and planned to marry him until he suddenly decided to get back together with Susan.

Mike was a very good neighbor to Edie Britt, with whom he had a romantic relationship before he married Susan. Edie also had affairs with Susan’s ex-husband and with another neighbor, Carlos Solis, in between his two marriages — both to Gabrielle Solis.

Wisteria Lane seems like a quiet street, where life is safe and secure, but sometimes accidents — or worse — occur. In the opening episode, Mary Alice Young committed suicide. Her neighbor, Rex Van de Kamp, also suffered an untimely death when his pharmacist, who had fallen in love with Rex’s wife, Bree, tampered with his heart medication. Susan accidentally set Edie’s house on fire; Edie, in retaliation, did the same to Susan’s house. Orson Hodge, who became Bree’s second husband, intentionally hit Mike with his car, inflicting serious injuries. Even worse was the car accident that took Edie’s life. Then there was the tornado that devastated the neighborhood and seriously injured Carlos, leaving him blind for years.

Despite the charms of life on Wisteria Lane, some residents occasionally endured extended absences. Carlos served a prison sentence when he pleaded guilty to assault. Orson went to jail after he confessed to running down Mike with his car. Mike did jail time for manslaughter and drug dealing before he moved to Fairview. All these former criminals have paid their debt to society and are now living “typical” respectable suburban lives on Wisteria Lane.

Chester Pach teaches history at Ohio University, where he holds the title of Outstanding Graduate Faculty Member. He is the author of three books on U.S. politics and foreign policy. His next book, which will soon be published by the University Press of Kansas, is The Presidency of Ronald Reagan.

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)