Smarty Jones: The "American" Hero
I live just outside of Philadelphia and Philadelphia's new media darling is Smarty Jones. Smarty Jones has won 2/3rds of horse racing's Triple Crown and is king in a city starved for a champion. Although the support for Smarty is not unanimous (as a recent letter to the editor shows) most people in our town and across the country view him as an authentic American hero.
Smarty Jones is portrayed as an undersized horse with lots of talent. Much is made of the fact that he was born and trained in Pennsylvania (not Kentucky), that he survived a serious accident at a starting gate, and that his owner, trainer and jockey are all just regular guys in an extraordinary situation.
It is not surprising that the writers and TV shows have pursued this storyline this way. All of the portryals fit into our American culture's definition of what it takes to be a hero and to live the American dream.
If (when?) Smarty Jones wins the Triple Crown he will have an advantage over many of our other sport's heroes. His actions or his words won't topple him off the pedestal that the American public has put him on.
Smarty Jones is portrayed as an undersized horse with lots of talent. Much is made of the fact that he was born and trained in Pennsylvania (not Kentucky), that he survived a serious accident at a starting gate, and that his owner, trainer and jockey are all just regular guys in an extraordinary situation.
It is not surprising that the writers and TV shows have pursued this storyline this way. All of the portryals fit into our American culture's definition of what it takes to be a hero and to live the American dream.
If (when?) Smarty Jones wins the Triple Crown he will have an advantage over many of our other sport's heroes. His actions or his words won't topple him off the pedestal that the American public has put him on.
posted by Bret Rigby at 1:20 PM
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