“Maybe as
I grew up…I unconsciously decided that,
even if it
wasn’t an ideal world, it should be and so painted
only the
ideal aspects of it- pictures in which there were no drunken slatterns
or self-centered mothers, in which on the contrary, there were only Foxy
Grandpas who played baseball with the kids
and boys
fished from logs and got up circuses in the back yard.”
- Rockwell
in Marling 1997 (p13)
The perfect family is a cultural construction;
it consists of two parents and lovable kids living in a cozy home
with a white picket fence. We all experience an ultimate desire for
this unattainable ideal because it is a part of our common culture. This
is dangerous because it forces people to strive for something that can
rarely be achieved, and in doing so threatens to psychologically destroy
those who attempt to conform. For example, the life of Norman Rockwell
demonstrates this perfectly. His desire to be anything other
than what he was growing up - that is, living in the city and facing the
harsh realities of life - forced him to live in a delusional world.
He wanted his perfect family. While losing himself in his dream
world and artwork, Rockwell's wife, who was forced into the role of the
“ideal” woman/mother, was drawn into alcoholism and finally a suffered
a nervous breakdown.
“ ‘Rockwellian’…has
become an all purpose adjective for innocence
and apple pie
America.”
- People Weekly,
November 1999
Rockwell's America is a care-free land where no
one works, need is unthought of, and everyday life is filled with moments
that will eventually be stored in the family photo album. Looking
at a Rockwell, we can't help but feel a bit nostalgic for those "moments
that have been," or at least we think have been. A Rockwell is a
mirror in which we might see ourselves and our aspirations.