Beauty Is In the Eye of an Outsider

I experienced a moment of dread at the Springfield Symphony’s Beatles tribute concert last night. Not when a random audience member threatened two John and Yoko look-a-likes with physical violence, that just added an interesting ironic twist to “A Day in the Life”. It was, rather, the two times the lead singer of Jeans ‘n Classics made reference to the beauty of the city in general, and the beauty of the concert’s location in particular. I have been to two comedy shows at the same Symphony Hall in the last year and on both occasions every reference to the city elicited howls of derision from the audience which, given my love for my hometown, made me uncomfortable, embarrassed, angry, sad…

Fortunately, on this occasion Jean Meilleur’s assertions that the city and its concert hall were to be admired were met mostly with stunned silence. Very few places can match Springfield’s lack of pride of place, as I have written before, we simply do not feel as though we have leave to admire anything about ourselves. The constant condemnation of “ex-pats”, the media, and suburbanites, along with 70 years of movement from north to south, east to west, and city to suburb has left the city reeling. So much so, in fact, that the city’s own residents are blind to the city’s unique culture, history, and beauty.

In October, New England can easily rival anyplace on Earth for natural beauty, and the Connecticut Valley represents perhaps the finest combination of that topography and foliage with architecture, and no city in the valley surpasses Springfield’s cityscapes. Given that, we’ll know when the city has really turned a corner, has really started on the comeback trail, when a visitor to the city, whether on stage or in private conversation, can make reference to the city’s natural and man-made allure and receive nothing but whole hearted confirmation from its residents.