New! Monthly Column Debbi is the owner of Mack Research and Writing, providing articles, reports, case studies, white papers and otherwise assisting businesses and organizations with communications needs. She has also done research for legal and reference publishers and attorneys. A select list of clients and writing samples are available here. Debbi is also a mystery author, whose published work includes a novel, Identity Crisis, a hardboiled mystery featuring lawyer/sleuth Stephanie Ann "Sam" McRae, and a short story in Chesapeake Crimes I, an anthology written and edited by members of the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime. Submitted for Your Consideration August 2008 Little Lies (Or How Weeds and The Sopranos Are Really the Same Show) I want to make it clear, right now, up front, that I think that Weeds is a brilliant, funny show. For those of you not familiar with Weeds, it's about Nancy Botwin, an upper-middle class suburban widow with two sons, trying to keep herself and family in (fancy) Southern California house and home (complete with maid, no less) by selling pot. For those of you not familiar with The Sopranos, I don't know what rock you've been hiding under, but I'd recommend you read this if you want to learn more. The thing is, much as I may love Nancy Botwin and care about her welfare as she plunges headlong into the treacherous terrain of drug trafficking, I've always felt a nagging discontent, something gnawing at my gut that made me wonder: Just what is this woman thinking? After all, here she is: young, pretty, healthy, smart, able-bodied and confident enough to go toe-to-toe with ganstas and marry (yes, marry) a DEA agent so he couldn't be forced to testify against her in court (though, I think that privilege may not apply to what you learn before you get married, but it's TV so...). But did she go back to school and get a degree or certificate? No. Did she get a job in the mail room somewhere and try to work her way to a better position? No. Did she even (God forbid) try to get work waiting tables or asking people if they "want fries with that" at any fast-food chain? No, she didn't. She sold pot and kept the house, the car (even bought a new hybrid -- wasn't that socially responsible of her?), the maid (until she finally -- oh, the humanity! -- had to let her go) and all her worldly possessions. And never even thought about getting a job until one of her gangsta associates told her she'd have to, in order to pay a debt she owed him. Most recently, a major drug dealer has her working retail in a maternity shop that's a front for underground (literally) drug runners from Mexico. She hates the job, but is being paid an unspecified, outlandishly large amount to do it, so I would think actual, underpaid retail workers everywhere would feel little sympathy. And is Nancy doing anything with this easy money to improve her prospects? No. Even though she's been given the chance, essentially, to start over -- to start with an almost clean slate after her house burned in the Southern California wildfires (okay, with a bit of help from gasoline she tossed around the place, but still...) and she and the family relocated to a small town on the border. Even now, after everything she's put herself and her family through, she still hasn't learned her lesson, thrown in the towel, taken that window of opportunity to say, "That's it. I've had it. I'm going legit." Apart from the fact that, but for Nancy's extraordinary bad judgment, we wouldn't have a show (and, as I said before, a really great show -- sheer genius in its writing, acting and production), I got to wondering just what gives with Nancy Botwin? How can she be so stupid? And then it hit me -- and I don't know why it took so long to see this, but it hit me like a revelation, like the metaphorical diamond bullet Colonel Kurtz referred to in Apocalypse Now. Nancy isn't stupid. Nancy is just greedy and lazy. Nancy Botwin is trying to grab the brass ring without working for it. She wants to make as much money as she can with as little effort as possible. She wants it all, and she wants it right now. Not after years of school. Not by working the nine-to-five. Right here, right now, she wants it all. In short, Nancy is seeking the American Dream. And who else can we think of who represents someone looking for the American Dream? Someone who, like Nancy, can overlook a few messy details, like how people have to die to protect himself and his family. Someone who (though he's poured his heart out to a shrink about it) can overlook the dark side of his business through rationalization. Does it not sound a bit like Tony Soprano? Tony, the family man, just trying to do what he has to in order to get by ("getting by" in this case meaning living in an exurban mini-mansion, buying high-dollar toys, eating and drinking too much, taking drugs and having sex with whatever good-looking woman happens along). Like Michael Corleone before them, aren't Nancy and Tony completely representative of people doing whatever it takes to grab what they can, regardless of the consequences for others, then merely shrugging aside the moral implications and uttering the mantra that's supposed to excuse it all -- "It's just business." So, the point is this: it's the small lies, the little rationalizations we tell ourselves that lead us astray. Nancy Botwin is a perfect example. She can make any number of excuses: "I'm doing it for the kids," "I'm doing it for the mortgage," or (very recently) "I owe it to my family, because they've suffered so much," "I'm doing it because I have no choice." But that's the biggest lie. You always have a choice. You can choose a moral way to live and work. You can succeed in life without stepping all over others (or flat out killing them). No one is forcing you to do anything. No one is forcing Nancy to be a drug dealer (or even forced Tony Soprano to be a Mob boss, though a decision to do differently might have created trickier consequences for him). Nancy Botwin has made a conscious decision to put herself and her family at risk for the gain she can receive at others' expense. For the money. So while Weeds may be satiric where The Sopranos was serious, the message is the same. Always keep an eye on your moral compass and do the right thing. And be careful about those small lies. They can lead to big trouble. July 2008: Having the Last Word on Words June 2008: Opportunity Knocks (Even When it Knocks You Down) May 2008: Zen and the Art of Spring Cleaning April 2008: A Virtual Crowd March 2008: Four Great Reasons to Hire a Freelance Writer February 2008: Beyond the Bend January 2008: Green Thoughts December 2007: What Goes Around Comes Around November 2007: Bitten by the Bug