The New American Dream

Many soldiers currently serving in Iraq for America are primarily poor, uneducated, and in most cases, immigrants. In exchange for fighting our wars, and in all probability dying in those wars, they will be rewarded American Citizenship, money for college and a piece of prime real estate within 200 acres of the beautiful and bucolic 'American Suburbia of the Dead' - Arlington Cemetery.This piece asserts that many poor immigrants have found a way to fulfill what mainstream America defines as 'The NEW American Dream' - ownership of property, "the home" in the suburbs, with a white picket fence and a fertile green lawn.Many views of Arlington Cemetery streets and landscapes are strongly evocative of a typical upper class American suburb, with huge oak trees and idyllic landscaping. Seen out-of-focus and from a distance, the rows and rows of tombstones could be mistaken for aerial views of homes in the suburbs, or even perhaps iconic versions of the World Trade Center Towers. Many of the images in 'The American Dream,' are reminiscent of 19th century American traditions in landscape painting. Using color, light, and mood, painters of that time sought to idealize their vision of the landscape to inspire a sense of national identity. Similarly, 'The American Dream,' evokes an idealized vision.In more contemporary terms, the abstracted images of Arlington Cemetery reference color field abstract expressionism, conveying an experience of the void, metaphorical of death and dying.