Maxim Bakaleynik
Sunday, December 3rd, 2006Flight for Future
Last year in anthropology class, my professor taught us a very important concept of family history, based upon the idea of ego. In this collage, I am the ego and I used pictures of different points in my life that symbolize something important to my family. Every picture has a value; nothing is placed for the sheer purpose of esthetic pleasure. Overall, they all combine in their layout to deliver a message that will continue to impact my family forever, starting from my parents to my children, my children’s children, and so on.
Let’s begin with the cluster of pictures in the lower right hand corner. As anyone can probably guess, the family of three represents my own family. The Soviet flag shown to their left is the symbol of the country they have sworn allegiance to. The emblem on the right marks the child as a Communist in the eyes of the world. I have found that people tend to be very ignorant, and when I say I’m from the former Soviet Union they automatically label me a Communist. The Red Scare is truly alive and well and I’ve had to fight that stereotype for a long time over things as trivial as presenting papers on Stalin and Lenin. The “got milk?†sign, although humorous in the United States today, reflects the socio-economic status of the people and the country. Food was not plentiful, and people stood on lines to get whatever was being distributed that day at whatever quantities they could afford. The blueberry flavored vodka shows the country’s strongest industry at the time, and I think it acts as a pun on the fact that you have flavored vodka instead of juice.
The kite in the center of the picture represents the flight over to America, and the word it is pointing to represents the reason for the journey—freedom ringing true—freedom of religion, the rights of citizens, freedom of choice, and so much more. The different brand names scattered across the paper represent some of that freedom to choose. In the USSR we didn’t have brands; you wore what was available. But in America you have Levi’s, Gap, Old Navy, and literally thousands of other options. There was no Wendy’s like there is in modern Russia today; you ate at home with your family and stretched food to make it last.
The picture at Disney World and of Mickey Mouse represents a chance to experience a real childhood. The graduation photo is a symbol of me achieving a foothold for my future; the son of immigrants who has gone through the public education system and come out on top. Before I had entered high school, I promised my parents that I would work toward attending a competitive college, and that it wouldn’t cost them a single penny. I made good on that promise.
The picture of me in a suit shows me as I am now, a college student working hard to be the first in my nuclear family to finish college in America. I wish to set an example for my own kids one day by moving on to an excellent career and a good life. That life, I hope, will lead me to the last picture, the one of me in a tuxedo, which I used to symbolize achieving wealth and status, and pursuing pleasures other than working such as performing. The Corvette next to that photo is a mark of being able to afford expensive leisure items simply because I worked hard.
The overall layout of the collage is supposed to convey one message. I don’t care that I was four when I left the Soviet Union. It doesn’t matter to me that I experienced most of my life and opportunities here in the United States. The Soviet Union is where I was born, and no matter how much of it I remember or got to experience, it’s still a part of me. I was raised on its values of hard work and discipline. I can converse in the language fluently, and I know the history of the people. As far as I’m concerned, I will always be a hyphenated American, a Soviet-American, and if I can help it my family to come will always be hyphenated Americans too.
