So close, and yet so far
Mar. 3rd, 2003 12:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ealgyldenViggo Mortensen spent his weekend half an hour from my home, doing your basic art exhibit/reception/guest speaker deal at his alma mater, St. Lawrence University (and did I get to see him? noooo). His visit was mentioned in every single local news broadcast for a week ("He's coming!" "He'll be here tomorrow! "He's here!" "Everyone loves him!" "He's gone!"). You could see the newscasters biting their tongues 'til they bled to resist claiming him as a local- he graduated from a local high school, attended a local college, and his mom still lives in the area, but he wasn't born here and he's lived most of his life elsewhere, so by North Country standards he's a foreigner. But it isn't like the North Country has all that many famous people it can even partially claim. We produce dairy products and zinc, not movie stars. So I can't really blame them for trying to claim someone as notable, as of-the-moment, as godawful sexy as Viggo. His visit was the most exciting that that's happened up here in ages.
And it's both funny and sweet to read that he told the students he met to enjoy their time in Canton and to try to become part of the community (TORn has a brief account, with pics, posted, as do all sorts of Viggo sites, I'm sure). To both local young people and non-locals who end up here, Canton (and the North Country in general) is traditionally someplace you endure, not someplace you enjoy. It's beautiful, in an austere New England-y way (and I love it here, truly). But it's also cold, and empty, and there isn't a whole lot to do (although we have lots of Amish families, for Witness fans to gawk at). So I do think Viggo was looking at the area through the eyes of an artist and poet, rather than those of a college student transplanted from Long Island or Westchester. But who knows, maybe he'll inspire them.
And it's both funny and sweet to read that he told the students he met to enjoy their time in Canton and to try to become part of the community (TORn has a brief account, with pics, posted, as do all sorts of Viggo sites, I'm sure). To both local young people and non-locals who end up here, Canton (and the North Country in general) is traditionally someplace you endure, not someplace you enjoy. It's beautiful, in an austere New England-y way (and I love it here, truly). But it's also cold, and empty, and there isn't a whole lot to do (although we have lots of Amish families, for Witness fans to gawk at). So I do think Viggo was looking at the area through the eyes of an artist and poet, rather than those of a college student transplanted from Long Island or Westchester. But who knows, maybe he'll inspire them.
