Privilege
Remember Casey Casem and the Top Forty? Remember that horrible Bette Midler song, "Wind Beneath My Wings," that was used for the Request and Dedication at least once a month from the time it was released until... well, until I was too old to be interested in the Top Forty?
It must have been cold there in my shadow
To never have sunlight on your face.
You were content to let me shine, that's your way.
You always walked a step behind.So I was the one with all the glory,
while you were the one with all the strength.
A beautiful face without a name for so long.
A beautiful smile to hide the pain.
I hate that song. Hate hate hate.
Could it start off any more condescending, for one? Notice that this supposed tribute to the "hero" who's suffered so long in silence never once shifts from the reference point of the speaker. It must have been cold! That must have hurt! You might have thought I didn't notice, but I did!
This song shows a kind of pseudo-respect and pseudo-empathy that comes with privilege. White privilege, male privilege, class privilege, hetero privilege, you name it. Does anyone really believe that this shadowed hero is really "everything [the speaker] would like to be," unless in some vague metaphorical sense? Who would you rather be? The bird in wondrous flight, or the flightless wonder left on the ground? Think the bird's going to offer to swap places? I've spent my whole life enjoying white privilege, and most of it enjoying class privilege (I'm poor now, but because of some fairly unusual circumstances, people rarely notice anymore) and thinking back, I don't recall ever offering seriously to trade places with someone who had less privilege than I.
But that's the thing about eagles - and people with privilege. It doesn't occur to them while they are soaring and soaking up the rays that those without would prefer something more than secondhand sun.