Naturally, of course, nobody can really afford to live this way, certainly not an inconsequential restaurateur and a primary-school principal, the two sisters in the story, whose menfolk don't look to have any means of earning an income at all. Just add up the costs of the mortgages, the brand-new cars, the high-fashion household goods (that stove in Theresa's kitchen costs at least three grand in USD, more than I make in the best of months...) and of course the latest model of phones for each and every person, and there is no way these people could ever even dream of being financially solvent someday.
And of course, that is the whole point of the nightmarish social-engineering project that is suburbia: keep the artificial 'middle class' so permanently mired in debt that there is no way out but to keep on acting the part and paying the bills. Which of course makes for an appallingly fallacious character type which by and large is the 'middle class' itself is and always has consisted of. The demand for everything to appear perfect at all times is so overwhelmingly consuming of everyone's energies that they become just like these people: passive-aggressive, duplicitous, adulterous and thoroughly dishonest. These are the kind of people for whom normal life is to uphold their polyester delusions by lying continually to themselves, each other, the children and the authorities in pretty much every situation.
And of course this nightmarish and thoroughly fantasist way of life produces on a steady basis the kind of cynical cruelty we see in the two children who are at the heart of the story. Never does it even occur to either of them that they are first cousins who will be in each other's lives for decades to come; at the first sign of trouble each one turns against the other and tries to shift all the consequences onto their own kinfolk just to stay out of trouble or have to admit to any wrongdoing of their own. And the 'adults' are even worse.
I manage to enjoy this kind of drama because it so vividly portrays the reasons I knew I had to escape suburbia forever and repudiate for a lifetime the addictions to debt, duplicity and the spendy whims of fashion such a life breeds. I bought my house and paid it off for less than what it takes one household here to have a change of clothing for one week. Every time I see people wallowing in the inevitable swamp of chaos and lies and bottomless despair such as these people get caught in just by trying to live this way, I think to myself, thank God I got out while I still could.
And this is the life people pay a million dollars of some bank's money for in places like Palo Alto, to live a life of ongoing lies and secrets that one cannot possibly afford or ever hope to have paid off? You can have it, if you're that lacking in self-respect. No, thank you.
And of course, that is the whole point of the nightmarish social-engineering project that is suburbia: keep the artificial 'middle class' so permanently mired in debt that there is no way out but to keep on acting the part and paying the bills. Which of course makes for an appallingly fallacious character type which by and large is the 'middle class' itself is and always has consisted of. The demand for everything to appear perfect at all times is so overwhelmingly consuming of everyone's energies that they become just like these people: passive-aggressive, duplicitous, adulterous and thoroughly dishonest. These are the kind of people for whom normal life is to uphold their polyester delusions by lying continually to themselves, each other, the children and the authorities in pretty much every situation.
And of course this nightmarish and thoroughly fantasist way of life produces on a steady basis the kind of cynical cruelty we see in the two children who are at the heart of the story. Never does it even occur to either of them that they are first cousins who will be in each other's lives for decades to come; at the first sign of trouble each one turns against the other and tries to shift all the consequences onto their own kinfolk just to stay out of trouble or have to admit to any wrongdoing of their own. And the 'adults' are even worse.
I manage to enjoy this kind of drama because it so vividly portrays the reasons I knew I had to escape suburbia forever and repudiate for a lifetime the addictions to debt, duplicity and the spendy whims of fashion such a life breeds. I bought my house and paid it off for less than what it takes one household here to have a change of clothing for one week. Every time I see people wallowing in the inevitable swamp of chaos and lies and bottomless despair such as these people get caught in just by trying to live this way, I think to myself, thank God I got out while I still could.
And this is the life people pay a million dollars of some bank's money for in places like Palo Alto, to live a life of ongoing lies and secrets that one cannot possibly afford or ever hope to have paid off? You can have it, if you're that lacking in self-respect. No, thank you.