No, I Am Not That Famous Actress

In the late nineties, several students told me I reminded them of Bea Arthur, who played Dorothy Zbornak on "The Golden Girls." Students from an earlier era had said I resembled the actress Joanne Woodward. I’ve also been compared to Glenn Close. and to Lorraine Bracco, who played Dr. Melfi, Tony’s psychiatrist in "The Sopranos."

What do all these actors have in common? They’re white women born long enough ago that they learned about World War II as a current event. Their resemblance to me hinges on whatever the beholder has in their eye. They also represent a cultural wave, with students of different decades linking me to women on the screen at that time. Students now would likely ask, “Joanne who?”

Linking the familiar to the unfamiliar helps us make sense of new people and things. We got the phrase “waves of grass” when settlers accustomed to the sea moved to the prairies of the Midwest. It’s an apt description. Those who’d never seen the prairie could envision it better if they imagined it moving like the waves they saw at home.

Pattern Recognition

It’s the same with people—we use pattern recognition to zoom in on similarities in the face, coloring, shape, voice, and mannerisms between people we don't know and those we do. It’s a bit of a social simile. We can relax around those who remind us of others—we know what to expect.

I like to think new students saw the Joanne Woodward resemblance as a way of knowing they could trust me. Glenn Close has my same coloring and a bit of a similar jawline. I share a vocal pattern with Lorraine Bracco. With Bea Arthur, it was likely a look plus an attitude.

Conversely, we don't always know what to do with the people who don't fit our cultural patterns—their skin is a different color, or their facial features are bigger, smaller, or just somehow wrong. Maybe their voice is too loud or too soft. They are too womanly or not womanly enough. We often categorize these people as untrustworthy, even unlikable, usually subconsciously. They exist outside our bubble.

Strides in Media Representation

Fortunately, we have made significant strides in media representation of people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, women, and other groups beyond the narrow 1950’s "Leave it to Beaver" trope. This mirrors the diverse planet we share. We see Viola Davis and Sandra Oh on the screen—hopefully making it more likely that when a woman of color shows up in front of the classroom, students will see a recognizable role model. This expands our bubbles, linking rather than separating us.

I have often felt too big, clumsy, and loud to be socially proper. So thank the gods for Bea Arthur, a tall, opinionated Eastern European like me who made a career of playing a strong woman willing to break social barriers. She stood up to the racist, sexist Archie in "All in the Family," and her character in "Maude" got pregnant at age 47 and had an abortion in an episode that showed how wrenching and complex that decision was. In 1972, such truths seldom were told on television, and the show suffered a backlash that never quite abated.

Bea Arthur, who died in 2009, continued to play a woman who stood up and stood out, and the fact that students saw a bit of her in me makes me proud. Maude and Dorothy Zbornak get stuff done. That is a pattern I am happy to repeat.

Parts of this have been published in I Used to Be Young, But I Got Over It.

Copyright Patricia Prijatel, 2024