I wonder how many of you people read this thing. I don't waste away in this artificially lit dungeon and crank out this little column to wait for fame and fortune to roll in. After all, Atta Bui is for your benefit. So, I suggest if you haven't already, spread the word, and let the world know there's goodness to be had by pouring over every single word that appears in this corner of SPM each week. Actually, there's goodness to be had from every corner of SPM every week, but I might be overestimating your intelligence by assuming you already knew that. (That was my Clay Thompson moment. If you read "Valley 101" in the Local section of The Arizona Republic, you know what I'm yammering about. And, Clay, if by chance you are reading, know there's a student journalist out there who thinks you're just swell.)
Upward and onward to this week's installment of Atta Bui:
Sometimes, certain circumstances force you to act differently around different people. Not all of us can have the same personalities and attitudes we have with our bosses or professors that we have with our friends and family. We might be a little more formal, a little more reverent and be a little more ready to kiss a little (or big) bum.
We compartmentalize our personalities and habits for lots of different reasons: to pay respect, to show how comfortable you are with someone and to pay homage to social protocols. But does this mean the faces we put on at different times take away from who we essentially are?
I wonder about the different versions of Lynh people experience-whether I come off as too cheesy or preachy as "Atta Bui Lynh" as compared to the lighthearted and delightfully irreverent "Lunchtime companion Lynh." After thinking about this week's centerpiece, which documents the makeover of a drag queen (pages 6 and 7), I also wonder if drag queens have the same internal dilemma. These men have different lives by day, but when they get all glammed up, they're allowed to be a whole new person. They even give themselves different names.
And while some perceive the costumes, loud makeup and outrageous dress as an act, some men find it to be an outlet. It turns out the whole façade of a drag queen might not be a façade at all-at the core, these men might feel most free to be their true selves when they pretend to be women. So, at the risk of reviving "cheesy Atta Bui Lynh," I say cheers to these men who can be so open and so comfortable with themselves to strut their stuff anyway they please.
Different situations and different circumstances call for different social attitudes, butwhen it all comes down to it, we are all like game shows. There's the television version of "Jeopardy!," where we can be real contestants, and then there's the home version you get as a consolation prize. Both are different, but at the heart, it's still "Jeopardy!," and you still have to answer in the form of a question (and there goes irreverent "Lunchtime companion Lynh").
Reach the reporter at spmag@asu.edu.
