For every opportunity you have to learn about a foreign culture, you have one to enrich the knowledge of one you are familiar with. When I saw that Anthony Bourdain had filmed an episode of his Parts Unknown series in Chicago, I took it as the opportunity to learn more about a city special to me. My frequent visits to Chicago have given me a terministic screen that makes Chicago seem comfortable. I hear ‘Chicago” and am reminded of the crisp wind, holidays at the Peninsula hotel, my eleventh birthday at the Ritz Carlton. To me, Chicago is safe, although I acknowledge that my time there has been primarily spent on the Gold Coast. The magnificent mile is where the money is, and where my perspective of Chicago has been formed. There is an extraordinarily different side of Chicago that I have not been exposed to.
What comes to my mind when thinking of Chicago.
Anthony Bourdain’s show deconstructed many, but one in particular, stereotype about Chicago- that it’s a city lacking culture. It’s true, Chicago streets are filled with white men in suits, high rise offices, and Starbucks; beyond this facade is a diverse city bursting with culture. this TimeOut Article suggests to check out the “deep storefront theater scene, new-music troupes on the bleeding edge of classical, a lively avant-garde jazz community, art galleries.” Bourdain chose to spend quality time at The Old Town Ale House- a popular bar with a 4 am liquor license, as well as with rapper Lupe Fiasco who calls Chicago home. I could quickly tell that Parts Unknown focused on the stereotype that Chicago is just another finance hub through a multimodal approach of interviews, scenic shots, and visiting popular local hangouts.
The inside of the Old Town Ale House.
At the Old Town Ale House, owner Bruce Elliot fills Bourdain in on the bar culture. Laughing about the bars “no shot list,” which he explains is made of those allowed to come to hang out for a drink, but forbidden from taking shots. Getting banned from the Ale House usually requires punching someone- more than one time, which I thought really spoke to the value Chicagoans have about being tough-skinned. The Ale House walls are filled with explicit paintings of politicians (think Putin- wearing nothing but a ballet tutu). I got the sense that people go there for a good time; to get away from the stresses of their day. Elliot’s motto is “bar people do not live as long as vegan joggers, however, they have more fun.” Bourdain’s time at the Old Town Ale House shows him inside the ethos of the city from a true midwest drinking experience and I personally found nothing uncultured about it; these people like to have fun but you need to have thick skin around them. After exploring Chicago’s bar side, Bourdain headed to meet Lupe Fiasco for an in house Chicago experience. Fiasco acknowledged his privilege to have grown up in Chicago with two intelligent, politically oriented parents to help shape his terministic view of the city. It’s pretty well known that Chicago suffers from a crime issue, in fact, a New York Times article published just this month quoted “Mount Sinai Hospital in Chicago was so overwhelmed that its emergency department temporarily stopped accepting patients with gunshot wounds in the early morning” recently. When I visit Chicago, we stay in the areas we know because the crime is so saturated. Lupe credits his parents for teaching him to be both “book smart and street smart,” so while he is able to grasp this massive murder/gang issue Chicago faces, (even referring to the city as “chiraq”) he still has the perspective of a privileged outsider. Lupe sits beside his mom, Shirley who I found to give the best view of the ethos in Chicago by sharing her perspective on the city. As I watched people bustling in and out of her small apartment, grabbing plates of her incredible soul food: mac n cheese, collard greens, and cornbread, I could sense how deeply rooted their community truly is. Shirley credits much of Chicago’s culture to “the southern people, who brought [their] spirit,” during the great migration. She claims its why “Chicago has a warm spirit, a loving spirit.”
Scenes that show Chicagos violence.
Inside of Lupe Fiascos mom, Shirleys, home.
Bourdain’s terministic view on Chicago probably changed after filming this episode, and mine did too from watching. His multimodal approach encompassed diverse people, music, food-both cheap and upscale, and scenery- both beautiful and violent. Between sitting at local bars, going to Chinatown, speaking with baseball fans, and eating a home-cooked meal with Lupe Fiasco’s inviting family, Bourdain had a more well-rounded visit to the incredible city of Chicago than I have in my hundreds of visits there. I feel inspired to take my next weekend there beyond the magnificent mile to see the true ethos of the city. Bourdain says it best, “Chicago is a town, a city that doesn’t ever have to measure itself against any other city. Other places have to measure themselves against it. It’s big, it’s outgoing, it’s tough, it’s opinionated, and everybody’s got a story.”
Greta Ghei 