FOR ALL the talk of the freedoms we enjoy in this country, we often neglect to mention one of the most important -- the freedom to be weird. Fortunately, one Jonathan Taylor Spielberg was kind enough to drive this point home to the rest of us. Spielberg claimed to be the nephew of the famous director, and apparently received free admission to a Fairfax, Virginia private high school. He would hand out $10 bills to fellow students. Even though he rarely attended class, Paul VI's administration was so enamored of their new student, they allowed him to park his BMW coupe in the principal's own parking spot.
The daily stresses of college life always go down better with a few shots of humor. If you can't get a laugh from this story, you probably should check your pulse. While Spielberg's behavior is highly disturbing, one can't help but laugh at how ridiculous the entire situation is. Such comical tales of ill-gotten fame come along rarely. Though the whole world may feed off America's pop culture exports, rarely does this admiration -- or addiction -- bring about such a dramatic result. You are really missing out on life if you can't find a way to laugh at such an outrageous situation. After all, that's what it's there for.
Spielberg -- who was born Anoushirvan Fakhran in Tehran, Iran 27 years ago -- seemed content to coast along through life since he arrived in the United States in 1992. Unlike the vast majority of new immigrants who are committed to working hard and achieving a better life in a new country, Fakhran preferred to live off money wired to him from his father, who still lives in Iran.
When I first heard of this story, I didn't believe it. It seemed to be some sort of joke. Something so outlandish couldn't possibly have occurred at a nice, conservative school like Fairfax, Va.'s Paul VI. I'm glad I was mistaken.
It's been said that all good humor has an ounce of truth to it. In this case, the humor is the truth. This is the type of story that The Daily Show wouldn't even need to embellish -- they could just read The Associated Press story. It's that funny.
I'll be the first one to admit that there is a fair amount of tragedy involved in this mess. The Immigration and Naturalization Service may deport Fakhran for his alleged criminal actions in misrepresenting his age, and other offenses. Certainly, he has to deal with a large amount of embarrassment as well. Were it not for his obviously wealthy lifestyle, evidenced by his car and expensive apartment, one would have to feel a lot more sympathy for this man.
However, one should not lose touch with the fact that stories such as this one do not come along very often. When they do, and when it is fair, we should relish them for the comic relief they provide to our daily lives. This was no great tragedy. It was simply an affluent but moderately disturbed man trying to gain attention from people much younger than himself. By concocting a world where he was a pivotal member, Fakhran finally could accomplish his goal of living life as a celebrity.
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The message here is not to laugh at Fahkran in any malicious way. There is no need to. Rather, we all should find some humor in the fact that our pop culture is pervasive on the world level -- it can motivate people to do the craziest things imaginable.
(Tim DuBoff's column appears Fridays in The Cavalier Daily.)
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