La Bella Figura

jHELMER_portraitsJ, originally uploaded by james helmer.

I came across this photo by accident on Flickr today. This man was set on fire by the Khmer Rouge during the Pol Pot regime and now lives by the genocide museum in Cambodia's capital city, Phnom Penh, surviving largely on tourist handouts. This photo got me thinking a lot about the beautiful metropolitan lives we boast about in the world's major cities. In Rome, it's called 'La Bella Figura' - the beautiful figure. Or more generally, the beautiful image. It's about dressing well, behaving appropriately, bringing the right gifts and watching after how you present yourself to the world.

In Rome, you see the the 'bella figura' every day. The tram stop on Via Arenula is a good place to watch this, as commuters either rush between trams or 'stylishly' wait for the next one. They always seem to be dressed in black, with some delightfully colorful scarf and aggressively pointed leather boots. The older ladies shuffle around in faux-fur coat. Everyone looks the part.

And occasionally, like I did today, you run into a wizened old woman in dowdy wear, waiting outside the cafe where you've just gulped down your cappucino, asking for a few euro cents. She'd 'inappropriately' dressed so nobody pays any attention. In fact, like in most cities, I get the impression I'm supposed to ignore her and walk away to carry on with my beautiful life.

Which, of course, I didn't. I put a euro in her outstretched palm. It wasn't about altruism per se. It was about me, and it was about cities. It was about me because my family's always taught me to be generous and emphatic. And it was about cities because cities normally hate the poor and ugly (particularly because they are beset by them) and ignoring them is choosing to live in a dream.