Jillian, in short

Did you know

That in New Hampshire in 2008, the name Jillian was as popular as the name Cadence? Hello to the 12 infant Jillians and 12 infant Cadences out there in the Granite State.

Staten Island, the movie

About three years ago when I was an intern at the Staten Island Advance, I read bits of a screenplay called “Staten Island” that another reporter had gotten her hands on and that Ethan Hawke and Vincent D’Onofrio were apparently going to be in. Years later, it’s all finished, with Hawke and D’Onofrio in it, and slated for what appears to be a very limited theatrical release (Staten Island, Manhattan, L.A.) before going to DVD.

Obviously, it is about the mafia.

Advance reviewer Todd Hill said it’s not just a movie trying to cash in on the mob reputation of Staten Island and the popularity of the Sopranos:

It is a mob movie, yes. One of its three main characters is a mobster. But “Staten Island” is an endearing, warm-hearted tale of three men striving for a better life the best ways they know how.

So, easy-to-offend borough boosters, know this — there’s nothing worth getting offended by in this movie. The movie — gasp — may even make you proud to live here.

That having been said, “Staten Island” is not a great motion picture. It’s a minor effort, really, with a screenplay that at times feels rather half-baked.

Of course, easy-to-offend borough boosters are indeed offended, though they have not seen the film.

The trailer doesn’t look great, but I think I’ll definitely do my best to see this, even though it’s only playing at a theater on Staten Island that I absolutely hate and is over-run with bratty pre-teens from the South Shore.

I think Hill has a point about being proud of Staten Island. It’s easy to make fun of because of the stereotypes about it brought on, most recently by reality tv — that awful woman on the Bridezilla season finale was from, where else, Staten Island; the MTV Tru Life Staten Island Girl episode, etc. Couple the guido/guidette culture with long-standing beliefs about Staten Island being the “forgotten borough” (which it is) and being a mob haven (which it kind of is) and it can be easy to dismiss it. When I left high school I was so happy to be leaving Staten Island.

But then I started missing it. A lot. And oddly enough, my mother was very keen on leaving, and now that she’s in Jersey, she has to admit that she misses it, too. Of course that may be because her house there burned down, but whatever.

I don’t know; there’s just something to be said for the place. People are kind of nice, but not too nice. There are more Italian specialty food stores than you can shake a stick at, and a really good restaurant scene. You can live in a pretty big house with a nice yard and only pay NYC property tax. You’re a quick ride into Manhattan, so you can reap those cultural benefits while still having a somewhat suburban life. The school system did well by me. And, forgotten borough or not, it is part of New York City, the best place in the world. Yeah, people there are kind of arrogant about it. They should be.

So excuse me if all the fresh air up here in New Hampshire doesn’t suit me. I’ll take living on a busy street five miles from the world’s largest garbage dump if it means I can get fresh mozzarella without having to drive, if it means there being more than one dining choice after last call, if it means last call being 4 a.m., if it means having convenient access to real bagels and real pizza.

I know that to people from elsewhere the bagels and pizza and things-open-24/7 argument is just as tired a cliche as the guido/guidette cliche is to me. But maybe in the end the truth is in the middle: not every Staten Islander is overly tanned and overly made up with a thick accent and no manners, and not every bagel store or pizza place on the Island is the best.

It’s not perfect, but I am glad I’ve grown out of the phase where I felt embarrassed to be have been raised there. I am not too cool to say I miss it.