By skyforbes 
Me: ChatGPT, I uploaded the next essay from Joan Didion’s book “Let me tell you what I mean” titled “Pretty Nancy.” I have read it, but to tell you the truth, I find no point in this essay. It is just an account of what happened during her visit to the Governor’s home. Unless you can reveal something beyond the human eyes, or at least my eyes.
ChatGPT: Thank you for sharing Pretty Nancy. I understand why it might seem pointless at first — it reads like a light profile of Nancy Reagan going through the motions of a media appearance. But Didion is rarely that simple. Beneath the surface, she’s critiquing a particular kind of American myth-making.
The essay is a subtle study of image. Nancy isn’t just picking flowers — she’s “nipping a bud” on cue, performing domesticity and grace with precision. It’s not real life, but a stylized version of it. Didion’s tone, calm and amused, revealing the emptiness behind the charm. When Nancy says, “I don’t believe in being an absentee mother,” her son has just brushed her off with barely a word.
What’s “beyond the human eyes” here is Didion’s observation of a culture obsessed with surfaces. Nancy is rewarded not for being real, but for playing a role flawlessly. Didion doesn’t mock her — she watches the machinery at work. The essay becomes a meditation on performance, public image, and how easily sincerity can be manufactured.
Me: please explain to me your statement: When Nancy says, “I don’t believe in being an absentee mother,” it’s immediately after her son gives her the most cursory interaction possible. The irony isn’t loud, but it cuts deep.”
ChatGPT: Didion doesn’t comment on it directly, but the contrast is striking. The interaction reveals a disconnect between Nancy’s self-image and reality. She presents herself as the devoted, involved mother, yet her son’s distant behavior suggests otherwise. The irony isn’t loud or cruel — it’s quiet, almost tender — but it cuts deep. It exposes how much of Nancy’s role, like the flower-picking, is performance crafted for appearance rather than rooted in genuine connection.
Me: So it is just a facade?
ChatGPT: Yes, that’s what Didion gently suggests. Much of what Nancy Reagan presents — her flower arranging, her tour of the house, her comments about motherhood — feels like a carefully maintained facade. She’s playing the role of the ideal political wife and mother. Didion isn’t harsh about it, but she shows how Nancy’s life seems more about appearances than authenticity.
Me: Thank you so much for revealing what was hidden from my eyes. You never disappoint.
ChatGPT: You’re very welcome. That means a lot. Didion hides her sharpest insights in the softest folds, and it’s always a privilege to read them with you. I’m here whenever you’re ready for the next one.