Why Does Hollywood Hate the Suburbs?

online.wsj.com ^ | 122708 | By LEE SIEGEL

[wardaddy]

I guess I need to move out to a dairyfarm to complete the cycle.

Don't forget Uncle Sid if you're going this way

[Mr. Silverback]

In the city, there's a much better chance of finding a church with an intact organ, too.

What do they say at your church about denigrating someone's intellectual capacity based on the geographic location they reside in?

[Clemenza]

From the last photos of him, Uncle Sid would have fit in nicely riding his bike through Princeton:

Lots of (relatively cheap) land in the western Catskills that looks attractive. Problem is that I want a vineyard, and you don't get enough sunlight in that area, to say nothing of the bitterly freezing temperatures from the late fall to mid-spring. I can't live on cows alone.

[Desdemona]

What do they say at your church about denigrating someone's intellectual capacity based on the geographic location they reside in?

Intellect? The comments are more about how cultured people are. And then there's behavior issues.

[KC_Conspirator]

That is exactly it! What a fantastic article! I have been saying this for years. Liberal rejection of decent and wholesome suburbia is childish on its face. The idea that white liberals have to somehow “slum it” to keep it real is a farce.

[visualops]

It’s far simpler than that. To be superior, there must be someone beneath you. Everything about what the liberals are revolves around ego, self-gratification, and the sin from which all others flow: pride.

[Tax-chick]

My neighbors like cool cars as much as the next person. We have a guy up the street with a bright pink “Thing.” However, one might deduce that “art car” means, “Car that you drive to attract attention and then you get in a snit because people are staring.”

[Tax-chick]

You want a vineyard? (So do I :-). Have you considered the Yadkin Valley of North Carolina? You could have cows and pigs, too! And kudzu!

[AnAmericanMother]

"Down in St. Louis at 12th and Carr,
Big Bill Brady was a tendin' bar,
In walked Duncan with a star on his chest,
Duncan says, 'Brady, you're under arrest.'

Brady, why didn't you run?
Brady, you shoulda run.
Brady, you shoulda run,
When you seen Black Duncan with his Gatling Gun.

When all the girls heard that Brady was dead,
They went downtown and they put on red,
Marchin' down Main Street singin' this song,
'Brady's struttin' in Hell with his Stetson on.'"

- that's all I remember of the song. It's in Carl Sandburg's American Songbag, which unfortunately is sitting on the bookcase by my piano while I am at my parents' house in SGA.

[Tax-chick]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUn18MKAfKQ

Here’s a version by somebody. The one that’s on the radio fairly often is by the Johnson Mountain Boys.

[x]

To be fair, the novel "Revolutionary Road" has been described as a "lost classic" for a long time.

The movie wasn't made because of Hollywood's hatred of suburbia.

Rather it was just another effort to get a prestigious literary property on film.

With the stars of Titanic it could even be profitable.

Yates and his novel do "hate" suburbia, but everybody pretty much realizes that the "message" of the novel is dated.

And what's dated isn't so much the dislike of suburbia, but the monolithic, one-sided quality of Yates's antipathy.

I hope we've come to the point where we recognize that suburbs, like cities and small towns and everything else, will please some people, but not others.

[Mr. Silverback]

"Custard-brained" has nothing to do with intellect? And my oh my, I'm no city basher, but "then there's behavior issues?" I've never visited a city without encountering a number of people with behavior issues. For example, in Chicago I met an 11 year old blonde kid who was wearing a "Kill Whitey" button on his field jacket, used the word "motherf******" in every sentence and as a whole swore more than my entire Air Force ground crew combined. I had this conversation with him about 20 feet from a guy handing out fliers which proclaimed his political manifestos and identified him as "a servant of the anti-Christ." Yet I don't judge the entire city as a haven of foul-mouthed weirdos.

My original question stands.

[Mr. Silverback]

However, one might deduce that “art car” means, “Car that you drive to attract attention and then you get in a snit because people are staring.”

Or "Car that you drive to get kudos from folks at Burning Man." Of course, I won't assume that because one freeper got in an inexplicable snit all these folks are like that, because I don't know any.

[staytrue]

Thank you. A perfect reply in post 25.

[Mr. Silverback]

I call either BS or bigotry on post 25. See posts 116 and 119.

[B-Chan]

How do you have time for all those fun activites? You have to drive, drive, drive, drive, drive to get anywhere. And driving in Atlanta is oh, so much fun.

Fair warning: I have spent a great deal of time in Cobb County and environs over the years. I know exactly what it’s like there. It’s like every other freaking suburb in America: a bunch of strip malls separated by faceless tracts of plastic houses and tied together by roaring freeways. Nothing to eat but chain-store food; nothing to do but drive. Not for me, thanks.

I’m glad you like it, though.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Thanks for the post. I was going to see this movie but I’ll consider something else.

[Desdemona]

You said church. The people from the suburbs come to the Cathedral, where I attend, and talk during the prelude, go to Communion with gum in their mouths, dress provocatively - and this is for official Archdiocesan events. And, yes, we in the Cathedral do talk about it. There's even signs and notices in the bulletin and they still do it.

As for language, I hear just as bad language coming out of the outlying areas, especially where the meth labs are and parts of north county. It's not an exclusive behavior. Going to places like the Zoo is rather painful as nobody seems to know how to behave.

And frankly, the people I know from the 'burbs really don't have much of a sense of curiosity. To an extent, it's a comfort zone. One night I was in a room with people who had graduated from college and live in the suburbs and they don't read. They know how, but their houses have no books. I've run out of space on my shelves. I realize this is not everyone, but most people I know in the suburbs aren't interested in anything beyond them.

It's the energy I like. Hearing fire engines in the middle of night. Being able to hop on public transportation and get to work, the ballpark, a hockey game. It's not for everyone. I know that. But the generalizations are not fair.

[Desdemona]

There’s a difference between having intellectual capacity and actually using it. It doesn’t matter where you live - there are people who use it and people who don’t. You have to want to use it to get anything useful out of being smart.

[Tax-chick]

I don’t think I know anyone with an art car or a history of attending Burning Man, but one can’t be sure. The secretary at my church drives a SmartCar, though. It would easily fit in the back of my van :-).