Los Angeles: The Ultimate Rorschach Test
Since starting "The Day of the Locust," we have discussed the utopian ideology of Los Angeles. Tod's vision of Pinyon Canyon was kind of like another movie set: external aesthetic trying to make something seem like something it is not. He sees Angelinos acting out lives they wish to be living rather than the actual lives they are living. To Tod, Los Angeles is a try-hard. However, how Tod views this empty living and the architectural “monstrosities” could not be further from Banham’s perspective on LA. Banham sees authentic individuality behind the diversity of Los Angeles and believes it designs unequivocal beauty.
Both in terms of the people and the structural makeup, Los Angeles is an enigma. Is LA diverse or is it segregated? Does LA live up to expectations or does its reality fail its promise? Between Banham and West, which perspective resonates with you more? Using personal perspective and those of West and Banham, analyze how Los Angeles lives up to or fails expectations. Do the people who come here feel cheated by LA?
Both in terms of the people and the structural makeup, Los Angeles is an enigma. Is LA diverse or is it segregated? Does LA live up to expectations or does its reality fail its promise? Between Banham and West, which perspective resonates with you more? Using personal perspective and those of West and Banham, analyze how Los Angeles lives up to or fails expectations. Do the people who come here feel cheated by LA?
As someone who has lived here for most of my life, I cannot speak as to what expectation of diversity people come to Los Angeles with; I do think that, like many urban cities, L.A. is both incredibly diverse AND segregated. So many different cultures coexist here that one can describe Los Angeles as a whole as diverse; however, when focusing in on more distinct communities, one can tell that our diversity is segregated. Many of the smaller cities within L.A. are dominated by majority one race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic background, and each city reflects the desires and expectations of that particular group. And for every group, there exist people whose hopes of the Angeleno experience were met and people whom the "land of sunshine and oranges" failed—but there are far more stories of disappointment than of success. Clearly, Nathanael West believes that this paradise of “avocado pears and passion fruit” (West 229) completely fails to meet the expectations of the people who come to LA, leaving them bored, unsatisfied, and lacking a purpose. He writes that Angelenos eventually realize that they can only look at a wave on the beach or an airplane taking off so many times before it becomes an inconsequential way of life. People come to this city because of what others have made it out to be—because they expect to find the fame, glory, and opportunity that only so few have ever truly been able to take advantage of. People come to L.A. for action and adventure; they come to witness miracles and tragedies, and they come to watch their dreams come true. The image people think of when they picture Los Angeles is an unrealistic fairytale, put into their minds by films, the media, and the false impression the world has of an otherwise normal city. And when Angelenos are faced with the harsh reality of nothing being thrilling enough or shocking enough to quench their thirst for pleasure and excitement, they feel as though “they have been cheated and betrayed” (West 230). This perspective resonates with me much more than that of Banham. I don’t think I ever held Los Angeles to any standard or even had any expectations of the city until I spent a significant amount of time outside the country, where all people could talk about was the glamorous, heaven-on-earth metropolis I grew up in. As of that moment, I felt cheated. I could never tell people what they want to hear about L.A.—I have not met or seen a celebrity (other than at a concert), I do not live in Hollywood, people do not fly through the Beverly Hills by helicopter to reach their destination, and my free time is not constantly spent suntanning on the beach or surfing the Pacific waves. But as is the vicious cycle of hope in this city, I still believe my luck will change.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Los Angeles is both diverse and segregated. As we talked about in class a couple weeks ago, LA is very diverse when looking it in the context of the United States or world, but when looking closer at specific neighborhoods in LA, we are more segregated. Outsiders considers LA to be a "melting pot", but most angelenos would probably see it as many different kinds of food all on the same plate, but not touching and in completely separated sections. I also believe LA lives up to the expectations for some, but not so much for most. If someone becomes lucky and moves to LA to become rich and famous and that actually ends up happening, then I would say it lives up to their expectations; however, for the 99.99% of others that aren't so lucky and move to LA and don't find money or glory, then it does a poor job of living up to those awfully high expectations. I would personally say that Banham's perspective of LA resonates more with me. I found the houses and architecture of Los Angeles to be amazing and beautiful, while others did not. While I can see people "acting out fake lives" in Los Angeles, I personally am more amazed by than concerned about Los Angeles and all of the fakeness. I think that people come here feel more like they lied to themselves than feel cheated by LA. It is not Los Angeles' fault that people set such high and unlikely expectations on the city, so I believe if/ when people realize LA is not what they make it out to be, then I believe they just feel naive.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that Los Angeles is definitely diverse while also remaining segregated. As Alina mentioned, there are some neighborhoods that tend to favor certain racial communities over others. Thinking back to when we visited different street corners, this is evident. Where my group was in Highland Park, it was obvious that the business (chain/small) catered to the Hispanic community. Even when signs were in english, there was a Spanish translation underneath. At other street corners, groups observed a mostly Asian community through people and businesses. I then think about Pasadena, one city that is clearly divided. The "nice" area is predominantly white, whereas the other side of Pasadena is Black and Hispanic dominated. This is where I can see how we are diverse, but still remain divided, even within individual cities. As far as meeting expectations, I believe that this varies for each individual. A stated by West, "he had come to Hollywood, thinking to earn a living playing comedy bits in films. There proved to be little demand for his talents, however." For someone like this, the reality of LA probably fails to live up to expectations. In contrast, for some, their experience in LA might look like this, "Like California? She laughed at the idea that anyone might not like it. Why, it's a paradise on earth!" (West 153) For outsiders, everyone may have a different expectation of what Los Angeles is. Because of this, I don't think we can make a blanket statement that LA does/does not live up to expectations. Because I have lived here all my life, I can only go by what others' perspectives and curiosities of LA are. If an outsider asked me if there was a diverse selection of food, I would say yes. If someone asked me if Hollywood Boulevard is as amazing as they make it out to be in the movies, I would say no. Expectations vary.
ReplyDeleteMy family came to LA because my dad got a job working for Kanye West...I did not have a choice as I as too young but LA has lived up to my expectations of being a home in which I feel safe (although I would prefer to be living back in New York City...). People who come to LA come with an image of paradise in their head or a job in the "industry" awaiting them. In Day of the Locust there is a clear example of someone who had moved to LA with a goal in mind: their child becoming a star. And when she is asked if she likes living on the West Coast she responded, "'Like California?' she laughed at the idea that anyone might not like it. 'Why, it's paradise on earth!'" (West 153). While this mom believes that LA is the land of hope and dreams, Tod does not and West does an excellent job of showing his distaste with LA through each character. For instance, the mom who loves LA is "one of the army of women who drag their children from casting office to casting office and sit for hours, weeks, months, waiting for a chance to show what Junior can do" (West 154). West uses his sarcastic, disapproving tone to paint a picture or the mom as a crazy lady, using her sons talent as a way to find fame and fortune: the LA fantasy. Some achieve this fantasy and some keep trying but never will. Yet, I don't think most people feel cheated by LA. I think that I resonate more with Banham just because I have an extremely optimistic outlook on the world and love exploring it. I feel like by being an LA resident who did not travel across coasts for my OWN LA fantasy, I see through a different lens than those who do travel to LA for stardom.
ReplyDeleteTo me Los Angeles is a place that is both extremely diverse and segregated. This is the case because both California and Los Angeles is such a wide and big city/state and as a result of this, we witness a large variety of inhabitants of different races. However these different races often are separated in terms of location. As you are in East LA you are often going to see a large Latino population, but if you venture to the Beverly Hills area, you will witness very few minorities living there. In terms of whether or not LA lives up to its reality depends on the person and their specific reason for coming to Los Angeles. I feel as if an immigrant say coming from Mexico or from the middle east may experience more freedom and opportunity in LA and the city may be all that they believed it was. Compare this experience to a person from the midwest who wants to move to LA in order to become an actor/actress and believes that celebrities just roam the streets freely, you would have two different perspectives of whether or not Los Angeles lived up to it's expectations. I would say that between the two authors that West experience resonates more with me because I do agree with him that Los Angeles is full of people trying to create fake personas. All throughout LA you can witness people trying to behave like something they aren't whether that be people trying to stunt at clubs like they're super important people or the Instagram "public figures" that are out there now, everything about LA is not great like Banham believes that it is. In Banhams perspective, he believes that everything about Los Angeles is beautiful, great and magnificent. West on the other hand believes that LA is filled with phonies. "Only dynamite would be of any use agains the Mexican ranch house, Samoan huts, Mediterranean villas, Egyptian and Japanese temples, Swiss chalets, Tudor cottages and every possible combination of these styles that lined the slopes of the canyon When he noticed that they were all of plaster, lath and paper, he was charitable and blamed their shape on the materials used" (West 6-7). This description displays how west sees all of these fake wanna be homes and how week their structure truly is on the inside. This is a larger metaphor for the citizens of Los Angeles.
ReplyDeleteHaving lived in Los Angeles my entire life and having gone to school in basically a 7 mile radius of my home for my entire life I wouldn’t necessarily say that I have had the opportunity to explore the diversity of Los Angeles. I do think that Los Angeles attracts a variety of people from all over the world who seek greater opportunities and a chance to be successful. According to wallethub.com, Los Angeles is considered the 8th most diverse city in the country which contributes to the idea to the reality that Los Angeles is a melting pot. I think that Los Angeles is segregated as well as diverse. I think that there are certain areas of Los Angeles where certain ethnicities tend to settle but that does not take away from the diversity of Los Angeles. For example, Pasadena has a predominately white section and a predominately black/hispanic section. I think that Pasadena is considered to be a diverse city but the difference races/ethnicities that are represented live in different areas. I think that the idea that people come to Los Angeles to achieve the American Dream and achieve fame and success can only apply to specific people. It is hard to generalize such a broad question because there are some people who do “make it” in the city of Los Angeles but there are also people that continuously struggle.
ReplyDeleteI was born in L.A., as were my parents before me and their parents and some of their grandparents. Thus, for my family, I have to trace way back to analyze the "expectation" of migrants versus the reality. I imagine that my great-great grandparents came here looking for success. They were poor but came just in time for the real-estate boom in the 1880s. The American Dream of "rags to riches" seemed to have, in a sense, come true for them. They were immigrants, the wife sold flowers on a street corner, the husband worked as a clerk for a real estate agent and then eventually learned the business in order to buy land for his family. Their son went to college and then became a successful insurance man. His son followed suit, and so did his son, my dad. I would not be surprised, though, if my family's success has to do with our white privilege. I do not know if my great-great grandfather had a part in kicking natives off their land, but he could have. I also do not know if his rags would have turned to riches had he been a person of color. I also do not know that economic mobility is as prevalent in today's society as it was back then. Just because I can drive the freeways in my SUV, free to explore like Banham, does not mean that is true for everyone.
ReplyDeleteFor many, the L.A. Dream involves the film industry. Faye works towards fame in L.A., but her dream seems far from reality. She lands small parts and spends the rest of her days pretending to be someone she's not. All of the other people who dress up (West, 5), who also pretend to be who they're not, probably do so because they have not attained their dreams in L.A. They have to fake it because it's not their reality. I know someone whose Instagram bio says that he is a "producer, actor/artist, and singer/songwriter." He may be those things, but he is also a homeless young man in L.A., which suggests that L.A. does not bring people the prosperity they might be looking for in an entertainment job.
The fact that Los Angeles is either diverse or segregated is a false dichotomy. LA, as a city and a county, is extremely diverse, but each individual subsection of LA is extremely segregated. I believe that different types of architecture and aesthetics have helped lead to such an intrasegregated city. Banham was focused on how architecture has played a beautiful role in the makeup of Los Angeles, while West uses themes of architecture to focus on how how individuals affect have destroyed the authenticity of Los Angeles. Having focused on gentrification a lot in this class, I can understand the the perspective that architecture has changed LA in a negative way, but it seems more plausible that the cultural diversity within the greater LA perspective is bolstered by the architecture that the diversity brings along with it. For this reason, I believe that LA is able to meet its expectations on occasion. LA is expected to be a diverse place, and, for the most part, it is. Having lived here all of my life, there are not many expectations that have not been lived up to. But, I am sure there is someone with a completely different experience as me in LA; someone who has seen no diversity, someone who has achieved none of their dreams, and that is the sad reality for many people. LA is not a place of magic, and it certainly is not the place for everyone, but it does achieve much of what people expect.
ReplyDeleteRegarding LA living up to expectations: Living in Los Angeles my entire life, I do not have great perspective as to whether Los Angeles lives up to the "hype." Because of that, I find that my view of Los Angeles aligns more with Banham's view rather than West's view. I view Los Angeles as a great city with unique architecture, which I enjoy. Although my perspective on whether Los Angeles lives up to expectations isn't great, I do not think that a city should be responsible for upholding standards. In essence, my viewpoint is that people coming to Los Angeles that are looking to make it big don't always do so. I do not think that Los Angeles has any sort of promise and therefore has no expectations to live up to.
ReplyDeleteRegarding diversity: Los Angeles county is extremely diverse. In fact, Los Angeles is one of the most diverse cities in the United States. While Los Angeles as a whole is extremely diverse, the communities and neighborhoods that make up the county tend to not be diverse. As we have talked about in class, many things factor into the lack of diversity in neighborhoods, one being different types of architecture (freeways are an example) that break up and isolate communities and neighborhoods.
Los Angeles is incredibly diverse and segregation and race go hand in hand. They both equally play a art in our city and define Los Angeles. What is interesting to me is how certain neighborhoods are defined by race, wealth, or certain jobs. Race is the most refined characteristic when looking at cities like Boyle Heights and Brentwood. Boyle Heights is majority latino while Brentwood is majority white. Cities like Pasadena and Downtown Los Angeles are less obvious. Pasadena south of the 210 is a completely different world than Pasadena North of the 210. Similarly, wealth also tends to pertain mostly to distinct areas. The one I am most interested in however is jobs in that in Silverlake the majority of people living there have some involvement in the entertainment industry so for me when asked what is the most popular profession in LA, I would clearly argue that acting is the most popular because of where I live. Learning that manufacturing in fact is the most popular was interesting to me because the fact that I don't know anyone in the manufacturing industry in Silverlake probably says something about my neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteLA gives people a chance and does not guarentee anything. I don't think anyone comes to LA thinking they are for sure going to get a job in the Television Industry. They come because they believe they will have a chance. Therefore LA never "fails" anyone it simply does not live up to the hype tat some immigrating to the city might believe is a reality.
Los Angeles meets some people's expectations, and doesn’t for others. Whether it does or doesn’t depends on the outlook and goals of the people moving to Los Angeles. A perfect example of Los Angeles meeting expectations being dependent on the person moving here is actors and actresses. For many, due to Hollywood's massive cultural impact, Los Angeles is where you go to act. The reason Los Angeles lets people down is because people associate acting in Los Angeles with stardom, a state that is extremely hard to grasp and even harder to hold. In Day of the Locust, Faye wants to achieve such a state. In the book, she proclaims that “she wants to be a star someday.” At no point in the book does she provide any evidence that she enjoys acting or is good at it, rather her goal is purely to be a star. Such an outlook creates the conditions for Los Angeles not meeting her expectations, as even the majority of the greatest actors don’t become stars. In order for an actor or actress’ expectation to be met, they need to want to act, not be an star. Los Angeles has a lot of work for people who enjoy acting, but most of them don’t pay well nor do they grant stardom. Where people go wrong is associating the term “actor” with being a star. That is not the case, and anyone expecting that it is will be let down. Los Angeles cheats people who assume everyone who lives there does exactly what they planned originally. With that, Los Angeles is a diverse place. Within Los Angeles there are segregated communities, but the reason it is so hard to answer whether people are cheated by Los Angeles’s image or not is because so many people come here for different reasons. The actor, the immigrant, the banker, the real estate agent, the angeleno growing up in the city, etc. Everyone of those people come to Los Angeles for different reasons, adding to its beauty. The diverse nature of california’s many communities, to me, is beautiful. Whether or not there is sincerity behind everyone's individual affirmations of themselves is not relevant. In support of Banham, there are few places in the world where so many communities filled with different dreams are in such close proximity to one another. That is beautiful, and a reason Los Angeles is such an amazing place.
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