San Fran

San Francisco as a city, has it all, arts, culture, food, transportation. This city is easily explored on foot, trolly, bus, or even taxi. This hilly city is horrible to drive in. Taxis drive fast and bikers cruise faster. San Fran is expensive. Rent is high but there are many amenities for living there. People in San Fran can never get enough, they are never happy with just one, the city is all about excess.


Most killings that happened in Zodiac are done by a man that arrives in a car. The Zodiac killer is a well known story. The killer approaches his victims while they are relaxing and vulnerable. A car is used to get out. We love the city, but if you have a car one can explore the beauty of northern California. You can leave the chaos and breathe for a minute. This is when the killer strikes.

The killer leaves messages in code on the cars of his victims. He does this a few times. He likes the media which is why he continues to threaten them to air his letters or he will strike again. He seems to never be able to get enough of his own feats.

The word Serial sends goosebumps through my body. To me, Serial means he just cant get enough. He is addicted to killing and addicted to the media coverage.

The Wedding Planner: A romantic comedy about Jennifer Lopez, a woman who loves to organize weddings but can never seem to find happiness. She is a dreamer and an overachiever. She always wants more clients, larger weddings, more happiness.

She is not happy with the one man that is already in love with her. She is looking for more. Matthew McConaughey, already is engaged, but their emotions get the best of them. "Those who cant wed, plan!" Thats her motto, but he sweeps her off her feet.

Creating Knowledge: The Zodiac is in need of more, this keeps him on the run, always dodging the police but getting away. Jennifer Lopez is very trendy, she thrives on success. When her career becomes difficult due to falling in love with the groom, she sticks with her planning because she wants to have success in life. She wants to see herself in the news, just like the Zodiac, and the population of San Fran. This is a public event, the city thrives on media.

Suburbia

Do people wear rose colored glasses in suburbia? Do people invite people into their homes more because they trust their neighbors? These communities are built, some with gates, some without direct through streets, some suburbs you need a map too. Anthropological studies have been done and resulted in to people feeling safer in a suburban community.


Do we feel safer in suburban neighborhoods? The history of Suburbia started with Levittown, the first area of mass construction. Most suburban areas are completely planned before the start of building. The new residents get to pick out of a few styles and colors. Movies that jump to my mind of suburbia are Pleasentville and Stepford Wives. This pristine and perfect area that nothing important happens in. Daily life is so scheduled and everything is on time. Men are at work and women are at home. Kids play safely in their yard or watch porno (as in Disturbia).

Edward Scissor Hands:
The suburbs have started to enclose around Edward's house. For years people have looked up at his mansion and told stories ohttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.giff a strange man that lives there. Edward looks down and like all the other residents spends hours manicuring their lawns. Edward is special because he has hands made from scissors.

The women know everything, they watch and when Edward comes to Joyce's house all the neighborhood ladies want to know whom the mysterious man is. Joyce your friendly Avon representative takes a stranger in. She invites him into her home while the whole family is gone. She feels that he could never hurt anyone. The residents find him interesting. Suburbia is represented as a safe place where everyone knows all the business. This is differently represented then in more recent movies.

Disturbia:
This is a modern flick that is attractive to both young and old. A High school kid that has to live through a family tragedy and fostering inside from house arrest. Shia Labeouf's mother trusts the neighbor that Shia has been spying on for a few weeks.

From his window Shia can peep at the sexy neighbor, watch the kids watching porn, and spy on the man he thinks has murdered many women. He seems to know more then the rest of the community. All are living their 9-5 lifestyles and hiding in their houses. The media has been using suburbs to create a sense of the unknown. The sexy neighbor looks at herself in the mirror every morning and wonders "who am I." This is a lack of identity.

Even after Shia tells his mother all the reasons to stay away from the neighbor, she still thinks there is no way a killer could live next to them in the suburbs. Then when the neighbor gets into the teenage girls car to ask why she has been following him, he acts creepy. But for some reason she thought he acted nice and friendly. Maybe she was blinded by her rose colored glasses.

Creating knowledge: There is temptation in the city so these families have moved to the suburbs to focus on family life. The parent leave their kid of all ages to fend for themselves. They are safe because their surrounding are just more people in the same situation.

Suburbia makes people feel safe, they have their own lawns, the dog, the cars, they are living such a perfect life. In Edward Scissor Hands, the Easter colored houses and the kitchen-aid 2000 take over the womens life. They have everything and nothing new ever happens. There is safety in familiarity. The same cars leave Edwards neighborhood every morning at 8am.

Disturbia plays on this idea,"you never know who your living next too." This creates a fear that historically has not existed. The new transition of the suburbs is from single family detached housing to extravagant. It doesn't matter who you are as long as you have money.

I liked both movies, Edward Scissor Hand is well made and good for a comparison of Disturbia. They both had great music that made the situation more intense. People do move to suburbia to get away from the city in order to feel safer. Safer also comes with seclusion and seclusion can foster the strange.

New York: Where Big Might Not Be Better

The City: New York City is the city that never sleeps. Our economic center that was hit during the day of 911. Big: New York is large, five bouroughs, the statue of liberty, the big apple. All are larger then life. New York oozes living large. There is so much capital that comes in and out of New York. The idea of "big" attracts tourist, investors, immigrants, and employees.

You've Got Mail:
Big, Meg Ryan thinks big is bad, her store around the corner is coming to its demise where Fox Books superstore comes into her neighborhood. Mr. Fox himself (Tom Hanks) and Meg have been chatting over the internet and have been indulging in book and intelectual conversation. Fox Books plans on running "The Little Shop Around The Corner" out of business and crushing them with the cheap prices. The truth is, they do. Wall-Mart displaces many grocery stores every year. Big is cheaper, but is it better?

The suits as Meg refers to Tom Hanks rule the economic centers. These small shops that in Portland Oregon we support so much in new york city often do not survive the New York City lifestyle. Though This movie is a love story, Meg falls for a closeted small business apreciator? Really? How is this possible. There is no way me and Mr. Wal-Mart would ever procreate, I can not stand the coorporation mentality. Big might take you to a spendy dinner, might get you a great manhattan apartment, but big will always think money is more important then you.

Unfaithful: A happily married women commutes from the suburbs to the city everyday for her blue collar job. The suburbs are small, strange yet welcoming. Lane and Gere play a married hardworking couple with a son. The family collects snow globes. The ultimate analogy of perfection. This perfect globe. Like Suburbia.

One windy day, Lane has a colision with Martinez, a young french book dealer. She skins her knee and come up to a random mans apartment for a band-aid. First, he is attractive, second, the big city must be attracting her to come back and see him. The boring suburbs with her planned out life only seem good enough once she repetitively sleeps with the best things about she is about to lose.

Gere finds out (because she can hide it well) and kills the frenchman with a snow globe. He killed the city boy with a pristine ball of suburbia. Big vs. little. Big might be sexier, saucier, but what about your family. The Thriller leaves you hanging.

Creating knowledge: Big vs. Little. A big city sound like a lot of fun, but there are great things about a small town. Lavish parties are great, but Lane created what she always wanted, a loving husband, house, family, friends and job. Meg Knew every costomers name in the little book store she owned. I go to a coffee shop where I am known by my first name. There is something mysterious about a big cities posibilities. Big might be economically profitable but I rather someone knew my name.

I prefer small. Small is personally rewarding.