Do you think Los Angeles is misunderstood/misrepresented? (high school, college)

[Chicano3000X]

Originally Posted by munchitup

I'm not sure I agree with this. There are lots of neighborhoods that are not as impressive from an urban standpoint but still represent as much of "LA's soul" as DTLA.

Also I have never seen that movie but my wife hated it, though I think mostly for the story. Maybe I'll watch it on mute or something

It's not a bad movie, infact not even really a chic flick.
What I meant by L.A.'s soul is that it's the cities' forgotten center. The old buildings, the effort put into the architecture compared to the 1980's dingbat and stucco phase the rest of the city went through..

[PDF]

Originally Posted by munchitup

I'm not sure I agree with this. There are lots of neighborhoods that are not as impressive from an urban standpoint but still represent as much of "LA's soul" as DTLA.

Also I have never seen that movie but my wife hated it, though I think mostly for the story. Maybe I'll watch it on mute or something

The movie is not at all like you are thinking.

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by PDF

The movie is not at all like you are thinking.

What do you mean? Maybe hated was too strong a word.

But she made it sound like it was exasperatingly cliche as far as story-telling. Lots of eye-rolls. A faux-indie movie for the Shins / Death Cab For Cutie set. Decent but not bad.

You know what, I think it was my brother-in-law that hated it, but I'll take that with a grain of salt because it is mostly due to his feelings toward Zooey Deschanel (I don't know why, he is a hipster that dates hipster chicks like her).

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by Chicano3000X

It's not a bad movie, infact not even really a chic flick.
What I meant by L.A.'s soul is that it's the cities' forgotten center. The old buildings, the effort put into the architecture compared to the 1980's dingbat and stucco phase the rest of the city went through..

Speaking of which, I was just in the Johnny Grant Hollywood Post Office, that is one gorgeous building. The interior is so intricate, I doubt they make Post Offices like that anymore (well, they tear Post Offices down now, since they are going under).

I get what you are saying about DTLA being the soul, but honestly I kind of think the dingbats and stucco are part of LA's soul too! One man's trash is another man's treasure*.

*That being said a lot of the stucco is pretty heinous. But not all stucco is terrible.

[PDF]

Originally Posted by munchitup

What do you mean? Maybe hated was too strong a word.

But she made it sound like it was exasperatingly cliche as far as story-telling. Lots of eye-rolls. A faux-indie movie for the Shins / Death Cab For Cutie set. Decent but not bad.

You know what, I think it was my brother-in-law that hated it, but I'll take that with a grain of salt because it is mostly due to his feelings toward Zooey Deschanel (I don't know why, he is a hipster that dates hipster chicks like her).

That's exactly what I mean. It's a really original movie for its genre.

[nslander]

Originally Posted by munchitup

What do you mean? Maybe hated was too strong a word.

But she made it sound like it was exasperatingly cliche as far as story-telling. Lots of eye-rolls. A faux-indie movie for the Shins / Death Cab For Cutie set. Decent but not bad.

You know what, I think it was my brother-in-law that hated it, but I'll take that with a grain of salt because it is mostly due to his feelings toward Zooey Deschanel (I don't know why, he is a hipster that dates hipster chicks like her).

Sounds like he hates her because he's supposed to.

IMHO, it's a very good movie.

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by nslander

Sounds like he hates her because he's supposed to.

IMHO, it's a very good movie.

Perhaps... I'll have to give it a shot sometime.

[taydigga]

Originally Posted by thebordella

Being new to this city myself and coming from the East coat, I would agree that many people have misguided perceptions about LA. Of course, this is said with the usual caveat that there is no one single LA and even LA residents have vastly different experiences within the region. (The elephant metaphor posted above is exactly right.)

My first visit to LA was in 2002 on a trip that also included SF. Friends back east assured me I would hate LA -- fake, superficial, no culture -- and fall in love with SF. I had no agenda either way, and in general enjoy travel and seeing new places so both seemed exciting to me. The trip was a real eye opener. I really liked LA and did not see the terrible things people warned me about. I was expecting an urban jungle but I saw beauty and vibrancy and urbanity and nature all mixed together. And of course the weather was amazing. On that same trip, I did not like SF at all. It felt crowded and dirty and seedy. I've since come to appreciate SF more but that's not the point of this -- this trip started to open my eyes to LA.

Many trips and years later, when I finally had the opportunity to move here this spring, a friend back east asked, how far will I have to go to see nature? Again, the perception was that this place would somehow be a vast concrete parking lot. In fact, I can go hiking 10 minutes from my new place and feel a world away. Or I can go 10 minutes in the other direction and have my pick of restaurants and shopping. I think people not from LA -- or at least back east -- misunderstand this about LA.

East coast cities tend to have a strong uniform identity. If you live in Boston or NYC or Philly, there is a strong local culture. You speak like this, you think this way, you act this way. I'm not dissing these things -- there is a charm to that and I enjoy these cities on their own terms. But that kind of lifestyle is not for everyone. In LA you can be whoever you want to be and the culture is accepting of that. I see this everywhere around town. Of course this means there are people living lifestyles you think are silly -- the entitled posh people or the blonde airheads -- but they don't define the place. They are just one type of many all mixed up together.

I do think that some LA residents do their own city a disservice in promoting negative perceptions. Two groups that come to mind are Hollywood writers and some posters on message boards like this.

In terms of writers, its only natural that many movies and TV shows have been set in and around LA over the decades. But fiction is just that -- these aren't meant to be documentaries. Most entertainment is about sensational things -- whether soap operatic lifestyles of the elite or dark noir stories of criminal activity. This stuff attracts audiences understandably -- nobody wants to see a movie about a guy getting a burger and then going for a walk on the beach. But the accumulation of fiction set in LA has created huge misperceptions about what LA is really like.

Like NYC, LA is also a major media center so when anything bad does happen here -- whether that is wildfires or gang shootings -- it gets broadcast around the country repeatedly. We know that statistically, LA is fairly safe and safer than many other US cities, but the media lens distorts this. I'm not saying this is a conspiracy, just a consequence of having so much media to report on things. When terrible things happen in mid-west cities, who remembers which cities they happened in?

Finally, some posters on this board don't get out much. Sorry to sound harsh, but I repeatedly read complaints here that there is a lot of traffic and the it costs too much to live here. On the one hand, it is true -- there is a lot of traffic in LA, and it isn't cheap to live here. But really, how is this that much different from any major city of this population size? The answer is that it's not. In fact, there are even smaller cities -- Boston, DC to take just two -- just as expensive and with terrible traffic as well.

Some posters here are fixated on comparing LA to significantly lesser cities -- oh look how much cheaper houses are in Des Moines! It's ridiculous. For some reason there are people who expect a city of over 10 million metro to have the qualities of a small midwestern town.

On a final note, I even think the weather in LA is somewhat misunderstood. Some people say there are no seasons and the weather never changes. But this simply isn't true. It does change and there are seasons -- but they are more subtle and don't rock your whole world like going from sweltering summers to snot freezing winters. The temperatures here range from cool to warm, the foliage takes on different appearances and blooming cycles throughout the year, and even the mountains change color and snow cover. Sometimes it is even overcast. Personally, at least so far, I like the moderate range of variation that doesn't require you to build your whole life around the change of seasons.

One of the most positive and yet objective posts I've read in this forum! Totally agree with all of this.

PDF, I'll say to you what I say to everyone that has been here for less than a couple years. Don't form a hard opinion yet and get out as much as you can and see as much as you can. If after say, year 3 or 4 you still don't like it then it may not be for you. Or if you're miserable a few months from now, then hey, you tried it and it might just not be in the cards. LA isn't for everyone, I'll say that. I love it here because like thebordella said, LA isn't just one thing. I need to take you around homie, hit me up!

[taydigga]

Originally Posted by PDF

Gee, glad to see so many posters slam me for asking a simple question. My thoughts were not meant to come into play, I was simply asking whether other people thought it was.

Thanks to those who got it.

I don't think anyone slammed you bro. They were all pretty cordial.

[taydigga]

Originally Posted by thebordella

Very true, Deezus. I think if we ask the question of why do writers typecast LA like this, the answer is simply "because that's what sells". After all, writers (the ones who get paid anyway) create what people want to see. The real question is, why is it that these negative depictions of LA are what sells? It's not about the writers, it's about the market (aka audience).

This is really a cultural question about the country as a whole. Theory:

Much of the east coast and mid-west holds deeply-rooted values that go back to Puritanism. I'm not even talking about hot button political issues of the day, but qualities like working hard in the face of adversity and living in close-knit communities. Taken together, these are both the most populous and oldest developed parts of the U.S.

By comparison, the west coast is still seen as new and suspect. But more than that, many in the east and mid-west associate the west coast with values that contradict their own -- hedonism, free love, laid back (lazy?). You might even say "amoral". Plus, the west coast - and particularly California - is closely linked to prototypically Edenic characteristics -- the heaven-like weather, bountiful fruits of nature, an idyllic landscape. There is an almost biblical sense that west coasters have taken a bite from the forbidden fruit and must suffer their comeuppance.

Nobody (sane) walks around talking about this stuff literally, but it is deeply woven into our cultural fabric. That fabric is reflected and reinforced by popular culture, of which "Hollywood" (the industry, not the neighborhood) is the primary engine.

I think these are some reasons that explain what sells to the country at large, and a result of that is the way LA has become typecast on screen.

You're kinda deep yo! You write or teach?