Los Angeles in My Eyes

The city of dreams. The place to reinvent yourself. Movement. Fearless. Endless.

Growing up in a Chicago suburb, I grew up fantasizing about this mysterious yet magical place. Prior to coming to California for college visits, I had never actually been to the state. Thus, the movies and television shows I grew up watching painted this broad picture as to what Los Angeles was all about. Little did I know, I was only being exposed to this glamourous, fashionable, dreamy wonderland where people make something of their lives. Yet, the crowded areas, poorer towns, constant traffic, and high expenses seemed nonexistent.

Songs such as “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus, highlight the idea that people come to California “with a dream and a cardigan”, ready to take on the entertainment industry. Interestingly, music from past decades are very similar in message. “I Love L.A.” by Randy Newman, from 1983, sings “Everybody very happy. ‘Cause the sun is shinin’ all the time, looks like another perfect day”. For years and years, music has portrayed Los Angeles as this bright, inventive place of dreams and happiness.

In our FFC, I’m becoming exposed to new realities as we’re analyzing video clips and articles with new viewpoints. For example, in a youtube clip titled, “A Unique Perspective”, I noticed the music was mysterious and the shots of the city were extremely modern. Instead of fantasizing about how expansive and futuristic california looks, we instead talked about how everything was moving at an intense speed; yet, no humans were present throughout the video, which was somewhat dehumanizing. The absence of people made it seem that we are almost unimportant and irrelevant to the city itself.

In Reyner Banham’s Excerpts from “The Architecture of Four Ecologies”, studied in class, he touched upon the idea that the buildings in California were not made out of stone to stick. Instead, they are flashy, cheap, empty, with no specific style. When exploring a city with such depth, it’s essential to look at the city as a whole: the good, the bad, and everything in between.

 I truly believe there is nothing wrong with believing in the dreamy, magical paradise that Los Angeles is portrayed as, but it’s just as important to recognize the other less spoken about parts that also make California for what it is today.