Title: Lecture%206:%20Los%20Angeles,%20Movies%20and%20Cars
1Lecture 6 Los Angeles, Movies and Cars
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
2This Lesson
- The Rise of Car Culture
- Los Angeles, Movies and Car Culture
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit
3The Rise of Car Culture
The Los Angeles Freeways
4The Los Angeles Freeways
- Even though L.A has fewer lane-miles per capita
than many other major metropolises, freeways are
one of the major trademarks of Los Angeles, along
with beaches, palm trees and movie studios. - They have become part of the Los Angles myth,
represented ad infinitum in thousands of movies,
television shows and other media. - CHiPS
- O.J./White Bronco freeway chase
5Suburban Sprawl
- Extensive and complex freeway networks
criss-cross the still fast-growing region,
connecting urban centers with their suburbs and
exurbs as well as the areas of urban sprawl
between them. - Remember, that L.A was built on a real-estate
boom before industry existed to support it.
Unlike most cities, which grow outward from their
cores, L.A. was dealing with suburban sprawl from
the beginning.
6The Growth of the Auto in the U.S
- During the postwar years, as never before, the
automobile became the dominant factor in American
life. - Among other things, the car became the metaphor
from which Americans drew their self-image of
potency and strength. - Highways spread across the landscape like a
gigantic concrete blob, isolating rural towns,
carving up neighborhoods and destroying street
culture, bringing congestion to all major
cities. Marty Jeezer, The Dark Ages -
7The Destruction of Mass Transit
- The destruction of mass transit by monopolistic
business practices made sense for GMs corporate
policy. Efficient mass transit was a barrier to
expanding corporate profits. It was inevitable
that GM would move to drive out all competition
and increase the market for its private
vehicles. - Jeezer
- Check out the website, The Streetcar Conspiracy
linked to the lesson.
8The End of Mass Mass-transit
- At the end of World War II, the U.S. still had a
healthy railroad system and the potential for
modernizing its mass transit. - In 1944, Congress passed the Defense Highway Act,
with the construction costs to be split 50-50 by
federal and state govs. - Though the government cited national security,
the real impetus for the program came from
intense lobbying by the auto industry and its
allies in oil, rubber and steel.
9Cars for Everybody
- As early as the 1920s, cars had begun to
saturate the economy on the basis of one car per
family, leading the automakers, especially
General Motors, to adopt a new marketing
strategy. Continued expansion could only come
through planned obsolescence so a family would
have to buy a car every few years and through
encouraging two-car families and by making the
automobile necessary for commuting. - Jeezer
-
10Making them Bigger
- Despite urban congestion and the problem of
parking space, the size of cars was increased
throughout the postwar period. - Automobile manufacturers resisted bringing out
small, compact cars because big cars mean bigger
profits and because their motivational research
departments reported that consumers craved
bigness as a psychological need.
11Example
1958 Super Oldsmobile with the 371 Rocket engine.
12Cars and the Frontier
- The lure (and myth) of the American Frontier,
with its emphasis on rugged individualism, has
always encouraged privatism and isolation. - Detroit manipulated and exploited these
traditions with a vengeance. - Such myths play particularly well in Los Angeles,
since, more than East Coast cities, L.A. has
retained its identity as a frontier.
13Another Version
- In Mass Politics and the Adoption of the
Automobile in Los Angles, Scott Bottles argues
that the historical record does not support
evidence of a corporate conspiracy, despite the
fact that this version has become firmly lodged
in the public consciousness. - Bottles argues that Angelenos adopted the
automobile in protest against the inefficient and
seemingly corrupt railways.
14Poor Mass Transit
- Southern California residents during the first
three decades of the twentieth century constantly
complained about the quality of rail transit.
From the publics point of view, the railways
sought to benefit at its expense. - Among other things, the railways deliberately
ran too few cars, refused to build vital
crosstown lines, bribed public officials and
abused their franchises. - Bottles
15The Car as Democratic Symbol
- The car became a symbol of democratic technology
freeing the citizenry from the shackles of the
monopolistic railways. - Los Angelenos felt that cars were private and
offered flexibility and convenience.
16Opening Up the Suburbs
- According to the alternate version, the public
turned to automobiles because it felt the
streetcar industry had failed in its promise to
open up the suburbs to development. - The automobile, people thought, could complete
the job of lowering urban densities, therefore
creating the ideal low-density metropolis. The
key to suburban utopia was an efficient street
system and inexpensive automobiles. - Bottles
17Los Angeles, Movies and Cars
The Fast and the Furious (2001)
Directed by Rob
Cohen
18Cars in L.A. Movies
- Not surprisingly, the Los Angeles obsession with
cars and driving has been prominently represented
in Hollywood movies. - The movies both reflect and feed the real-life
chases that regularly occur on the Los Angeles
freeways. - Many car chases are captured on video, with news
helicopters ready to tape the incidents. Many are
broadcast live. Some news websites have footage
of car chases.
19Some L.A Movie Chases
- The Terminator (1984) and Terminator II Judgment
Day (1991) - To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
- Fletch (1985)
- Set it Off (1996)
- Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000)
- Charlies Angels (2000)
- The Fast and the Furious (2001)
- The Lethal Weapon movies (1987-1998)
- Pause the lecture and watch clip 1.
20To Live and Die in L.A.
To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) Directed by
William Friedkin
21Other Examples
- Falling Down
- Michael Douglas, sick of the gridlock, climbs out
of his car during rush hour. - Pause the lecture and watch clip 2
- L.A. Story
- Steve Martin communes with a freeway sign.
- Pause the lecture and watch clip 3
- The movie lampoons road rage on the L.A.
freeways. - Pause the lecture and watch clip 4
22Pulp Fiction
- In Quentin Tarantinos alternate L.A, the car is
a prominently featured motif. Some examples - Vincent picks up Mia in a 1964 Chevy Chevelle.
- The booths at Jack Rabbit Slims are all classic
cars. - Jules and Vincents relationship is established
in a car. A crucial turning point occurs in the
same car. - Winston Wolfs drives an Acura NSX.
- A body (and a car) are disposed of in a car
crusher. - The Bruce Willis section of the movie features a
Checkered Taxicab, a Honda, a Camaro and a Harley - Pause the lecture and watch clip 5.
- Check out the website linked to the lesson.
23Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
24Background on The Movie
- Directed by Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future,
Forrest Gump, Contact) and written by Jeffrey
Price and Peter S. Seaman, based on a novel by
Gary K. Wolf. - It was revolutionary for its time. Though not the
first attempt to combine live action and
animation Mary Poppins and Song of the South
had done it, among others it was the first to
do it so comprehensively and with such
technological sophistication.
25Influence
- The movie started a new era in animation more
specifically revived animation as a viable
commercial form, and introduced CGI. - Tiny Toons, Animaniacs
- The Simpsons, South Park, Beavis and Butthead
- Disney feature animation renaissance
- The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin
- Can be argued that the success of the film led to
Disney being receptive to Pixars proposal for
first animated feature, Toy Story.
26Brand Synergy
- The movie featured an amalgamation of characters
from Disney, Warner Brothers, and many other
studios, as well as an executive producer credit
by Steven Spielberg. - This became more important to the blockbuster
filmmaking 1980s, especially as ancillary markets
became a huge deal. - Warner Brothers would only allow the use of Bugs
Bunny, if he received equal amount of screen time
and lines as Walt Disney's biggest star, Mickey
Mouse.
27Course Concepts
- Race, Class and Gender
- The toons have been allegorized as second class
citizens and Toontown allegorized as a ghetto.
See the essay linked to the course. - Film Noir
- Detective film with all the typical tropes
- Murder
- Femme Fatale
- Conspiracy at the highest levels
- Down and out, cynical detective
- Pays homage to Chinatown
28Course Concepts (continued)
- Cars and Freeways
- The film fictionalizes the conspiracy from your
reading, in which corporations try to put street
cars and public transportation out of business. - Also features a talking car, many chases, etc.
- Self-reflexive Hollywood and Los Angeles
- Many insider jokes about Hollywood
- Many references to Hollywoods golden age of
animation. - High Concept
- You will learn about this in the next lesson
29 End of Lecture 6