comment #1

actionman says ...

Intersting. I grew up in a wealthy suburb and loved it. Then I moved to a big city and was fucking disgusted by it. Now I find myself back in a wealthy suburb, settling down, about to get married, holding a great job, and I love it. To each his own I guess.

The suburbs are a fertile location for the vivid imaginations of storytellers.

Oh, and Little Children should be on that list above.

comment #2

Mark says ...

dunno. i just rewatched Pollock and now find the whole non-urban, small-town quiet sort of inspiring. (and no, i don't blame his downfall or relapses on the lack of Chinese-food delivery past midnight.)

i'm getting out of the city; checking out houses with barns on Craigslist as i type this...

comment #3

BurmaShave says ...

Suburban. Urban. Nice towns outside major cities. I have no sympathy if you didn't know how to have a good time. Growing up outside DC wasn't a hassle at all.

comment #4

Edward Havens says ...

Or maybe Siegel did grow up in the burbs as a teen and found it to be a positive experience, and he's confused as to why Hollywood types seem to hate it so.

But then, movies like Revolutionary Road and The Stepford Wives (and the aforementioned Little Children) are adaptations of novels, so why doesn't Siegel give equal strife to the authors of the original works? Revolutionary Road was first published in the early 1960s, so it's not like suburban angst is a modern fad.

comment #5

MilkMan says ...

I've lived in cities all my life. My dream is to be able to afford a nice house with a backyard in some quiet suburban neighborhood, a dream that seems more and more preposterous with each passing year of living basically hand to mouth. I don't understand the hatred of suburbia and I can't relate to any of these movies or novels by the likes of Cheever and Updike. Maybe it's disinformation, a way for those who are living this dream to convince others that living the suburban idyll is really a nightmare. I doubt it is.

comment #6

Reedyb says ...

Home is wherever you hang your hat.

comment #7

actionman says ...

Has anyone seen Safe by Todd Haynes? What a tripped out flick.

comment #8

MilkMan says ...

Safe is a great film. I grew up in the Valley, and so did Haynes, and you can tell, because he totally nails what 1987 looked at felt like, which I remember thinking was pretty amazing as I was watching the film, especially since it was made in what, 1994. How someone can recreate an atmosphere that was only seven years past evidences his genius as a filmmaker. Safe is the only, ONLY, film I can think of that comes close to approximating Kubrick's sensibility without overtly reference him vis-a-vis some lame injoke or visual reference, which is what most hack directors do when they want to glom off of his sui generis talent.

comment #9

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

Sui Generis...isn't that the Chinese dish that Pollock ordered that fucked him up? Maybe it was Japanese...

comment #10

Sabina E says ...

You forgot to count "The Virgin Suicides" along with those movies on the anti-suburbs list, too.

I grew up in England, India, and USA. I don't like the suburbs, never have, and never will. It is a fake illusion surrounded by white picket fences, telling you that everything is dandy fine when it's not.

I just can't live in the suburbs, I am one of those people who are much happier living in the city, countryside/rural area, and/or constantly travelling on the road.

I understand and respect that some people like the suburbs, though. Everyone are different and have different tastes.

comment #11

Howlingman says ...

I've lived my 35 years in a mix of suburban and urban environs (plus one small town in the middle of nowhere) and just tend to gravitate to cities, the larger the better. I like the grit, the ashphalt, the noise and the attitude.

comment #12

nemo says ...

Don't forget that Lee Siegel is most famous for hosting lengthy conversations in his own comments section with his sock puppet named "sprezzatura". The sock puppet vigorously defended Siegel against his critics, while vigorously denying he was really Siegel when his commenters figured out his game. It cost Siegel his job at TNR.

Also, his Wikipedia entry describes him as a "cultural critic". He needs to get a real job.

Why did that piece appear in the WSJ Real Estate section? Maybe the editors think all the bad publicity from Hollywood and the literary community for the past 60 years is hurting real estate prices in the burbs.

Maybe all that film noir negativity about big cities back in 40s and 50s caused the flight to the burbs in the first place.

comment #13

mitchtaylor says ...

The suburbs are middling bullshit.

comment #14

p.Vice says ...

I grew up in the burbs and to me it always seemed like the worst of both worlds. You have emotional isolation but not physical isolation. You're kinda close to the city but it takes ages to actually get there. Everything is peaceful and quiet but there's no personality.

But like action sez, it's all a matter of preference. It's what you do, not where you do it.

comment #15

scooterzz says ...

imo, one of the best ever films set in the suburbs is 'the swimmer'....perry did cheever a solid in his adaptation of the short story.....

comment #16

KC says ...

haha god, "for moms"

comment #17

nemo says ...

Isn't is suspicious that a defender of suburban culture is so defensive?

Look at the depiction of big cities in film noir, in 70s crime movies, in any of thousands of movies since the 1940s. Brutal. Grinding. Alienating. Soul destroying.

But also glamorous and energetic. I can't imagine anyone who loves big cities wasting their breath attacking movies that depict big cities in such a harsh light. People who love big cities also tend to love those movies as well. They know all the bad stuff is true, but it's overwhelmed by everything that's great about big cities.

Lee Siegel doth protest too much, as if he knows his argument for the burbs is weak.

comment #18

MathewM says ...

The suburbs are for people who have full time jobs, want a yard and have children. It's not complicated. You can be miserable and live in the city too. It's who you are and what you make of your life.

comment #19

lipranzer says ...

Siegel has a point in that a lot of the anti-suburb films are reflexive rather than thoughtful, but it's hard to take him seriously when he assumes any anti-suburb feeling is just "liberalism." And as Voynar points out in her article, in the novel of REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, Frank and April's criticism of suburbia is just an excuse for their own failures.

Which is not to say there haven't been good pro-suburbia films. E.T., for one.

comment #20

nola says ...

I find the Grove in L.A. more oppressive and fake than the suburb I grew up in.

I am more of a city/country person but I do understand why families like the 'burbs. Excellent schools for one and more space. A lot depends on the town of course. Not all suburbs are created equal.

comment #21

luca says ...

good call on the Swimmer Scooterzz. One of the great overlooked American films.

comment #22

ErikGullberg says ...

Dear Jeff,

I grew up in Fairfield, right on 42 Somerville Street, and now I live with my parents in the house next door, 18 to be exact. I went to NYU, graduated in May and now I have a degree that says I'm an actor. I'm commuting into the city everyday to wait tables to make some money so I can come in on my days off and audition until something finally clicks.

All this is filler to me saying that you're absolutely right.

This place feasts upon the souls of everyone who wants more from life than a bigger tv and a better car and a nicer house.

I just wanted to say I hear ya man. Dear God do I ever.

comment #23

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