New York City and Its Social Life - Term Paper Example

NEW YORK CITY At the mention of New York City, a lot of things come to mind; subways, bridges, first cars, incredible apartments and skyscrapers, big dreams, glamour and glitz, politics. On the other side of the coin, New York City conjures distressful images of dashed hopes, homeless people, gangs, ever-wailing sirens and total mayhem. Literature and films have played a great role in depicting the city in whichever light the director or author deemed best. However, these portrayals go a long way in masking what the city really is or exaggerating it hence molding the perceptions of their audiences in varied ways. New York City was basically founded in 1626 when the Dutch bought Manhattan from the indigenous Lenape Indians. They promptly named the island New Amsterdam. The island was later to be named New York by the British in 1664. Manhattan merged with the other four boroughs to form New York City in 1846. It goes without saying that New York City, once United States’ capital for five years, is a hub of history, politics, economics and of course the epitome of social diversity. Films and literature capture these characteristics differently. Manhattan, though, has time and again been portrayed as the only borough, overlooking other boroughs such as Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx and Staten Island. Films have led even the New Yorkers to believe that Manhattan is New York City. This alone is enough to tell the role of the films in shaping the people’s attitude and contributing in their ignorance as well. Manhattan could be the most outstanding island and to which most attention is paid to but in real sense New York City is much more that a single island. The films that have encompassed the city so wholesomely include those directed by Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee and Woody Allen. These works of these directors are a clear indication that they went to completely different schools of thought regarding New York City, also known as the Big Apple. Martin is behind the film, Taxi Driver, a film that has served to lead many to cast aspersions on this city that both figuratively and literally never sleeps. In this particular film, New York is illustrated as terrible place to live. The New York City populace is portrayed deranged and to some extents crazy, all in an aura of political despondency. There is an unmistakable air of indifference in the film, with people unregretful about taking the lives of others if they cross their paths. There is a particular scene where a cheated husband vows to shoot his wife. Nobody can hide from the claustrophobic sense of dread that grips the film from the very beginning and its violent climax. New York City has therefore been depicted as a city of violence, where there are more guns and weapons than common sense of its dwellers. Taxi Driver was not the first, neither is it the last of films set in New York City that have incorporated scenes of attempted of presidents or political figures. These attacks are usually inspired by either personal vendettas or some shady schemes that somehow point to the president of the United States. This gives the impression that New York City is the embodiment of United States’ politics. Technically speaking, it is largely a political city given that it was the country’s capital for five years before its status was transferred to Washington DC (Frommers, 45). The ideas brought about in this film are not exactly fabricated since for a fact New York City in the seventies was marked with the vagaries of the recession. The war had such a huge impact on the economy and ruins defined the existent buildings better. These were of course the perfect conditions for drug dealers and addicts to move in in droves. The crime rates skyrocketed and corruption found a haven within the police forces, a section that was supposed to maintain the little sanity that remained in the city. The cases of rape and muggings in Central Park no longer made news and the Son of Sam murders served to instil fear in the then residents. This blatant socio-economic erosion made these residents move to the suburbs to seek peaceful environments. This is the kind of environment that the film captures and leads its viewers to believe is the exact representation of New York City. Taxi Driver is not alone in the category of films that unravel the decadence in New York City, something that would rather be hidden behind a façade of glamour and opulence. Midnight City goes further in expounding the indifference of the people of New York when, in one scene, people step over the lying figure of a man. It is not clear whether the man is asleep, unconscious or dead but nobody stops to confirm either. They cursory concern with which the passers-by treat the man says a lot about the man-eat-man status in the Big Apple. It is upon every individual to fend for themselves, and another person’s troubles are the least of anybody’s concern. The people of New York might have a reputation of rudeness thanks to the movies that emphasize that. To some extent it is true but on the other hand, they are on many occasions very apologetic, love giving directions and might even hold doors. They are not exactly brawly as the movies suggest but they mind, just like everybody else, people who get into their way. New York City’s populace is made up of people from different backgrounds and nationalities. There are white people and black people. In many films the African-Americans have been depicted to live in Harlem. Harlem has also been shown to be the epicenter of gangs, drug dealers, commercial sex workers, foul language and abject poverty (Denby, 83). Racist comments have also been attributed to the city, bringing closer the perception that New York City is still stuck in the grips of racism. Sometimes New Yorkers can forget that what sets their great city apart is its diversity. It is a rare occurrence to go anywhere in the city and not spot somebody of another nationality. It therefore poses a huge question when some of the best films that have been set in New York have only whites or may be a single African-American. In such films as Annie Hall, Superman, Tiny Furniture which have been set chiefly in the traditionally black society of Harlem, the cast still manages to be white somehow. It is not only African-Americans who are targeted here but also people with Asian backgrounds. Other films emphasize the city’s opulence, casting it as the home to great dreams and wealthy lifestyles. The skyscrapers and lush apartments displayed in movies have a tendency of making New York City look like the home of architecture. While this could be true, there are some areas of New York City which are characterized by depressing buildings, and there are people who have no homes altogether. Films such as Sex and the City, for instance, incorporate some bias towards the wealthy. The Upper East Side has also been stereotyped as the base for the city’s rich, famous and often conformist. There are many rich people in New York but most of them do not stay anywhere near the Upper East Side. Most movies seem tentative on displaying what actually happens during the rush hours in New York. There seems to be no shoving or pushing, somehow the train is always waiting and there is no running at the last minute to catch it and if there is, there are no beggars waiting on the way asking for alms. Neither are there bands on the corners with wannabe stars and urban gymnastics. The harsh reality is that the train barely has enough seats for everyone who would wish to come aboard and getting to them is one frustrating effort. The same applies to the museums, restaurants, stores, parks- there is this ridiculous notion that the movie brings out that New York has enough room for everyone. The Central Park does not come across as packed with people as it is in real sense, and the restaurants spaces are not found instantly. The waiting is spread even to the emergency rooms, you never find doctors waiting for a patient. While the movies might show that people walk on the sidewalks with no worries and displaying the highest order, the fact is that the city’s dwellers do not love crowded sidewalks. They might push the people who are walking slowly or divert into side streets just to evade the crowds. While the Taxi Driver went to length revealing how bad housing can get in New York, the idea of young singles has taken reign in some movies. One would be led to believe this is actually the case while these places would go for tens of millions. The city has therefore earned itself the reputation of the life purpose of all the young and creative minds who do not have so much to their bank accounts and names. In sense, the young struggle. College students do not always live in luxurious apartments and the halls of residence are something else. They struggle to make ends meet and work some ours to get money for their upkeep. Life in school is not exactly a bed of roses. As for films about high schools in New York City, the students are hardly ever in school. There is usually so much going on around their lives and school is pushed down to the bottom of the list of priorities. The stark truth is that a good attendance record is essential in the city’s high schools. These very films give the impression that academics are not very important in high school, such things as sports, arts and romance are given more prevalence. This goes a long way in questioning the credibility of high schools in the city. Part of this may be true given that these students are teenagers, it is just overstated. In conclusion, movies do paint varied pictures of New York City, some good and some negative. The truth is that New York City is not really as it is in Taxi Driver but neither is it as good as implied in Sex in the City where young people land jobs at a finger’s snap. It lies somewhere in the middle.   References A, Frommers. AARP New York City 2012. 7th ed. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2012. Print. Denby, David. "Midnight Cowboy John Schlesinger Jerome Hellman." Film Quarterly 23.1 (1969): 20-22. Print. Sex and the city. Dir. Michael Patrick King. Perf. Sarah Jessica Parker. Distributed in the USA by Warner Home Video, 2008. DVD. Taxi driver. Dir. Martin Scorsese. Perf. Travis. Columbia Tristar home video, 1999. Blu-Ray. Read More