If I’ve learned one thing about New York, it’s that there are many more problems and dark sides to New York City than good sides.
New York City is perpetuated as the one place where anyone can make it big, that you just have to work hard for it. Even a frog and his Muppet friends can make it on Broadway. Not that simple! The idea of the “American Dream” is about as false an idea as it is a motivational and inspirational notion.
New York City is a dynamic place. It’s not just a red carpet where you walk down an easily navigable, expected path to fame and success. There are many roadblocks along the way that stop social hierarchical movement temporarily or might even hinder any further success. It’s the latter view of New York City that is the true one and the view that is not exposed enough to the American public. Let me say now to anyone looking to find success in New York City: It’s not going to be easy.
In the films Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Taxi Driver, the opposite ends of the class spectrum are depicted. In Edwards’ Breakfast at Tiffany’s, the glamorous, rich side of New York is shown, and in Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, the prostitution, gambling, and drugs and the darker side of New York City are exposed. I think the true image of New York is somewhere in the middle of the spectrum depicted by these two iconic films. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but New York City is not all the glam that it’s made out to be, but it isn’t the home of the low class drug addicts either.
In New York City, anything is possible. One day, you could be better off than you had ever hoped for in your wildest dream, and the next, you could be sleeping outside on a bench. You never know what to expect. Oliver Stone’s Wall Street is the perfect example of the so-called “American Dream” hope, but also exposes the corruption that could land anyone in the dumps, as it did to Bud Fox. Bud Fox had has dreams to make it big despite being a middle class stockbroker. He tries to make it with the big boys, like Gordon Gekko, but he ultimately fails, it’s just not possible; it’s not the way that it was meant to be. There are so many obstacles in “making it big” in New York City. It could be a corrupt, unscrupulous, wealthy businessman that two-times you, and sometimes it is just the money. Taking on New York City is riding a rollercoaster. There are so many bumps and twists and turns and loops in along the way. You will find your morals and ethics challenged, as Bud Fox found, you will run into the insiders who at first are kind but then stab you in the back, you will have the failure moments when you question the reasons why you started in New York City in the first place. The point is don’t expect anything and don’t run around like a chicken with your head cut off when something goes wrong.
That being said, the people never here enough of the failure stories that might knock some sense into their brains when considering investing all they have into moving to New York City. If New York City only produced success stories, there would be no homeless guy on the sidewalk asking for money. New York City is neither black or white, but a gray.
It’s so hard to pick a favorite film, because they all depicted such different views of New York City. However, if I have to choose, the piece that stood out to me this semester was A Sucker Emcee. “I ain’t no sucker emcee.” This piece was hard hitting for me as I could relate to it. I felt that it was the most personal of the views of New York City that we witnessed this semester. Mums’ story gave me the message, “Imagine if this was you? What would your life be like?” He delivered the pain, the heartbreak, and the obstacles he had to overcome to be someone in life. I could relate to his dad dying from diabetes, since my dad has been diabetic since he was nine. That just made me feel grateful for what I do have.
Is New York City a place where your dreams come true or your worst nightmares surface?
