by Blaine FridleyIn 2004, amidst the American cacophony of jingoistic Toby Keith singles, Hummer advertisements, Bill O'Reilly "winning" another argument by simply yelling louder than his guest and the rumble of turf-hungry machinery clearing the way for 4th-tier suburban townhome developments ("oooh, let's move here, honey! We'll have a 65-mile commute but THREE Noodles & Companies!") some of the brightest folks in urban planning and energy consumption came together in a film called "The End of Suburbia" to make a very important announcement, loudly and clearly: The American way of life is on life support.
But like just about everybody else, I didn't hear it. I was far too busy soliciting hookers on Grand Theft Auto and wondering if Seth would choose Anna or Summer (O.C. reference. -10 hetero points) to care about nano-details such as the rapid, unyielding demise of everything I've ever known. Nope. Not when-"Hey, look! It's Janet Jackson's titty!"
OK. Fast-forward to the year 2008 and one of history's greatest innovations, Netflix [for more information on how you can use product placement to increase sales, contact the DoF at diaryoffools@hotmail.com]. Found "The End of Suburbia", moved it to the top of my queue (just ahead of "You Got Served 2"), waited a few days for it to arrive in my mailbox and then popped it in.
75 minutes later, the message was clear. The development of American suburbia was/is a grossly inept and short-sided investment of our country's post W.W. II economic windfall. The reason being it's growth is all dependent on a resource in steady decline: oil.
Throughout the span of the film, a collection of highly educated minds (including Matt Simmons(!), chairman and CEO of the HUGE oil-industry investment bank, Simmons & Company, and also an associate/friend of Dick Cheney and George Dubs) paint a bleak portrait of our country's economic and social well-being if we continue to live in our cozy bubble of collective denial and fail to put the pinch on our current rate of oil consumption.
"The End of Suburbia" is the violent shake our country needs to snap out of our oil-drunk malaise. Hopefully, we'll soon start taking steps to heed it.
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8 comments:
Well, shit. If I watch this movie, it'll just be one more thing I have to feel guilty about. I already feel like a cad for taking 3-hour-long hot showers, eating Veal L'Orange with Foie Gras and insisting that I sleep upon nothing but pillows stuffed with baby seal pelts. Doesn't mean I stopped DOING any of that, just that I feel guilty about it. Very, very guilty. I consider this "doing my part."
But if I check THIS out, heaven knows what I'll have to furrow my brow slightly about next. Basting my roasts with 10W-40? Driving my Escalade two blocks to the strip club? Burning crude-oil soaked wildlife in my fireplace? I'm not sure it's worth it.
After all, this is AMERICA, dammit. Destructive excess is a birthright.
Don't we have Alaska that we can ruin first?
Just yesterday I canceled my Netflix subscription to save up gas money to drive places out to the 'burbs on the weekend. Sweet irony.
I heart you, Blaine Fridley.
Thanks for the tip on this...I'll be watchin' it soon!
Check out any info you can get on Leavitt Town...the original suburban 'social experiment'.
"Little pink houses for you and me"...thank you John Mellencamp.
ruin alaska huh??? yeah just a question..How many sq miles are dedicated to a game where you hit a little white ball into a hole? enough said! drill the shit out of alaska...if i want to go and see a barren wasteland..ill just keep up on my LA news on TMZ.
speaking of TMZ...does anybody else find TMZ TV oddly hypnotic?
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