It's Always Sunny in the Suburbs
As we have discussed in class, the suburbs are a byproduct of the "American Dream," the consumerist mindset of how a collection of materials can make us happy...starting with a house and a patch of land. Over time this lifestyle can corrode our sense of happiness and fulfillment in life and can lead to a series of potential threats to ourselves and loved ones. One theoretical example that comes to mind is an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, a dark comedy series known for its edgy and controversial points that it makes on common issues we face in our society today, including gun control, xenophobia, white privilege, and so on.
In their eleventh season (episode five), they address the issue of living in a suburban setting. Long story short: Mac and Dennis make a bet with Frank, Charlie, and Dee that they can live in the suburbs just fine (in contrast to their current conditions of living the an apartment in downtown Philadelphia). The two move into a house on a cul-de-sac where they are greeted by their uncomfortably friendly neighbor, Wally.
They settle in and plan out their new lives in the house; Dennis will commute to work every day and Mac will stay at home to set up the living room and take care of the place (essentially a "housewife").
Shortly after, the two are introduced to new challenges of their everyday life; Dennis develops a serious case of road-rage and Mac realizes he has no idea how to take care of a house.
Over time the little challenges begin to eat away at them and bring out the worse in both.
Below is a link to the short montage of the two slowly losing their sanity. Enjoy!
*WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE!*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt4rzRCy_XU
I wont spoil how the episode ends for those interested in watching it (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia can be found on Hulu), but I think we take away from this story that urban and suburban lifestyles are extremely different and require a method of subtle changes to adapt from one to the other. Dennis and Mac clearly were not ready to make the transition and experience psychological trauma, because of it. Perhaps if we are raised in a suburban neighborhood, the transition to an urban setting would be just as traumatizing?
In their eleventh season (episode five), they address the issue of living in a suburban setting. Long story short: Mac and Dennis make a bet with Frank, Charlie, and Dee that they can live in the suburbs just fine (in contrast to their current conditions of living the an apartment in downtown Philadelphia). The two move into a house on a cul-de-sac where they are greeted by their uncomfortably friendly neighbor, Wally.
They settle in and plan out their new lives in the house; Dennis will commute to work every day and Mac will stay at home to set up the living room and take care of the place (essentially a "housewife").
Shortly after, the two are introduced to new challenges of their everyday life; Dennis develops a serious case of road-rage and Mac realizes he has no idea how to take care of a house.
Over time the little challenges begin to eat away at them and bring out the worse in both.
Below is a link to the short montage of the two slowly losing their sanity. Enjoy!
*WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE!*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt4rzRCy_XU
I wont spoil how the episode ends for those interested in watching it (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia can be found on Hulu), but I think we take away from this story that urban and suburban lifestyles are extremely different and require a method of subtle changes to adapt from one to the other. Dennis and Mac clearly were not ready to make the transition and experience psychological trauma, because of it. Perhaps if we are raised in a suburban neighborhood, the transition to an urban setting would be just as traumatizing?
I love this episode, it came to my mind with this topic as well. I think your conclusion relates to what John Keats talks about in "The New American Nightmare", where suburban life itself causes a psychological trauma. Although different from your conclusion, he describes it as not something that be acclimated to. Even those raised in suburbia feel the need to run as far away as possible once they are able to leave the nest because "to them fun will always mean something that is away from home."-Keats.
ReplyDeleteThere are some beautiful photos here, and I think it's interesting how you point out it could be strange to move to a city after living in the suburbs. But I would argue that people (our age-ish) tend to be really excited about moving away from the 'burbs and into a city/ more urban environment. Maybe the suburbs are meant for a different generation.
ReplyDeleteUGH I literally just wrote the exact same post because I didn't see yours!! (so sorry for copying) Also, I spoiled the ending, so hopefully people read yours before mine. But I found it interesting that they were so quick to adopt a dramatically different new lifestyle, taking on new roles as roommates just because the environment they were living in changed.
ReplyDeleteScreaming "seize the gap" on a busy highway looks like very normal behavior to me. Are you calling this insanity?
ReplyDeleteYou don't have to live in the suburbs to find out that people don't know how to use turn signals or how to stay out of the left lane unless you're going to pass the person in front of you.
ReplyDeleteBecause of the implication?
ReplyDelete