Los Angeles

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes Mike Davis' opinion of Los Angeles as expressed in his book, "City of Quartz", and notes that Davis feels that the prosperous LA is about to collapse. More specifically, this paper compares and contrast Davis' view of Los Angeles to public perception of the city today, focusing on today's L.A., as defined by pop-culture media, the public's fascination with "young Hollywood", and the influence this generation has on society.

Outline:
Introduction
Los Angeles: The Land of Opportunity
Redefinition of Class Relationships
The Minority
Gangs
The "Chosen People"
Authority
Los Angeles's Primary Export
Dispersion of Power
Los Angeles as a Global City
Past, Present, & Future
Summary and Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Aside from Hollywood, LA boasts of its nighttime hot spots such as Downtown LA and the famous Sunset Strip. The strip is popular for its clubs, restaurants, boutiques, and Hollywood night spots where celebrities, as well as celebrity wannabes and people-watchers, hang-out. LA is indeed the land of opportunity for those who dream of being the next big movie star, film maker, or pop icon. We live in the MTV generation where young people look up to the people they see on TV. The youth aspire to have a part of the showbiz life style. The sudden proliferation of reality TV shows provides these aspirants a few hours of fame. It has been noted that hundreds of adolescent runaway from home just to follow their dreams of becoming a Hollywood star but only a few of them would succeed due to the tight competition in the industry."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Alonso, A. "Los Angeles Gangs." 2007. Streetgangs.com. 29 October 2007 <http://www.streetgangs.com/history/history.html>.
• "Book Review: Mike Davis,City of Quartz." 25 june 2005. Blog-burbia, Pictures and Places. 29 october 2007 <http://blog-burbia.blogspot.com/2005/06/book-review-mike-davis-city-of-quartz.html>.
• "City of Quartz, Excavating the future in Los Angeles." 2007. Streetgangs.com Book Club. 29 October 2007 <http://www.streetgangs.com/bookclub/quartz.html>.
• Davis, Mike. "Fortress Los Angeles: The militarization of urban space." LCC Georgia Institute of Technology. 29 October 2007 <http://www.lcc.gatech.edu/~broglio/1101/davis.html>.
• Haefele, Marc B. "Explaining Los angeles." September 1994. Boston Review. 29 October 2007 <htp://bostonreview.net/BR19.3/haefele.html>.

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