goodbye LA – hello New York (by Barry)
We are now in New York City – Manhattan – in a very small hotel room on W42nd Street. Too late at night to make any comments on NYC but I’d like to make some reflections on Hollywood and LA.
Hollywood is an industrial town – movies and tourism – and its working-class is largely out of sight internationally. The big stars – like Richard Gere whose mansion we saw as part of a movie stars’ homes tour – are not the ‘real people’, as a cab driver enthusiastically advised us. It seemed to me that outside a few blocks of central Hollywood, the glitter vanishes very quickly. It’s more akin to Parramatta Road (in Sydney), quite polluted and gritty. We took public transport the other day and the faces in the street, and on the bus, were definitely those of lower-income working-class battlers.
None of this is to deny the sense of excitement and enjoyment of that portion of Hollywood that is based on the film industry and tourism. It was great being there, especially seeing Grauman’s Chinese Theater and walking along the Hollywood Boulevarde with all the engraved stars with movie legend’s names on the pavement. I had photos taken with the stars of Theolonious Monk and also another cultural hero of mine, Charles Bronson.
Our tour of Universal Studios was another highlight. It was fun and educational; though, yes, the commercial aspects, such as sale of food, were tacky and disappointing. But it was thrilling to be part of so many familiar stage sets, and to see behind-the-scenes and to experience how the effects are done. Just amazing to be attacked by King Kong, feel the heat of explosions going on around you, to see the ‘Bates Motel’ of “Psycho” fame and the sets of “Jaws” and Wisteria Lane (“Desperate Housewives”). The educational dimension made it all worthwhile in itself. But to repeat: Hollywood is an industrial town, a big factory, basically a dream factory, as I think Speilberg has said.
Hollywood is ethnically diverse and we saw no signs of racism. In fact, it made me feel good to see Hispanic and black Americans working together, joking, laughing, and getting on naturally and normally with everyone else. I caught a brief glimpse of the problem of black separatism; the sub-culture that shuns everyone else and isolates itself from wider opportunities. But it seemed very marginal.
Yesterday was May Day and there was a march in central LA – it was much smaller than the one last year that was ruthlessly smashed by the police but this year’s still had about 20,000 in attendance. The beauty of it was its focus on the immigration issue. Mostly Hispanic people, families, demanding the right to be permanent residents in the US. It’s a stupid situation that millions are locked into ‘illegal’ status. They sure are patriotic – there was a sea of Stars and Stripes flags on the demo. Not a red flag in sight, unfortunately, and the local LA Chief of Police warned that agitators who tried to take over the procession would be dealt with so that the “international day of the workers” could proceed peacefully.
My impression is that the black Americans tend to dominate among cleaners while the Hispanics dominate the gardening and maintenance occupations. Of course, they are everywhere else, too. Richard Gere’s huge mansion – not sure how he justifies it in terms of Buddhism – had about half a dozen Hispanic gardeners working on the vast grounds. I guess having a place like that makes him internally peaceful and happy.
Prices in LA are akin to those in Australia, perhaps a little cheaper, and it all balances out with our lower dollar exchange value. The fruit is much cheaper and excellent quality.
We’re tourists here, and our contact with locals has been limited. However, everyone was very friendly in Hollywood and curious about Australia. LA is like Sydney or Melbourne and it disappointed us a little that it was so similiar to ‘back home’. We strolled down some Hollywood back-streets and felt like we were in Balmain.
I would have liked more than our five days in LA. I like the vibe there. Apparently NYC is very different, and I’m keen to see if this is the case, and how and why.
Till next post,
Barry
Tags: Travel
canberrians
hi guys, we are all just wondering “does the toilet water really flush in the opposite direction ie:anticlockwise????”check it out! have a great time…..seeya from us pambulan’s.
Enjoyed reading your interesting observations Barry. Further questions: did you see anything out of the window of the plane on the way to NY? What was it like flying United? What was security like? Did the trip to the hotel go smoothly? Do things feel different on the eastern side? Though some things (in LA) were like Australia – how are things different? Are you aware of being in the US/in another country? Heard any interesting accents? Seen any unusual people? Our news: I went to a PUMP class today; Sam tried to put the table tennis table together (unsuccessful so far); Sam and Aidan literally caught a chicken in our front garden this afternoon (belonged to the neighbours); its verrrrry cold tonight! Only three days till my wonderful conference in Sydney!!!! Looking forward to your next newsy posting. Hi to Joan, Joey and Hannah. Love from Jenny and Sam
To answer Jenny’s questions:
Yes, we could see vast areas of land from the plane as it flew across the continent. An hour or two from NY, I think, we saw the huge lake area – the Great Lakes perhaps(?).
United Airlines is an established old work-horse of the air. Very efficient and basic.
Not sure what you mean by ‘security’ but we have all felt secure since leaving Australia on 28th April. No difficulties or worries in that regard – not yet at any rate.
The trip from the airport to the hotel went very smoothly – just lined up and got a NYC cab. A note of warning, though: there are tough-looking dudes who try to con you into getting a private car with them. Don’t fall for this con – they rip you off. Fortunately, I’d been warned about this in a tourist book I read. The NYC yellow cabs charge a flat fee of $US 45 for the ride from JFK Airport into Manhattan. They are not allowed to charge more than that. The driver – a Sikh – lived up to the reputation of NY cab drivers as wild fearless drivers. It was a memorable ride!
We had our first full day in New York today – walked for several hours around Manhattan – well, mid-town Manhattan. It is just amazing – I have to pinch myself to be sure it’s not a dream. On the basis of today, I can say that LA is much more casual and laid back. NYC is action-packed and full of people on the move. The constant motion makes it a work of art as well as a city, in my opinion.
In a sense, NYC is like Sydney on a larger and more concentrated scale. But there’s so much more to Manhattan than that. Yes, we’re in a different country but one with shared traditions, customs and main language, and multiculturalism. The sky-scrapers are thrilling – I can’t think of a better word than that – but there’s also so much art everywhere, epsecially tasteful and inspiring sculptures.
As for accents, the NY accent is different to that of the Angelenos: more nasal and faster. The black American way of speaking is fascinating, so rhythmic and witty, in both places.
Not sure about “unusual people”. We’ve seen some homeless people in both places, and also some eccentrics – but not that many.
I have to qualify all the above by reiterating that we’ve only had one day in NYC and only had five days in LA. Still, I think it’s probably possible to express general impressions as the differences strike one more forcefully and more immediately than the similarities, perhaps.
Joan has just gone with Cathy to see a Broadway play. I’m here with Joey and Hannah – we’re chilling, after a very busy day covering miles on foot.
Thanks for your news, Jenny – it’s quite cold here, too, but not as cold at night as in Canberra.
Barry
Interesting comments Barry, thanks for taking the trouble to write them.
I heard your talk on “Perspective” on Friday evening. You did *really* well. (I have sent you email).