- In Mennel’s chapter “Modernity and the City Film,” she talks about some of Georg Simmel’s work on modernity (I used the chapter for lecture notes, though it was not assigned). What specific aspects of the film Metropolis convey an uneasiness about living in a ‘modern’ world? What are some of the dominant assumptions about the relationships between urban design and successful communities that were advocated by U.S. ‘progressives’ in the early 20th century? (See the excerpt from Civitas by Design as well as the film, The City)
- According to Mike Davis, what aspects of Los Angeles’ Bunker Hill neighborhood made it such a fitting location for film noir?
- What are two of the specific fears about cities and/or urban culture that Steve Macek sees cultivated in popular films throughout the 1980s and 1990s? Give an example (from his text) to support your claim).
- According to Rashad Shabazz, how does hip hop music help to construct a geographical imagination?
- Give a specific example regarding the importance of “the hood” in rap music (as described in Murray Forman’s essay).
- Douglas Muzzio outlines a series of patterns associated with the representation of the suburbs in film. Describe two of the categories he assigns to these films and explain the significance of each.
- How does the film, The Garden, contribute to the debate about the “right to the city” that was described in the reading I assigned for class?
- What aspects of Neil Smith’s analysis of gentrification can you see at work in the film Flag Wars?
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