Falling Down

Falling Down

Urban areas of the world have always been a crucial element in spatial organization and the evolution of societies. Towns and cities are centers of cultural innovation social transformation and political change. They can also be engines of economic development. The gross domestic product of large cities like Los Angeles is roughly equivalent to that of entire countries like Australia and Sweden. Towns and cities are essential elements in human economic and social organization. Los Angeles provides efficient and effective environments for organizing labor, capital, and raw materials and for distributing finished products. Los Angeles can be considered a city with the concentration of political and economic power. The concentration of people in Los Angeles makes for much greater interaction and competition, which facilitates the generation of innovation, knowledge and information. The size, density and variety of Los Angeles population tends to have a beneficial effect on people, allowing them to escape the stiffness of traditional, rural society and to participate in a variety of lifestyles and behaviors. All of this is seen in the movie "Falling Down."

"Falling Down" is about a man who goes insane on a hot summer day in Los Angeles. Bill is the ordinary white collar middle class guy. One day, he gets stuck in a traffic jam. He tries to stay cool, but then loses it and just gets out of his car and walks towards downtown LA by himself. Bill then enters a convenience store owned by a Korean man. He needs change so he can make a phone call, but the owner says he must buy something first. So, Bill gets a pop, but it's eighty five cents, and he needs fifty for the phone call. Bill starts getting mad, and the owner gets a baseball bat. A fight breaks out, and Bill gains control. With the baseball bat in his hand, he starts destroying different products, until the owner finally says the pop is fifty cents. Next, he takes a break on a rock, and two Latinos come up to him and tell him that he is trespassing on private property. The Latinos also want his briefcase, but Bill will not give it to them. Bill gets the bat, and starts a fight. Dominating again, he leaves with more weapons from the Latinos. Through the movie "Falling Down" we are able to get a picture urban deviance and transgression.