"...suburbia is the site of promises, dreams, and fantasies. It is a landscape of the imagination where Americans situate ambitions for upward mobility and economic security, ideals about freedom and private property, and longings for social harmony and spiritual uplift."
As I read this passage I was reminded of a musical number from Little Shop of Horrors. In this sequence Audrey, after a date with her abusive boyfriend, contemplates her dream. Opening a magazine to a picture of a 1960's era ranch house with a large front yard and picket fence, she sings about living "Somewhere that's Green".
This green space is not a farm in the country, but a house in a prefab neighborhood in suburbia. Audrey's dream is to have tupperwear parties and eat frozen dinners in front of the TV, in other words be a suburban housewife.
What is the appeal of suburbia? Why does everyone want to move there? While these are all questions I'm sure we will cover in class I can't help but wonder. What do the suburbs have that no one else does?
It seems to me that the suburbs are a status symbol. To live there is to not have to work in a factory or toil away on a farm. Even if you commute to the city from the suburbs it shows that you have the money and time to do so. In the suburbs mother's have time to throw tupperwear parties and husbands make enough money to support the family.
My theory is that the suburbs represent easy living and a sense of nostalgia. After we have read more of our text I'll let you know how correct I am....
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