…every film, TV show, and book that I have been obsessed with seem to have one thing in common: the city is an integral part of the story. That city is almost always New York, but it can also be LA, San Francisco, any big metropolis that can come to life and shape the way a character feels or acts.
Some examples:
“He was as tough and romantic as the city he loved…”
Annie Hall is probably my all-time favorite movie. I love the Manhattan backdrop, and the fact that Alvy is a devout New Yorker who can’t stand to live anywhere else, and how amazingly beautiful the city always looks (this goes for almost all Woody Allen films, come to think of it).
As for other movies, I wouldn’t consider When Harry Met Sally or You’ve Got Mail favorites (although they top my list of favorite chick flicks, most definitely), but the fact that the city plays a major role in those movies makes me love them. Some great LA movies, by the way, are Sunset Boulevard, Chinatown, and 500 Days of Summer. But to be honest, nothing compares to the romanticism of New York City.
“If you only get one great love, then New York may just be mine.”
Speaking of NYC, off the top of my head I can name at least five shows I’ve been obsessed with at some point, all of which take place in the Big Apple: Taxi, How I Met Your Mother, Sex and the City, Seinfeld, Friends…the list could go on but those are at the top. Just the idea of living in Manhattan and having an everyday life there makes me swoon. I am in love with the city. Also, some past guilty pleasures *coughFullHousecoughFrasier* are centered around some less-featured cities (Seattle, nice) and I’m pretty sure that’s why my 10-year-old self liked them (yes, I watched Frasier when I was 10).
“I would give the greatest sunset in the world for one sight of New York’s skyline.”
I’m pretty all over the place when it comes to reading, but the whole ‘city life’ theme has been recurrent in every book I’ve read recently. I especially love The Fountainhead, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Just Kids, and pretty much any autobiography that goes into detail about living in LA, SF, NYC, etc. Oh and Fitzgerald? Don’t even get me started on him. Probably the greatest metropolitan writer ever.
I can’t really think of a decent explanation for all this, except that I must be a city girl at heart. It’s true that I’d rather live in the middle of a huge metro than in the middle of nowhere, maybe because the city has the capability of giving you anonymity while at the same time exposing you to all kinds of people and experiences. Not to mention, there’s always a million things going on, so it’s never boring. :) Maybe someday I’ll find a way to show my love for the city like Woody Allen and F. Scott Fitzgerald did…
Nikki Collister 