THE END OF THE ROAD? AN INTERDISCIPLINARY ANALYSIS OF AMERICA’S CAR CULTURE AND ITS CINEMATIC REFLECTION AROUND THE TURN OF THE CENTURY _______________ A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Jack J. Valenti School Of Communication University of Houston _______________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts _______________ By Christina Jaenicke December, 2011 THE END OF THE ROAD? AN INTERDISCIPLINARY ANALYSIS OF AMERICA’S CAR CULTURE AND ITS CINEMATIC REFLECTION AROUND THE TURN OF THE CENTURY _______________ An Abstract of a Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Jack J. Valenti School Of Communication University of Houston _______________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts _______________ By Christina Jaenicke December, 2011 iv ABSTRACT This interdisciplinary analysis of America’s car culture is looking at the contemporary cinematic depiction of the former vehicle of freedom given the increasing dissatisfaction among society that found its public expression in this year’s “Carmageddon”. By combining media and cultural research, this study tried to find out if movies acknowledge the entrapping reality cultural theorists point out. Furthermore, a detailed content analysis was supposed to offer cinematic indicators how this exceptional automotive love affair might end. The analysis of Falling Down (1993), Duets (2000), and Collateral (2004) revealed cultural phenomena such as road rage, America’s carscape causing sameness and dislocation, as well as isolation, passivity, and akinesia. The protagonists appear to realize the car’s physical and psychological impact on their life and they start to abandon the entrapping vehicle – an inspiring observation given America’s increasing efforts in terms of public and alternative transportation. v “‘In Houston, a person walking is somebody on his way to his car”’ (Holtz Kay, 1998, p. 269). vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................1 1.1. Context of the Study ................................................................................................2 1.2. Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................4 1.3. Preview ....................................................................................................................5 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................7 2.1. Literature Overview .................................................................................................7 2.2. America and the Automobile – Cultural Studies .....................................................8 2.3. Popular Culture and the Automobile – Literary Studies ........................................10 2.4. Movies and the Automobile – Cinematic Studies ..................................................12 2.5. Society, the Media, and the Automobile – Media/Cultural Studies ......................19 2.6. Research Objective ................................................................................................22 2.7. Research Questions ................................................................................................23 CHAPTER 3: METHODS ..............................................................................................24 3.1. Methodology ..........................................................................................................24 3.2. Methods..................................................................................................................24 3.3. Procedures & Data Analysis ..................................................................................25 3.4. Sample....................................................................................................................26 CHAPTER 4: THE DISENCHANTMENT OF AMERICA .......................................28 4.1. Falling Down (1993): “A Tale of Urban Reality” .................................................29 4.2. Cultural Phenomena ...............................................................................................33 4.2.1. Drive-by shootings: The car as physical weapon ......................................33 4.2.2. Road rage: The car as psychological weapon ............................................35 4.3. An Analysis of Foster’s Enlightening Journey ......................................................40 4.3.1. The call of adventure: Stuck in the vehicle of freedom .............................40 4.3.2. The departure into the unknown: Defending consumer rights ...................40 4.3.3. The road of trials ........................................................................................41 4.3.4. The elixir: Falling down in Plato’s cave ....................................................49 4.3.5. The return: Revenge on the real world and its illusionists.........................52 CHAPTER 5: HOW THE AUTOMOBILE TOOK OVER THE COUNTRY ..........56 5.1. Duets (2000): “Going Places They’ve Never Been Before!” ................................57 5.2. Cultural Phenomena ...............................................................................................60 vii 5.2.1. “Here is where the car lives”: America’s carscape ....................................60 5.2.2. “We could be anywhere”: America’s sameness and dislocation ...............66 5.3. An Analysis of Todd’s Nostalgic Journey .............................................................70 5.3.1. The call of adventure: A man went looking for a pack of cigarettes . the automotive promise of escape and liberation.............................................70 5.3.2. The departure into the unknown: Hostile consumer culture selling pioneer spirit ...........................................................................................................72 5.3.3. The road of trials ........................................................................................78 5.3.4. The elixir: “Bam, . John Wayne I am!” says the automotive cowboy ...85 5.3.5. The return: The end of the road and the return to society ..........................88 CHAPTER 6: HOW THE AUTOMOBILE TOOK OVER THE MIND ...................91 6.1. Collateral (2004): “It Started Like Any Other Night”...........................................92 6.2. Cultural Phenomena ...............................................................................................95 6.2.1. “In L.A., nobody touches you”: Individualistic isolated carsons ..............95 6.2.1. Waiting in the “yellow-and-orange prison”: Passive autists behind the wheel ........................................................................................................102 6.3. An Analysis of Max’s Awakening Journey .........................................................108 6.3.1. The call of adventure: Frontier spirit on a dreamy island in L.A.’s bloodstream ..............................................................................................108 6.3.2. The departure into the unknown: Therapy on the road ............................113 6.3.3. The road of trials ......................................................................................116 6.3.4. The elixir: Coyotes on the run liberated from automotive akinesia .........121 6.3.5. The return: Darwinistic duel in the MTA ................................................128 CHAPTER 7: WHERE IS AMERICA GOING, AND BY WHAT ROAD? ...........130 7.1. Results & Conclusions: Summary of the Media/Cultural Analysis.....................131 7.2. Discussion & Future Prospect: Critique Throughout the Years Culminating in the Automotive Madmen ...........................................................................................136 7.3. Limitations & Areas of Future Research: Extension and Validification of Qualitative Results ...............................................................................................147 APPENDIX A .................................................................................................................149 A APPENDIX B .................................................................................................................151 APPENDIX C .................................................................................................................157 REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................163 viii LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 1 Photography of Californian drive-in (Pettifer & Turner, 1984, p. 101) ..................1 Fig. 2 Screenshot: Falling Down (1993, 00:10:24) ..........................................................28 Fig. 3 Screenshot: Duets (2000, 00:18:02) .......................................................................56 Fig. 4 Screenshot: Collateral (2004, 01:16:41)................................................................91 Fig. 5 Photography of New Yorker car scrapyard (Pettifer & Turner, 1984, p. 214) ....130 ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION Once upon a time, the American met the automobile and fell in love. Unfortunately, . he did not live happily ever after. [He] joyfully leaped upon her, and she responded to his caresses by bolting about the landscape. demanding rubbings and shinings and gifts. (Keats, 1958, pp. 11-13) Figure 1: America, the vehicle of freedom, and its cinematic celebration: The beginning of an enchanting love affair. 1 1.1. Context of the