The Final Blog

As the semester comes to a close, I can say that I’m happy with Los Angeles in film. The material, discussions, and movies covered throughout the class have both improved my skills as a fledgling college student and my knowledge/familiarity with Los Angeles as a text.

    A freshman foundation course is designed to foster incoming student’s skills and approach towards college classes. While I chose this class solely on its subject material alone, I can say that I got more out of it than just a stronger understanding of Los Angeles. For starters, my ability to research topics has dramatically improved. I have a better understanding of how to go about researching and I know how to find what I want and need for any given research topic. The exercise in the library teaching us the text search system and the research I have done for both discussions and essays have allowed me to become more confident and proficient when researching. I have used the skills from this class to help my research in other general education courses when compiling sources for an essay or project. Our various class discussions about readings and films have taught me to formulate opinions, thoughts, and questions better. My critical thinking has improved as the conversations held during class made me think differently about films in ways I haven’t thought of before. I am better at formulating my thoughts due to constant practice via discussions and blog posts. The class has made me think differently about several aspects of my academic approach while still teaching me the intricacies of Los Angeles.

    While the class did an excellent job of teaching me about critical thinking and academic research, it did an even better job of giving me the tools to read Los Angeles as a city. The structure of the class and the assignments that followed every primary text or film helped teach Los Angeles in a useful and entertaining way. Each movie and text taught me something different and unique about Los Angeles that I would have otherwise been oblivious to. The discussions that followed each screening further cemented my understanding or enhanced it in ways that I wouldn’t have been able to alone. The blogs helped me to finalize my ideas and knowledge of the city to the point where Los Angeles became close and familiar. The purpose of reading a text like a city was confusing for me at first but once the class got underway it all made sense. To read a city, one must immerse themselves in various form of art and literature, partake in class discussions and complete writing to further solidify ideas and knowledge. All of which were cornerstones of the class. The tools provided made Los Angeles easily accessible to those that put in the effort.

It’s hard to decide what text or film was my favorite. Many of them stand out for me because of their entertainment value and quality. Mulholland Drive, Double Indemnity and Sunset Boulevard are films that I thoroughly enjoyed that lead to thought-provoking activities and discussions. However, If I had to choose a favorite it would easily be Chinatown. On paper, Chinatown isn’t super exciting. It’s about a private eye that uncovers an unstoppable crime and a disturbing underbelly of Los Angeles. There are no flying cars or dream sequences here. It’s just a solid neo-noir film with excellent writing and acting. That’s probably why I like it so much. The noir genre was my favorite topic we covered all year and the character  Jake Gittes has always stayed with me as one of the most human detectives to ever come out of a noir film. While I hold tremendous bias, I’m a massive fan of Jack Nicholson, Jake was one of my favorite characters to watch on screen. His shortcomings and failures throughout the film make him oddly relatable, and he’s one of the more honest/real characters to lead a noir film. He doesn’t know all the answers, struggles to find them and ultimately fails at the end. The sense of dread and despair felt in the last few minutes of Chinatown stuck with me more than any other film. The gruesome murder of Evelyn and the famous line “forget it, Jake, it’s Chinatown” are elements that stuck with me. The atmosphere and setting are mysterious and compelling. The film does a great job at portraying Los Angeles as more than just a place where the movies come from. It is by far my favorite movie we covered in the class and is among one of my all-time favorite movies.