What was Davis' purpose of this book? To dismantle the image of L.A. as a shiny image of constant boomtown, liberal, and utopian? While clearly Marxian at points, Davis does not ignore the problems of race within the city. Was Davis giving reasons for a peasant/race revolution?
Alejandro,
ReplyDeleteI think that Davis was pushing his reader towards political change. However, I'm not sure if I think he would specifically advocate full peasant revolution in the Marxist sense of the word. I think that he is pushing the working class, to take a stronger stance in their beliefs. I think he is suggesting that the working class must no longer be divided based upon a specific politician or policy. Rather, that the working class must speak with a unified voice. Only as unified voice will it be able to challenge the invisible "Octopus" he discusses. Thoughts?
I disagree Mark, I think he wants a full on transformation of society in order to remake L.A. I read this as an incredibly pessimistic indictment of capitalism...
ReplyDeleteI agree that the overall mood of the book is dystopian. His chapter one gives fairly convincing cultural-literary views by others that substantiates his view of LA as all "sunshine" for the boosters and perhaps the mercenaries, but definitely "noir" (dystopian)for the debunkers, exiles, sorcerers, communards, and of course the noirs. I think he lays the cause of this "noir" reality clearly at the feet of capitalism generally, but global capitalism particularly. The remaining chapters fill in the "noir" of LA's past.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Richard on this topic. I thought the book was an extreme push towards capitalism. Almost so, that the working class set LA up with its entertainment and industrialism, then somewhere along the line it switched to this commercialism paradise directed towards one specific group with little regard for its roots.
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