I love this movie, but a common remark I hear is that New York is absolutely nothing like it was 20-25 years ago when this movie came out.
I expect that, but is it really radically different? Is their absolutely no character or edge left in Manhattan? Or anywhere in New York for that matter?
The movie makes me miss Paris in the Eighties when the movie came out, because I used to live there and I think Paris is not unlike New York. Both cities were buzzing with energy and have (or had) some kind of mystery.
I was in New York last year and it was wonderful as ever, but then I don´t know it as well as Paris. I remember when the movie came out in Paris, the stalls outside the big galleries were full of clothes, make-up and jewelery like the one Madonna wore in the movie. I got myself an ear ring like Nefertiti´s. It so much was fun. :)
Yes, unfortunately NYC lost its edge a long time ago. To me, the city was the best all through the 80s. It started to get more yuppie and conservative by the early 90s.
If you want to check out a cool movie about Paris during the 80s, check out "Diva"... great stuff!
Of course NYC has lost its edge and character. We're talking about a city (Manhattan) where a closet that passes for an apartment will cost you over $2000! Or how about living in Greenwich Village, in a grimy, disgusting hellhole where the bathtub/shower is in the kitchen. And for this luxurious accommodation you will easily pay over $2200. And this is to say nothing of broker's fees, three months security, etc etc.
So yes, considering that you have to be filthy rich to live in Manhattan, or end up spending most of your hard-earned salary towards rent or mortgage payments and other expenses, it's pretty safe to say that NYC has totally and completely lost its edge. Even the surrounding boroughs are witnessing massive gentrification and yuppification (particularly Brooklyn, since the mid-to-late 90s).
On top of all this, tourism in Manhattan is rampant and unchecked. In the 80s, tourism was moderate, since most out-of-towners were too intimidated by the city's crime rate. But today, Manhattan is one of the safest cities in America, so any local yokel can visit without fear of getting mugged, raped, assaulted, murdered, etc. That's not a bad thing obviously, but the negative side effect is that there is now too much tourism and too many super-wealthy out-of-towners moving in, pushing everyone else out.
That said, if you have never been to NYC or ever lived here, you will probably think that the city has plenty of edge and character after a visit. But you could be forgiven for such ignorance, as you don't know any better. Again, it's a tourist paradise.
The economic situation is helping to reverse the gentrification for now, hopefully it stays permanently affected and apartment rates don't skyrocket again. Things such as crime and real estate always fluctuate, in 10 years from now some new drug could be causing an epidemic as did crack in the 80s and change the situation to the way it was before, you just never know.
shareYep that's the good thing about this economic problem, it will bring us back to the way things were probably. I'm rather glad reagonomics has appeared to have run its course. However I used to go to Hofstra U and still thought the city was edgy and loved going there on the weekends. They keep everything open until 4:00pm. However they may not do that anymore. When I went to college there it was before 9/11. I wonder if 9/11 has allowed it to lose some of its edge. I haven't been back after that happened although I long to.
shareTo be honest, I see the end of new york the way it was as 9/11. I mean, attention was given to the city like never before, certainly in a negative way but if you want something interesting, compare the 2001 census and things such as average rent, etc. to the most recent, its a completely unnatural jump. Something happened after that, I'm sorry if I offended anyone by making such a comparison by the way.
shareTotally. Although there is still energy there is no longer individualism...because individual ambition as personified by the '80's is now suspect since 9/11. As everyone has to be on 'the team'. Everyone in NY looks the same nowadays, the creative dress sense that existed in this movie and in the '80's is long dead. I grew up in a small town watching movies and tv shows set in NY, the most exciting city on earth with its vibrance and Studio 54, and I couldn't wait to go there but by the time I did get to go it was already being cleaned up and yuppified. Nowadays you're more likely to hear stuttering middle class British accents than anything cool and edgy.
sharejohntbooker: Word. It's all Brits with money in the West Village now. Well, we'll have films like "Liquid Sky", "Desperately Seeking Susan" and "After Hours" (Scorcese) to remind us of how cool and fun NYC USED TO BE...
The worst part was when Mayor Giuliani (HATE HIM!) came in and brought all of these ugly, stupid super-chains in... like the ones all around Union Square. Thanks! We really want Manhattan to look like every other retarded mall in America... NOT!!!
A perfect representation of NY losing its edge is the woman herself, Madonna. In this movie she summed up what was cool and edgy about NY AND the '80's. Then what happens in the '90's?...as soon as everything British came into fashion; Britpop music and Brit films etc, she marries that guy, turns English, and moves to England where she becomes homely, country club, and middle class, wearing cuddly sweaters and is dubbed by the media as 'Madge'.
Yesterday she is in the news for watching prince harry at a polo match in NY and cheering him on, would Susan do that?
You can't expect people to remain teenagers forever. People change, grow up, mature.. it's life. Only the dead never change.
shareAde-camilleri said, "You can't expect people to remain teenagers forever. People change, grow up, mature.. it's life. Only the dead never change."
Thank you! That's very true. People also forget that Madonna was playing a character of Susan, she wasn't "Susan" even then with hit records, money and nice places to live.
^^^
great answer LOL
I live in NYC and of course the city is different for me started with freaking Guilianni.
But I love NY always and forever no matter where i am
Only the dead don't change LOL
yes, let's all PRAY that some new hyper-addictive drug comes along and decimates an entire generation, good call!!
shareA big "exactly" for that whole post.
For the OP: New York has become very "Disneyfied". That started full swing in the 90s really, during the time that Giuliani was mayor. Visiting the tourist areas especially is more like visiting Downtown Disney/Pleasure Island/etc. now. I lament that fact even though I love Disney. The problem with it in my opinion is that we could already visit Disney when we wanted to, but there was only one place in the world like New York. Now that unique, older New York is more or less gone, even in the outer boroughs, and for just the reasons the post I'm responding to mentions.
You just can't live here any longer unless you have or make a lot of money. Businesses can't hack it unless they're pretty mainstream/popular, which is why so many independent businesses are gone and there are instead so many chains now--the odd little indie stores just can't afford the rents any longer. For a place like the New York of old to exist, there needs to be cheap housing available for fringe types, artists, etc., and cheap retail spaces available for fringe businesses. The change in the crime rate has probably had a lot to do with the city's evolution. It has had a lot of unfortunate side effects, in my opinion.
http://www.rateyourmusic.com/~JrnlofEddieDeezenStudies
I have to agree with my fellow NY posters here. Greenwich Village is featured in this movie. It's my fav place to hang out and been since the 80s. St. Marks Place (where Roberta follows Susan early in the movie; where she knocks over the street vendor's stuff and gets the jacket she was told used to belong to Jimi Hendrix) is still funky, but not neeeeearly as funky as it was in the 80s.
NYC is now more Gossip Girl (unfortunately), and less Taxi Driver, Desperately Seeking Susan, etc.
Yeah, sadly NY has lost some of its edge/character.
"Everyone's entitled to their own opinion. But my opinions are fact."
i wished i lived in the city in the 80s (and was 20 years older of course). would have love to meet andy warhol and go to the clubs, breakdancing ect. yeah sucks that the city has lost its edge.
Can't wait to be in LA
>> Greenwich Village is featured in this movie. >>
I am surprised that people who "live in New York" call this Greenwich Village. Susan is very clearly shopping and hanging out in the East Village. Greenwich Village might be where the fictional "Bleecker Street Cinema" might be, but when Susan is walking around and being followed by Roberta she is on 2nd Avenue. The East Village is more punk, Greenwich Village is more college-y, and the Lower East Side is more artsy/indie rock. Of course these are just generalizations. There's a little of everything everywhere.
I've been hanging out in all of the above neighborhoods for about 20 years.
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"Love means never having to say you're ugly." - the Abominable Dr. Phibes
@TeaBunny...
Ya know, the only time I refer to it as Greenwich Village is when I'm talkin' about it to outta towners. From day one, I've always called the the Village or, among buddies, the Ville. I love the whole area, but St. Mark's Place will always have a special place in my heart.
"Good thing he was pretty, 'cause he sure wasn't whiz kid Floyd."
This post is kind of idiotic. My parents lived here (I'm in Brooklyn) when they moved to the US in the seventies. I visited frequetly in the eighties because my grandmother stayed. And I moved here in '99 to go to college. And honestly, I'm glad that it is not like it was in the eighties when you had to worry about being raped, robbed or murdered and corrput cops and politicians that weren't going to help. I do agree that it is too expensive in most area, but you know why it cost so much, because all of you that decided to move to New York because you wanted to live in the city you saw in a movie among other things. That happens with any city featured in a lot of movies. If it makes you feel better, there are still scary parts in New York. My husband was attacked by a group of teenagers with boxcutters in our neighborhood just a couple of years ago! Crime and grime do not make character.
sharesorry to hear you got attacked/ you're so right about people 'moping for a myth': so much "edge"is not somethiong to glamourize
shareHaving lived in NYC all my life, I can certainly attest it has lost its edge and character, especially since the 1980's.
Thanks to our current Mayor Michael Moneybags Bloomberg hiking up prices of real estate, the aftermath of 9/11 and always thinking NYC is Ground Zero (living in fear of terrorism always).
In addition, the fact of massive overpopulation which is Never addressed in the Media. (These are unfortunately PC times)
It still has its uniqueness and better opportunities, but other than that, I think if I would move, I am not sure I would look forward to coming back and visiting.
Very Sad.
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new york city is one of my favorite cities in the world. i'd like to move there in a few years.
You can't swing a dead cat in hollywood without hitting someone with a vampire script
I think every generation laments the "good old days" - NYC is full of character. In the 80's there were boring mainstream things and in the 70's there were boring mainstream things. Of course in the 70's NYC was filthier and more ruled by crime, in the "main" areas... it depends what neighborhood you live in or visit. There are a thousand different "New York Cities".
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"Love means never having to say you're ugly." - the Abominable Dr. Phibes
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