Tuesday, May 17, 2011

The Suburbs

           For decades literature and media has portrayed the suburbs as a place lies, infidelity, and murder, hidden behind a façade of perfection. “Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream” by Joan Didion tells the story of a seemingly affluent couple from the San Bernadino Valley, outside of Los Angeles. Lucille and Cork Miller seemed to have a good life, but when Lucille is charged with the murder of her husband, all of their secrets are revealed including her infidelity with a close family friend and his overwhelming debt of more than $600,000. But since this was published, other stories since this have been portrayed in the media such as the town of Agrestic, in the show Weeds, and Wisteria Lane on Desperate Housewives. Both of these show the dark and seedy side of these picture-perfect neighborhoods. As someone who grew up in the suburbs, I can’t completely throw out the idea that there is a dark side to the suburbs. There were several stories of infidelity that came out of our neighborhood. Also one of the largest drug and prostitution raids in Southeastern Massachusetts took place merely five houses down the street from me. Although these things do happen, the media often exaggerates how often this happens and adds extra drama.

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