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La Traffic Jam On The Highway Essay

Decent Essays

Question A Late 20th century Los Angeles, California was a bustling, diverse, and segregated city. Both El Norte (1983) and Falling Down (1993) depict Los Angeles in revealing ways. Falling Down in particular has many shots of the city itself; in fact, the first scene in the film takes place in a classic LA traffic jam on the highway. It shows cars lined up and not moving on the highway as far as the eye can see, with construction going on around them. It is also very hot in LA. The people are sweating, it’s sunny outside, bugs are flying around, and there are palm trees around the highway. Similarly, one of the last shots in El Norte shows a busy highway with the LA skyline in the background. That shot with the skyscrapers, cars driving quickly by, and palm trees is one of the most iconic images of LA in either film. One unique aspect of LA specifically in the late 20th century—shown in both films—is the presence of factories all around. While walking around the city, D-Fens in Falling Down passes by multiple factory buildings and Rosa in El Norte actually works in a factory for a short time. These buildings are large and often look run down from the outside. Inside, El Norte depicts the bad working conditions. They are packed into the factory like sardines and it’s unbearably hot inside. In addition, most of the workers are Hispanic immigrants. This depiction of immigrant labor is prevalent in El Norte. The film shows a large number of Hispanic immigrants working not

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