This Friday, after a four-year hiatus, the James Bond franchise returns to the silver screen with Casino Royale, the original story from Bond’s creator, Ian Fleming, and a new fellow filling the tuxedo, Daniel Craig. I look forward to it with great anticipation. But what does this have to do with land use, you ask? Well, aside from the commercials depicting a fight scene atop a half-completed skyscraper, the return of Bond got me to thinking about the role of film and television in portraying the land use process, and if, along with the high profile of Kelo, has the mass media portrayed it accurately, or with sufficient care? Professionals, and those in “the know” often complain how Hollywood distorts the “truth” of their vocation. Surgeons look for egregious mistakes in operating room scenes, psychologists scoff at laughable therapy sessions, and police officers cringe at shoddy techniques employed by those who only “play them on T.V.”
The crooked land developer is a common villain, from the shady fellow who built on old Indian burial grounds in Poltergeist, to just about every bad guy who uttered the line “if it wasn’t for those pesky kids” on Scooby-Doo. In a more recent example, John Sayles, a respected independent film director, made Sunshine State, an ensemble piece analyzing the personal and political dynamics of a proposed development in a coastal Florida town. The film even throws in a few board hearing scenes to provide a pretty solid picture of the process. Finding examples of land use-themed fiction is not hard. Finding memorable ones is more of a challenge.
Luckily, one of the greatest villains of all time, in one of the greatest movies of all time happens to be a land baron: Noah Cross in Chinatown. Loosely based on the real-life water grab from the Owens Valley to usher in modern Los Angeles, Chinatown is the greatest portrayal of land use to date because it captures the personality and politics behind the process. Early in the film, Jack Nicholson, as smarmy private investigator J.J. Gittes, begins his investigation of a suspected philandering husband at a City Council meeting. He eyes his prey while the drama of the meeting occurs around him. The talk is of water, and how the city needs it to grow. Unhappy ranchers from the region’s outskirts make their point for a new aqueduct from the Owens Valley by running a herd of sheep down the council chambers’ aisles, demanding water for their livestock. Gittes yawns, but we see the messy process at work.
Behind the push for water is Noah Cross, played by the renowned director John Huston. From Cross, Gittes, and the audience, learn the true importance of the water scheme. As Cross explains, “Either you bring the water to L.A. or you bring L.A. to the water.” Gittes probes deeper, wonders why a fabulously rich man like Cross would want to get involved in something as mundane as water. “The future, Mr. Gittes. The future!” In that one line, the film captures what it is that makes land use such a critical part of our democratic system. What we want to be, and how we want ourselves to look, largely depends on the decisions we make in land use meetings across the nation. The power of Chinatown, as the quintessential land use film, resides in the simplicity of Noah Cross’s words.
Of course there are other examples out there, and I invite comment on your favorite depictions of land use in fiction. At the bottom of it all, I’m just thankful that Bond is back. Speaking of being thankful, next week is a holiday designed to do just that. We’ll take a look at the celebration, in the context of land use.
The crooked land developer is a common villain, from the shady fellow who built on old Indian burial grounds in Poltergeist, to just about every bad guy who uttered the line “if it wasn’t for those pesky kids” on Scooby-Doo. In a more recent example, John Sayles, a respected independent film director, made Sunshine State, an ensemble piece analyzing the personal and political dynamics of a proposed development in a coastal Florida town. The film even throws in a few board hearing scenes to provide a pretty solid picture of the process. Finding examples of land use-themed fiction is not hard. Finding memorable ones is more of a challenge.
Luckily, one of the greatest villains of all time, in one of the greatest movies of all time happens to be a land baron: Noah Cross in Chinatown. Loosely based on the real-life water grab from the Owens Valley to usher in modern Los Angeles, Chinatown is the greatest portrayal of land use to date because it captures the personality and politics behind the process. Early in the film, Jack Nicholson, as smarmy private investigator J.J. Gittes, begins his investigation of a suspected philandering husband at a City Council meeting. He eyes his prey while the drama of the meeting occurs around him. The talk is of water, and how the city needs it to grow. Unhappy ranchers from the region’s outskirts make their point for a new aqueduct from the Owens Valley by running a herd of sheep down the council chambers’ aisles, demanding water for their livestock. Gittes yawns, but we see the messy process at work.
Behind the push for water is Noah Cross, played by the renowned director John Huston. From Cross, Gittes, and the audience, learn the true importance of the water scheme. As Cross explains, “Either you bring the water to L.A. or you bring L.A. to the water.” Gittes probes deeper, wonders why a fabulously rich man like Cross would want to get involved in something as mundane as water. “The future, Mr. Gittes. The future!” In that one line, the film captures what it is that makes land use such a critical part of our democratic system. What we want to be, and how we want ourselves to look, largely depends on the decisions we make in land use meetings across the nation. The power of Chinatown, as the quintessential land use film, resides in the simplicity of Noah Cross’s words.
Of course there are other examples out there, and I invite comment on your favorite depictions of land use in fiction. At the bottom of it all, I’m just thankful that Bond is back. Speaking of being thankful, next week is a holiday designed to do just that. We’ll take a look at the celebration, in the context of land use.
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