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<font size="4"><p>Suburban Hell</font>
<font size="3"><br>An Examination of Suburban Life as Portrayed in <i>The Ice Storm</i>, <i>Mr. and Mrs. Bridge</i>, and <i>Welcome to the Dollhouse</i></font>
<font size="2"><br>by David Ng
<p><font size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica">Few films have dared to explore the suburban American psyche. Most of the great American films take place in dense cities, fruited plains, foreign ports, or imaginary worlds. Suburban environments simply lack realistic representation on the movie screen.
<br> Until the 1990s, most filmmakers who entered suburbia treated it either as parody or as the springboard for an extraordinary tale.<a name="note1"><sup><font size="1"><a href="notes.htm#1">1</a></font></sup> When a hyper Jennifer Grey karate-kicks the school principal in <i>Ferris Bueller's Day Off</i>, we do not take it as an accurate portrayal of suburban America. And when E.T. befriends Elliot, the film's convincing depiction of suburbia quickly disappears.
<p><a href="suburbia-nf.htm">Go to article</a></font>
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