Rob Edelman: Manhattan Provincialism

LOVE IS STRANGE is a film worth pondering, not for its performances or direction or overall quality. This drama offers a message that is skewed, and that message directly relates to what one might call the provincialism of those who reside in New York City, and the borough of Manhattan in particular.

John Lithgow and Alfred Molina star as Ben and George, a gay couple who have been together for decades and who are on the abyss of old age. Happily, the culture is evolving, the laws are changing and, at the outset, they marry-- and it indeed is a joyous occasion. But their happiness immediately is followed by despair. For openers, just after the nuptials, George is fired from his job teaching music to children in a Catholic school. Ben, an artist, apparently has no source of steady income, and he and George no longer can afford the monthly payments on their Manhattan apartment.

What are they to do? Well, one option would be to leave the city. Indeed, a woman in their social circle, who lives near Poughkeepsie, has a house which she is more than willing to share with them. They would have their own room. They would live among nature and enjoy the peace of country life. Most important of all, they would remain together.

But no!!!! Moving out of Manhattan, whether to Poughkeepsie or Pittsburgh or Peoria, simply is unthinkable. Ben and George are New Yorkers, and being forced to live outside the city is akin to a one-way ticket to purgatory. In order to remain in Manhattan, their only choice is to live under separate roofs. Of course, they think that this only will be temporary, just for a week or two. But their problems, financial or otherwise, will not disappear in a week or two. So Ben, for one, finds himself stuck with relatives in an already-cramped apartment and sharing bunk beds with his high school-age nephew.

Granted, if Ben and George agreed to move to Poughkeepsie, their problem would disappear. But there would be no conflict, and there would be no movie. So their choice to remain in Manhattan and the issues that come with it keep the story moving.

However, while watching LOVE IS STRANGE, I kept asking myself: Is living in New York City, and specifically in Manhattan, the only choice one has if one wants to be fulfilled? Do those who live in the city really believe that all those who live outside the city are wallowing in mediocrity, are culturally deprived, are living third-rate lives?

This film, and others like it, puts forth the message that one only can be alive if one resides in the Big City. And boy, is this a false message-- but too many New York City dwellers willingly embrace this message. I recall that, years ago, an acquaintance was leaving a high-powered job in Chicago for one in Manhattan and another acquaintance described this as being the equivalent of moving from Triple A to the major leagues. The implication here is obvious, and is just plain foolish.

Another colleague, a Manhattan culture maven, once gave away the surprise ending of a film. When questioned as to why she did so, her excuse was: “Well, you don’t live in New York City, so you won’t get to see the film anyway.” Hadn’t this woman heard of DVD or Netflix? Wasn’t she aware that not all art houses are located in Manhattan? Here in Albany, we have the Spectrum, a top-notch art house-- and the film in question was about to open there. (In fact, if you missed LOVE IS STRANGE or most any other film during its theatrical run, you can catch up with it in the comfort of your home, and it does not matter where your home is located.)

These days, if you reside in Manhattan or the now-chic Brooklyn communities and you sincerely believe that you are smarter or hipper or a person of privilege when compared to everyone else, well, aren’t you accomplishing nothing more than exhibiting a certain type of provincialism?

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