WHAT MOVIE IS THE PORCH?

“New York is important. This is what the movies tell us. For one thing, extraterrestrials always know to attack it when they’re invading; for another, the only recognizable thing that survives nuclear holocaust in the original Planet of the Apes is the statue that welcomes strangers to live the American Dream. In the cinematic imagination, New York might as well be America, an island surrounded by the Grand Canyon with the Hollywood sign atop. Sure, some tumbleweed may blow through, there’s a comedy golf course, and Chicago gangsters run the bars, but New York, New York is the center of the movie universe (at least for the part of movies that comes from the US: if your dream consciousness is nurtured by cinema, then you’ll have a lot of New York dreams). There’s a lot more to see in the movie world than just Manhattan (Mumbai and Manchester and Rio and Tokyo stories abound, and we’ll get to those in future issues I’m sure), but while we’re here, let’s consider Movie New York as a kind of map of the soul, an outline of the things that are contained within us that we want to integrate or repair or resolve. Perhaps it’s true—if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.” – Gareth Higgins thinks the movies are dreamscapes that could teach us how to live better; and one movie in particular embodies what The Porch is gently stumbling towards. Subscribers can read the article – and the rest of Issue #1 by clicking here. If you haven’t subscribed, and you’d like to, you can join the conversation here.