The image of success

For our video, I want to talk about how the suburbs can be so highly image oriented. As we've talked about in section, it is often the appearance of wealth and success that matters. I had a friend in high school who drove a nice SUV as soon as she turned 16 and who's mom made sure to be driving a practically brand new Mercedes (thank goodness for short term car leases). However, this same girl lived in a small 3 bedroom townhouse with her 5 younger siblings that barely had enough room for all of them. Her mom often slept at her office because she had to work so much just to keep the family going. It was confusing to see such a misallocation of resources, yet it all focuses around presenting an image of success. While this may be an extreme example, I have also been guilty of wanting more than I have, simply to be viewed as something different (maybe something "more") than I am. This type of image obsession is manifested throughout suburban lifestyle, as I can even remember looking at model homes, as the developers put fake smiling family photos throughout the house, and make sure to have cookies baking in the oven so that it smells like a home. From the time a family moves into the suburbs they are highly aware that sometimes life can be all about presentation and nothing about substance. As we all know, the difference between what you see and what you get can be substantial.