The Myth of Main Street

Leyendecker. Courtesy Saturday Evening Post

For my masters thesis I wrote about Main Street USA and the power of its myth. Small towns in America, particularly the Main Streets within them have become common in the shorthand of today's political rhetoric. I showed how Main Street went from being a real place to a myth created by a population's embellished memories and idealized images and how that myth, a powerful symbol of the American way of life,  has been used with much success in the 20th and 21st century political landscape.


However, the image that is conjured up in the American collective consciousness now rarely exists in this country. Most Main Streets have become strip malls, some disused and others completely abandoned. 

Typical stripmall

Riverhead, Long Island

Even the revitalized Main Streets rarely serve their original social function. Residents are not chatting with the local butcher or purchasing flour from their neighbor, the grocer. These streets, that while they retain the built environment of the original Main Streets,  are more likely to be open air shopping malls. 

There are also the newly built Main Streets that mimic the Colonial style of a long gone era. The popularity of these neo-traditional communities signify a desire for a simpler time, one that is rife with the American values of hard work, honesty and goodness. It is easy to forget that these are not real Main Streets.

Kentlands, MD

Perhaps the most disquieting of the real Main Streets are the ones that have been taken down and irreparably damaged by the methamphetamine epidemic. Factories and farms have left these sad town in droves; the residents  have little economic recourse.

For the thesis, I interviewed Rick Prelinger, owner of the Prelinger Archives who thought my topic would make a good documentary. So that's what is on the agenda for me next. Please enjoy the trailer that my wonderful and talented husband cut for it.

http://www.looptvandfilm.com/SVA/MythandMain/Trailer.html

I will let you know as soon as our Kickstarter page is up. Cuz you know you will want to be a part of this ;-)