I have been outside of the world of popular culture for the
last few days because I was at work conference. My work conference was the Standing Committee for LGBT Awareness (SCLGBTA). We have been working long days starting
Thursday until Monday. I am drained from
long 8 hour days, and lots of processing.
I am ready to get back to Boston, the Northeast, and pop culture.
St. Louis was an interesting city. While I was traveling west I was not sure
where exactly the city fell in regard to accents. As I arrived in the airport I slowly learned
that St. Louis, was more part of the Midwest then the south. St. Louis (for those who are not aware) is
incredibly close to the border of Illinois, which plays a role in helping
define this part of Missouri. While
I was there mainly for work I pushed myself to go out at night to see the gay
scene. There were several different LGBT
bars on one street, which seemed to provide a space for mostly everyone. I only went to just Johns, which had no
cover, but the other places looked and were fun according to some of the people
I traveled with. While the scene was fun,
I did not find many people I felt attracted to which was interesting, although
I have a feeling many people head north to Chicago pride (I hope). I also got to watch their pride parade, which
was surprisingly long, but fun. One of
the people I was there with that lived in St, Louis stated this is the kind of
city you only want to maybe visit one time.
This was my one time.
The city felt different.
With a crumbling infrastructure, and poor city set up it reminded me why
I never want to move back to the Midwest (except for Chicago). While I know I did not get to see every of
the city, the parts I did see were the perfect snap shot of a traditional
Midwestern city that is neither my speed, no a place I would go back to visit. Even the beauty of the arch could not save what is falling a part. Cities like this deserve to thrive, and we need our economy to turn around so tourism can allow this city to prosper like it did within the 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis. Now there is no specific song about being in
St. Louis in Meet me in St. Louis, but Judy Garland sure put this place on the
map.
I have honestly never seen this musical, in fact I have been
warned that I will not enjoy it at all.
Yet as a student of popular culture, and avid musical fan I know the two
most famous songs from this film “The Trolley Song” and “Have Yourself a Marry
Little Christmas.” Judy’s version of the
second song brings me to tears every time I hear it, mainly because of its use
in the film The Family Stone. The first Sex
and the City film used this as a reference as well, with Louise (Jennifer
Hudson) from St. Louis. I feel as though
I am in good company because Carrie Bradshaw had never seen the film either.
Going to this city made me never want to go back, but it did
make me think about the cultural impact of this film, Meet me in St. Louis was
the second highest grossing film in 1944, and has impacted numerous other
films. Time to watch the film, and get
in a good cry when Judy sings “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
