I Love This Dirty Town 1969

Okay, do not watch this for its entertainment value, unless perhaps if you are obsessed with the roots of the migration of families from cities to growing suburbs. As a bonus, you will see a lot of architecture, cars, and clothing & hair styles from the late 1960s.

This is a documentary narrated by bestselling author Margaret Drabble. Her name drew me to watch it. The narration and commentary bring what sounds to my ear like a massive sense of superiority and condescension towards town planners and suburbs in general. Compared to the fulfilling life found in cities, people in suburbs are doomed to endure a living death, their lives restricted by the planning of the miserable developments and the mindless and unimaginative design of the streets and buildings.

This may all be true, but it is safe to say that this opinion did not slow down the growth of suburbs. Perhaps the slow death now of malls proves the point of this film somewhat. Of course, in 1969 they had no idea that online sales on the Internet would be even more damaging to the small businesses praised in this film.

This information and the opinions that come with it were probably very relevant when this was produced, but it seems very dated now, told in a stodgy fashion, and if the topic doesn’t interest you, I would give it a miss.

— Peter McGinn