Miami and the Media

Miami and the Media

            Ever since the 1950’s Miami has become a destination place that many filmmakers and producers come to visit.  It is shown to be one of the major tourist cities around the world as portrayed by the “Roads to Romance” 1950 Chevrolet commercial and the Miami Vice intro.  But inadvertently the perceptions of Miami became based upon the Miami Vice spectacle of reality opposed to more realistic Chevrolet commercial. Although both videos display the beauty and allure of the city through the use of the gorgeous blue water, desirable cars, and beautiful girls, the Miami Vice intro focuses on a fanatical materialistic and lavish lifestyle, while the Chevrolet commercial more realistically portrays the actual environment and amenities of the area at the time.  After some analysis it can be seen that these slightly different focal points led to a struggle for the locals to create their own personal identities who were stuck within spectacle point of view they have been predisposed to assume from the exaggerated Miami Vice television show, opposed to the realistic identity portrayed by the Chevrolet video that has been overlooked for so long.

            The Chevrolet commercial from the 1950’s incorporates old fashion classical music to represent the peacefulness and tranquility of the area at the time, eliciting a stronger response from older and wealthier Caucasians who want to go on a relaxing vacation.  The fact that the video describes the environment such as the beaches, and graceful palms supports this idea of isolation and tranquility that represents the laid back lifestyle of the time.  The video seems to be in the point of view of upper class Caucasians, showing very formal clothing with the narrator being concerned about the architecture of the city.  We can assume that only a well-educated, refined audience would come to Miami to view the architecture of the city.  There is a huge focus on the environment and history of the place, on the contrary to the Miami Vice intro. 

            The Miami Vice intro begins in full force with a heavy percussion beat that is indicative of the fast paced lifestyle the video is going to portray.  Very quickly the intro moves from babes in bikinis to very expensive and exotic formula one race cars and cigarette boats.  There is a less of a focus on the environment of Miami and a very strong emphasis on the materialistic aspect of area.  It appears that the intended audience for the video are the extremely wealthy and younger individuals who want to live an exotic and daring lifestyle.  Money appears to be very abundant here, and the inclusion of the Miami skyscrapers is used to attract a response from wealthy business entrepreneurs that desire this lavish and crazy way life.  Additionally, the inclusion of a Latin style bikini at the beginning of the video shows how this city is full of culture appealing to wealthy foreigners, as opposed to just a wealthy Caucasian class like the Chevrolet video.

            These two videos juxtaposed with one another depict how over the ages the vision of Miami changed dramatically, and now it seems that the perception of Miami has been based upon the Miami Vice point of view opposed to the Chevrolet commercial point of view.  Although this extravagant image and lifestyle is great to attract wealthy mobiles that can afford these luxuries, it leaves the locals in a very tough situation.  This idea of having to own exotic cars, expensive jewelry, and massive homes is great to aspire towards yet impractical and foolish for some of the locals.  The major problem with this is that most of the locals do not even see how their perception of Miami has been altered.  They get caught up in the so-called “Miami Vice” identity, which in turn merges their apparent reality with the fantasy.  It seems that the Miamians become a product of their environment!  The fact that our society emphasizes Miami as this lavish and extravagant place has in a sense brainwashed those locals who live here to try and model this kind of unrealistic lifestyle that only few may attain.

Additionally there is an underrepresentation of the local perception of the city.  It is unfair for the entire Miami area to be stuffed under the label and perception of South Beach, which was created by wealthy mobiles in combination with the broad worldwide appeal of Miami Vice.  Only a few wealthy individuals seem to have defined the monumental number of locals here in Miami and this cannot continue.  All Miamians deserve to be individuals who are identified by their own actions and not by the actions of anyone or anything else.  It is time for those who live here all year round to have more of a say in how our city and we are defined.