Prison California

Perceptions about California are shaped by various factors. Most of these perceptions are true,
but many are just exaggerations of reality, a distortion caused by the media in its every form.
With the emergence of Hollywood, and its great advancements in the movie industry, many
ideals and lifestyles portrayed in films have quicklyand easilybeen stablished as
Californian to the outsiders eyes; even if it is not necessarily true. In the same manner, many
celebrities and song writers have also expressed their thoughts, feelings and understanding about
California and the dream in their music. These songs impact not only outsiders who yearn for the
California dream, but also to Californians themselves who listen to the deeper meaning behind
the words express. In the Song Hotel California by the Eagles, they explore the many faces of
California in media portrayals, people, culture and dreams. In their song, the Eagles paint
California as a paradise at first, but later unravel the truth, regarding it as a living hell. They
reveal that the California dream is nothing, but a personal prison that people create; shaped by
their own understanding of the place, and the lies that the media portrays.
The song begins with a person driving on the highway. As he continues his journey, he sees a
shimmering light in the distance. At that instant, he is forced to stop because he feels dizzy and
needs to rest. He checks into to the hotel California and a woman shows him the way. As he goes
down the corridor he hears voices calling out to him, welcoming him to California. He is
confused and is frightened by what he experiences and says to himself, This could be heaven or
this could be hell. As he learns the truth about Hotel California, he is frightened and tries to get
away. However, the only problem is that according to the night man, he can checkout any time,
but can never leave.
Before the media revolution, that fueled the erroneous perceptions about California, people
around the world already knew about California. They saw it as a place where hard work and
good luck paid off. To many, California was a symbol for a new beginning and a race to
accumulate wealth, but at the same time they knew it was a riska risk that they were willing to
take. In Hotel California, the Eagles cleverly show this in their song using symbolism to
represent ongoing events that clearly influenced how people viewed California in their time. This
is what they have to say, Up ahead in the distance/ I saw a shimmering light/ There she
stood in the doorway/ I heard the mission bell/ And I was thinking to myself/ This could be
heaven or this could be hell/ Then she lit up a candle/ And she showed me the way. In context,
the distance quite literally represents the physical distance that people are willing to travel in
order to come to California and pursue their dreams. However, the shimmering light is a symbol
for the false hope and prosperity that California is wrongly associated with. The song tries to
unravel the Californian misconceptions and clarify that it is a place like any other where there are
endless ways to fail. Like the mission bell, there is more complexity behind what is seen or
heard. Outsiders only see a small fraction the truth and ignorantly continue down the corridor
and they accept to come to California, having great expectations, unrepaired for the truth.
Later on, when Hollywood emerged, they helped shape and fuel the expectations about
California. People were fed fantasies that only Hollywood could satisfice on TV. There were
constant messages about California as a place for opportunity and a gold mine that anyone could
explore. In the song the Eagles allude to this idea by the constant repetition of the chorus. They

use the same message that Hollywood planted to the rest of the world, Welcome to the Hotel
California/ such a lovely place, such a lovely face/ Theres plenty of room at the hotel/
California/ Any time of year, you can find it here. During their time, and even today, the movies
paint California as a place where there is luxury and abundance. Of course this is not a bad thing
at all because to an extent it is true. There is wealth, and there is abundance in California, but it is
not for everyone. Only a handful of people check-in on time to make their dream come true. The
rest of the people are left in limbo, waiting to learn the truth. They dont show the other side of
the storyThere is also poverty and there is also shame. When people arrive to California, they
slam against the wall and realize that not everything is what they believed to be true. Outsiders
believe that California has room for them every day of the year and that it is always a paradise,
but the truth is that California can also be hell.
As time goes on, people come to realize that California, is not such a happy place after all.
Immigrants who come to California mature and begin to see things differently than what they
used to. When people come to California, they expect to quickly find a job and earn good money,
but not everyone is lucky. Similar to what Tom Joad discovers in Grapes of Wrath, people learn
that the California dream is only a creation. In the song the Eagles depict this idea in the
following, How they dance in the courtyard/ sweet summer sweat/Some dance to remember/
Some dance to forget/ California seems beautiful and promising from the outside, but as you dig
deep, you start to see that California has its faults too. The people dancing in the courtyard
represent every person attempting their dreams and those who dance to remember are those who
fight for the dream while those who dance to forget symbolize those who have given up on the
dream. Those who are prisoners of their own dreams.
As the message about California keeps spreading through the media and the arts, people around
the world continue to see a California that is based on wealth and prosperity, but just like in
Hotel California this dream is only beautiful from the distance, if one attempts to pursue it, there
might be success or failure and in both extremes, it is impossible to leave. The Eagles tell the
typical story of an individual who is desperate for a new beginning, but nave. They show us that
California is a place complex and diverse and a prison that we create.