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Josue Orellana

Professor Jennifer Rodrick

English 115

1 November 2017

Judith Lewis Interesting Times: An Exploratory Journey of Identity in the City of L.A.

Los Angeles is considered a unique city by most of its denizens. It is a place and a

experience not found elsewhere. Many love it, hate it and some people feel both ways. Some

love it for the lights, the weather and the glamour. Others hate it for the violence, crime and

economy. But no one, from the far reaches of the southern beaches to the valleys that border the

Los Angeles Mountains can deny its effect on their identity. It may be hard to understand how

this huge metropolis may have any deep effect on a personal and individual level. In her story,

Judith Lewis provides her view on how Los Angeles personally affected her identity and shaped

it in a way she didn't think was possible. Judith Lewis story, Interesting Times showcases the

change in Lewis identity after she moves to L.A., showing her initial dislike of the city followed

by different events that unfold in the city that lead her to realize how Los Angeles has become

her new home.

In the beginning, Lewis was very hesitant about moving to Los Angeles and did not enjoy

the city very much. She clarifies in her story that she relocated to L.A. because of her need for a

job, not because she liked the city or its stereotypical appeal. As she makes the trip from

Minnesota to her new home by road she makes several stops, each time waiting a little before

deciding to move on. Along the way she becomes extremely hesitant about her relocation to

L.A., recalling an interview she saw on CNN that featured several disgruntled Angelenos. The

crime, the smog, the earthquakes, they complained - its a wonder anyone settled here in the first
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place (Lewis 6). This quote from the interview she saw on TV reflects her mindset at the time

of her moving to Los Angeles. She has not even arrived at the city but already has formed a bias

against it assuming the worst about it. She feels almost forced to move to the new city and has no

actual desire to live there. She makes it clear that she has no interest for the iconic aspects of Los

Angeles life. I did not expect to live among the monguls and demiurges of commercial

entertainment; I harbored lust for neither beach culture nor the landmarks of noir fiction (Lewis

5). She shows that she did not move there because she had any interest in what she thought L.A.

was going to be about. Even the things that other people liked about the city did not entice her.

When she arrives to L.A. her aversion towards the city grew as her preconceived notions about

the city became true. Her car, an unremarkable foreign model, was stolen twice in broad

daylight. After this experience with crime she would go on to own four more cars, all of which

would leave her stranded on a freeway and die at one point or another. This is almost reflection

of her state as she was transitioning to living in L.A. She naturally did not fit in the city and she

recognizes it as she tries to navigate in her new surroundings. The cars that all failed and died

were like her trying to find a place in the new city. Over time she would realize how she would

change to fit her new environment.

Eventually through experiences in the 1992 riots, Lewis started to transform her identity

in a way that connected her to the people of Los Angeles. The riots started in South Central Los

Angeles after a jury acquitted several police officers that had been videotaped beating a black

man. Despite the graphic evidence at hand the white officers were not condemned by the law.

People were angered greatly by this and took to the streets rioting, looting and destroying

property all across L.A. (Wilson). The results of these riots would play a part in the change that

would affect Lewis identity. The first event that was the beginnings of her transformation took
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place in a wedding she attended during the 1992 riots. The wedding was small and was held at a

chapel in Santa Monica and the reception was held a nearby hotel. After the reception, she and

her friends were stuck in the hotel because of the curfew set due to the riots occurring in L.A.

She and her friends were journalists, which meant they could declare themselves on duty in order

to go home without any problems, but they chose not to. They chose to stay because they wanted

to feel what it was like to live as if in a war. Their transformation for the overnight stay was

immediate, as everyone started to act in a way they had restrained themselves from acting like

before. It was, at that time, the finest night in my life in Los Angeles; it remains one of my

happiest memories (Lewis 8). Part of her identity wanted to live in the adventure and the chaos

that only Los Angeles had provided her with. Once she accepted this part of her identity, she

started to transform into a person who truly fitted in the haphazard city of L.A. She even bonded

with the strangers on streets because of the terrible events that Angelenos had to endure together.

During the riots, Lewis recollects her daily runs at Venice beach. ...I exchanged sympathetic

glances with fellow joggers who had donned protective masks against the smoke - our faces half

covered, we still managed to telegraph camaraderie (Lewis 8). Events like the 1992 riots had an

effect of bringing people together. In this time of conflict and anger people wanted to look on

towards others and assure themselves that they were all together. Lewis didn't know the people

who she was exchanging glances with but she still connected with them because they were

united under the conflict that was affected everyone in Los Angeles. Because Lewis experienced

this she started to relate more and more to her fellow denizens and made L.A. a part of her

identity. Similar to this event another major incident would lead to a change in Lewis identity.

Another event that shaped her identity was the Northridge earthquake that occurred in

1994. This earthquake of magnitude 6.7 struck the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles,
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killing more than 60, injuring more than 9,000, and causing widespread damage. Freeways

crumbled, gas mains burst and caught fire, apartment complexes collapsed, and power was lost

to vast sections of the city. Thousands of buildings were either destroyed outright, or declared

unsafe to enter, and later demolished (Taylor). This horrible disaster shocked many Angelenos

including Lewis. The earthquake left her feeling jarred and shell-shocked but also gave her

another feeling. She felt a connection to the people around her because they also experienced the

earthquake. She and the rest of the city were united in feeling, sharing a common emotion among

hundreds of thousands of people. Later during a dinner, she confessed that she would not have

left Los Angeles even if she had known about the earthquake on the day that it occurred. I

would not for all the world would have wanted to be away when the quake hit. If this city would

to be shaken down to rubble, I wanted to be here to feel it. The belief that adversity gives depth

to life, that we are better for having suffered together, sets the people I know in Los Angeles

apart (Lewis 8). This feeling she has highlights the change in perspective she has on her new

home. She went from being scared of the city she lived in to not wanting to be away when a life-

threatening earthquake occurs. She would rather be in Los Angeles as it was destroyed than to be

safe in another place. Her new feelings for the city were built upon her connection to the people

living around her. Because of the devastating and harrowing events that Lewis endured with the

people of Los Angeles she formed a close connection to the city and lost her previous

preconceptions of the city. Lewis recognizes that disaster and hardship are two things that can

bring people together and this is what she experiences. These events are examples of how Lewis

identity has changed and how now she has refashioned herself to living in L.A.

Now Lewis considers Los Angeles her true home and has adapted herself to accept L.A.

as part of her identity. She has greatly changed since she moved to Los Angeles when she
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disliked the city and did not feel as if she had any true connections to it. After her experiences

with disasters and chaos she finally has morphed her identity into something that exists perfectly

in Los Angeles. I cannot pinpoint the moment I started bragging about my latest tumble in a

robust wave or stopped worrying about whether my doors were locked when I drove down

Florence past Normandie, I know know for certain when I survey my Self that I have become an

Angeleno I am a walking cliche (Lewis 5-6). Lewis now realizes that she has changed

drastically and her identity now embodies a Angeleno. Although the residents of L.A. are very

diverse she is has adapted a stereotypical but genuine interpretation of an Angeleno. She admits

that she surfs and that she leaves her door unlocked which were things she originally thought she

would never do. She hated the stereotypical aspects of Los Angeles such as the beaches and was

afraid of the crime but she has drastically changed. Before she felt as if she did not belong in the

city but after the events that changed her identity she now considers the city of Los Angeles her

true home. Los Angeles is where life is being lived most vigorously in this country It gives

me a life in interesting times (Lewis 10). One of the things Lewis wanted but didn't know she

wanted was a life in interesting times. Los Angeles provided her aplenty with events that made

the city unique. She is now drawn to the city wanting to know what happens next in it but also

willing to stay in it through any and all circumstances.

Overall, Judith Lewis story illustrates not only how she came to live in another city but

how she became the new person she is today. Lewis underwent a massive change to her identity

because of her experiences in Los Angeles through events that brought her closer to the people of

the city. Before moving to the city Lewis greatly disliked the city and did not want anything to

do with it. But after events such as the 1992 riots and the Northridge earthquake, Lewis bonded

with her fellow Angelenos in a sense of community. These events gave her a new perspective on
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the city and made her life more engrossing for her. All the events that happened in Los Angeles

affected her identity and changed her into the person she has now become. Los Angeles has

become her true home and has truly given her a life in interesting times.
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Works Cited

Lewis, Judith. Interesting Times. Another City, edited by David. L. Ulin, City Light Books,

2001, pp. 5-10. Accessed 17 Nov. 2017.

Taylor, Alan. The Northridge Earthquake: 20 Years Ago Today The Atlantic, 17 Jan. 2014.

Accessed 21 Nov. 2017.

Wilson, Stan. Rodney King Beatings and Riots. Youtube, uploaded by taritrott, 6 Mar. 2011,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWhYmb1sANM. Accessed 23 Nov. 2017.