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Paige Solomon

Professor Batty

English 101

29 May 2018

The Beverly Hills Illusion

Looking around Beverly Hills, what does one see? Cars that cost more than the average

home, purses with the price tag of college tuition, and countless people that look like they could

grace the cover of any magazine. What tourists might fail to see is that this lavish way of living

is only enjoyed by a small minority of residents inhabiting Los Angeles. Although many people

think the Beverly Hills lifestyle to be the Los Angeles “standard”, I believe that, much like in the

film La La Land, Beverly Hills is a false depiction of the true culture of the city; this false

representation best exemplified by the culture of extreme wealth and abundance of cosmetic

surgery.

In the city of Beverly Hills, being wealthy isn’t just about the money, it is a form of

cultural capital that many of its inhabitants pass down from generation to generation as a means

of keeping the community exclusive. The term “cultural capital” was developed by the 20th-

century French sociologist Pierre Bordieu. Dr. Nicki Lisa Cole defines cultural capital as, “[…]

the accumulation of knowledge, behaviors, and skills that one can tap into to demonstrate one's

cultural competence, and thus one's social status or standing in society” (Cole). Social status is

something that is greatly determined by wealth in Beverly Hills, for example, the median annual

household income of residents in Beverly Hills is approximately $100,630 compared to the

median annual household income of the city of Los Angeles, $57,952 (United States Census).

When taking into account this disparity, it is evident that Beverly Hills is not an accurate
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representation of Greater Los Angeles. Due to the abundance of wealth in Beverly Hills relative

to the rest of the LA area, it is no wonder why people believe this privileged locale to be the

mecca for all things beautiful and extravagant. When traveling to so many communities of Los

Angeles, this socioeconomic disparity becomes evident. South LA, East LA, Skid Row—all of

these communities earn a fraction of Beverly Hills residents. In fact, approximately 37% of

Angeleno households have an income under $35,000 (SCAG). While $35,000 is by no means the

median for the county, the sheer number of Los Angeles residents in this income bracket, in the

very same county as Beverly Hills brings to light an important point. It is clear that the wealth

and prosperity enjoyed by the privileged few is not a representation of Los Angeles as a whole.

As I walked down Rodeo Drive the cultural capital of even the youngest residents is evident as

children under the age of 13 were carrying brand name purses such as Gucci, Prada, and Louis

Vuitton. They do not have jobs themselves, so it is obvious that these are all things they have

inherited from their family. Wanting to obtain a designer purse isn’t a desire you’re born with—

these urges are passed down from generation to generation. The department stores that line the

streets of Beverly Hills help to perpetuate this designer-centric fashion culture—Saks Fifth

Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Barney’s fill the blocks. This extravagant lifestyle flaunted by the

Beverly Hills elite is central to the city’s appeal. Due to television shows such as 90210 and The

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, people see this image of Beverly Hills as central to every

Angeleno’s experience. This simply isn’t the case. The city of Beverly Hills has a population of

less than 35,000—less than 1% of the population of Los Angeles County. Needless to say, it is

an incredibly inaccessible place to live.

Part of what makes Beverly Hills so isolated is the education system. This helps reinforce

the exclusivity of the community. Those lucky enough to be born into a family of wealth are
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given the opportunity of attending some of the best private schools in Los Angeles, which can

cost an upwards of $32,000 annually. Even those young residents who attend public school enjoy

the privilege of a school system separate from LAUSD. When applying to colleges, money is

rarely an issue, therefore, any school is within reason for attendance. With an education at these

high rated K-12 schools, Beverly Hills’ students are more likely to attend a more esteemed

university. With a good education comes an even better access to connections and eventually, a

better career. They then earn more money than a person who has not attended university or has

had to pay back hundreds of thousands in student loans. In turn, they send their children to

prestigious schools and the cultural capital continues to be passed down, enabling generation

after generation to live in luxury.

Walking down Rodeo Drive, the ubiquitous wealth of Beverly Hills is evident. The

streets are littered with cars ranging in the hundreds of thousands to the millions, the clothes and

accessories adorning the residents are lavish, and the contents of the stores are worth a fortune on

their own. It is no wonder many people believe that residents of Beverly Hills lead a life of

glamour. In the film La La Land, one of the main characters is unemployed and living in a

beautiful one-bedroom apartment with all the time in the world to pursue the dream of being a

musician. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles is over 2,000 dollars a

month, and that’s contingent on the area if the apartment has amenities if it is gated or not, and

various other factors. False representations push a false narrative for the majority of Angelenos,

just like the figures you see walking down the streets of Beverly Hills.

The city of Beverly Hills is quite small, about 5.7 square miles in size, but is home to at

least 72 plastic surgeons. That would be over 200 surgeons per 100,000 residents if the city were

bigger (Rizk). Due to this large number of cosmetic surgeons, many people hail Beverly Hills as
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the mecca of plastic and superficiality. When observing people in Beverly Hills, over 80% of the

women I saw appeared as though they had some form of cosmetic procedure done. Women who

appear to be in their later years had tight faces, large breasts, tiny waists, and an even a larger

rear-ends. Their desire to preserve their youth regardless of how clearly fake their procedures

might appear was apparent. In most of the United States, this appearance would be uncommon,

but not in Beverly Hills. I also observed much younger women appearing to be in their late teens

leaving the executive buildings of cosmetic doctors on Rodeo Drive, displaying the large age

range of people partaking in the culture of cosmetic surgery. This wide-ranging visibility of

cosmetic surgery not only promotes the idea that Beverly Hills is a place for the beautiful and

wealthy but reinforces the belief that the majority of Los Angeles and those living here mirror its

lifestyle.

Although it is commonplace to see cars that cost more than a house and older women

with large perky breasts roaming the streets of Beverly Hills, these are not proper representations

of Los Angeles as a whole. With the median annual income being double the county’s average,

this incredibly small city is home to some of the wealthiest families in the United States. It is

important to understand that Beverly Hills is but an ultra-privileged minority of Los Angeles that

is overrepresented in the media. It is an illusion—a metonym standing in for the rest of the city.
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Works Cited

Cole, Nicki Lisa. “All About Cultural Capital.” ThoughtCo, 6 Mar. 2017,

www.thoughtco.com/what-is-cultural-capital-do-i-have-it-3026374.

Rizk, Sam S. “Facial Plastic Surgery Blog.” Plastic Surgery Blog Plastic Cities Where Plastic

Surgery Is King Comments, 23 Jan. 2017,

www.drsamrizk.com/blog/uncategorized/plastic-cities-where-plastic-surgery-is-king.

Southern California Association of Governments, Profile of City of Los Angeles, May 2017,

https://www.scag.ca.gov/Documents/LosAngeles.pdf

United States Census, “QuickFacts” U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Beverly Hills City,

California, 2017,

www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/beverlyhillscitycalifornia/INC110216#viewtop

United States Census, “QuickFacts” U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Los Angeles County,

California, 2017,

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/losangelescountycalifornia/PST045216