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Megan Koscki

Professor Granillo

English 103

12 May 2019

Post #8 - Venice Beach

Introduction: ​You can walk on the hot sand, jump in the cold water, here the beat of the drums,

and see the creative art that fills Venice Beach, but just because you can doesn’t mean we all can.

The famous Venice beach, is a place full of creativity and ideas that you won’t find anywhere

else. People from all over the world come here, luckily if someone has a disability Venice is a

place that can welcome them from the accessibilities it has to offers to all people, not to say that

it comes easy. Understanding Venice Beach as a whole can be done through seeing how it is a

place of acceptance for people with disabilities and through Marxisms rugged individualism.

Even though some people find Venice to be a dirty and weird place, these negative views can be

set aside to see the true beauty that Venice has to offer from the people and culture it has for all

to enjoy.

Summary of public space: ​Venice Beach California is a place like no other. It’s a place that is

full of artistic inspiration and creativity that can’t found anywhere else. Founded in 1905 as a

beach resort town it was then known as “Venice of America.” What is now Santa Monica, was

originally the Kinney Pier being apart of the resort town and was well-known for being an

amusement park. This place became popular for tourists because it had so much to offer from the
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rides, aquarium, aerial stunts, etc. Though “Venice of America” flourished quickly to the public

as the government stepped away and lost its focus it became “Slum by the Sea.” Today though it

has turned around for the better as just being known as Venice Beach where you can find

shopping, muscle beach, a recreation center, bike trail, music, vendors, and so much more.

Venice has always been a unique place from the start, it will defleinty stay this way forever.

Critical Framework #1:​ Venice Beach is a place that welcomes and invites all people, no

matter who are, though the people that visit might not accept everyone who is there. This critical

side of Venice can be seen through analyzing critical disabilities through the eyes of the villian,

victim, and hero. While in Venice Beach the main focus can be found toward the hero as

mentioned in the article Media Smarts, “​The flip side of the victim stereotype is the hero, the

character who proves her worth by overcoming her disability.” This quote here can support

people with disabilities in Venice Beach by the way they themselves overcome their disability.

There are people in wheelchairs, blind, death, short stature, and other disabilities found across

Venice as they embrace their “struggles” as who they are in a place that encourages the wrongs.

This explains the hero side by having the victim, the one’s being looked down on, embrace who

they are on the streets of Venice. Now as the victim role is shown, “common stereotype of

persons with disabilities is the victim, a character who is presented as a helpless object of pity or

sympathy” (Media Smarts) Examines people in venice beach who can be seen as weird, weak, or

dirty because they choose to lay on the sidewalk as tourists walk by. Society gives this label to

the people that live here, brining a bad image to the true nature that is found in Venice. The
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people here with disabilities have a lot to offer to Venice by creating art that is unique and like

no other.

Critical Framework #2: ​Secondly, through Venice Beach a place of true creativity the

understanding of Marxism with rugged individualism can be seen. From critical theory today,

“gives us the illusion that we make our own decisions without being significantly influenced by

ideology of any sort” (Lois Tyson) This quote gives support to Venice beach because of all the

individuals you find here seeing that not a single one of them is the same. Rugged individualism

makes one step outside of the norms to focus on “me” rather than “us” also mentioned in the

book, explaining how these people don’t follow society's way of life. They have different ways

in which they eat, the way the dress, and communicate together that help form this place to be

how it is as a whole. Marxism with rugged individualism encourages the bettering of the self and

no better place to see the acceptance of difference than Venice Beach.

Evaluation:​ As one is in this environment it isn’t like walking into a dinner at the white house

where everything is perfect, not a thing is wrong, Venice is a space where things are acceptably

wrong. A place where every person is appreciated just a little more than usual, a space of safety

for who you are. Many people will despise this place seeing it as “dirty” or “crazy” because it is

a place that is full of art and love that really isn’t the normalcy of society and that is what brings

out the importance. The importance of Venice Beach is to embrace that people are different,

people have disabilities, people can be a “selfish” individual and be appreciated at the same time.

Venice helps explore beyond the normal of the world to bring out the creativity in all of us.