I was born and raised in L.A. I didn’t understand what an unusual place it is until I left for a while and lived somewhere else, Europe mostly. Then I saw L.A. as the ever-transforming landscape, the end of America both geographically and metaphorically, and a psychological blank slate that lends itself to whatever people can imagine — which is why it’s a perfect place to make movies.
“A single rose, a gorgeous sunset, the intricate design of what had previously been an “ugly” insect—I cannot guess what she saw, but she saw. And in excitement and rapture, she cried out to her mate (whatever form of “marriage” they had in those days) “Oh, look at this, look!” and he looked and he saw. And beauty was created in a world that had been flat and dead and meaningless until that moment.“
Robert Anton Wilson