Chapter 4 - No Place to Call Home: Work and Home in Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch Drunk Love and Jason Reitman's Up in the Air

Summary

Introduction: The Unhomely Spaces of Home and Work

In 2006 Newfoundland and Labrador initiated a rebranding campaign that invited tourists to get off the beaten track and experience the province's rich history, culture and natural beauty. As an integral part of the campaign, the province released several slick and glossy commercials that conjoined images of the province's rugged beauty with wholesome images of family life. In one commercial, the historical legacy of the province's rural heartland is praised through a montage sequence, which takes the viewer through some of the province's oldest towns. Undoubtedly, one of the central messages of the commercial is the celebration of the province's historical roots (as each town is described, a caption appears that tells the viewer when the town was founded); equally important are the ways in which the commercial (and the entire campaign) dwells on the theme of home and family. As the voice-over narrator describes each town, a plethora of charming images of home are presented (kids frolicking outside, a stunning wedding, a father raising his newborn up into the air) that celebrate the purity of the rustic family, especially its role in creating the social bonds necessary for maintaining a healthy, authentic community. Indeed, as the commercial subsides, the voice-over narrator declares, “Where is this place exactly? It is about as far away from Disneyland as you can possibly get.”