Blog Sixteen

1. The movie’s basic plot: The film Gia (1998) guides you through the tribulations and turmoil of its leading lady, Gia. She becomes a supermodel who finds herself struggling with failing relationships and her persistent battle with drug addiction. The film plays out like a biography/documentary with mock documentary clips that show interviews of the people who were in her life. After her long battle and vying for her life with drug addiction, she becomes diagnosed with AIDS and eventually dies after one last attempt to acquire her heroin.
2. How it relates or is situated in NYC: The film relates immensely to New York City because not only is it one of the fashion capitals of the world but because Gia is a top fashion supermodel which means she found herself in the city the majority of the time often doing photo shoots and runway shows. The movie situates itself in terms of the entire setting although some of it also takes place Philadelphia. The movie also relates to NYC in the sense of the entire city socially and economically.
3. How do we see NYC visually in the movie: We are shown a variety of shots that would typically range from the simplest of objects to the most prominent figure in the film. Outside shots were usually low or high angles of the fashion districts in the city such as 5th Avenue. The unimportant figures in the movie are either shown as lower class people or middle class. The important ones were shown in luxury due to their powerful position in the fashion industry such as Wilhemina Cooper, the founder of Cooper Models. Other top models were shown draped in the luxurious lifestyles of the rich and famous.
4. What does New York City look like in the movie: New York City is shown much of what it looks like today with the exclusion of some buildings and clubs along with just a bit of renovations. The lower part of the city, is shown in filth since it surrounds the junkies and homeless while the the middle part, is shown in a high manner since fashion and beauty surrounds this movie in almost every aspect.