Life As A House

            I have chosen the movie, "Life as a House," to illustrate three of the housing theories we have discussed in class. "Life as a House," is a story about a man named, George, who works at an architecture firm, making models. He lived in the house he was raised in, for awhile. Then he tore it down and moved into the garage, while planning to rebuild on the property. He has lived in this condition for twenty-five years, failing to ever rebuild. The garage became his home, but George let it deteriorate, along with his quality of life. Meanwhile, a nice neighborhood has built up around George's home, and George is the neighborhood nuisance. The ironic thing, I noticed, was that his little shack happened to be sitting on prime real estate. His neighborhood is right on the coast, and his shack is on the edge if a cliff overlooking a panoramic view of the ocean. George's ex-wife lives across town with her wealthy husband, their two children, and George's son Sam. Sam is a troubled teenager, whose once strong connection with George (his father), is non-existent. In the beginning, all of the characters seem cold and distant towards one another. But, once George loses his job, and is diagnosed with terminal cancer, his life long dream of rebuilding brings all the characters together.
             "Life as a House," illustrates Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs in several ways. In the beginning, George's home barely met the basic physiological needs. The garage did provide a roof over his head, but there weren't any amenities under his roof. In the mourning he"d wake up, walk outside, and relieve himself over the cliff behind the garage. He took his showers outside, behind a curtain he had rigged up. This, of course, bothered the neighbors, who were constantly calling the police on him. George wouldn't score highly on the sociological need either. He lived alone, and even if someone wanted to visit, they wouldn't because of his living condition.