Chicago’s always seemed the tougher street-smart little brother to New York. Like all little brothers this ones always vying to be number one (in size, economically, or even in measurement [think Sears Tower]). Located in Illinois it never had the advantage of being neither the immigration epicenter nor a major export hub that’s vital for any large city, Chicago’s had to work for its status. The Fugitive and High Fidelity present two very different views of Chicago. The main characters represent different economic classes but illustrate the spread of working class, and that's Chicago's place, representing the working class.
The Fugitive’s main character of Dr. Richard Kimble represents the more affluent side of Chicago, but while living in luxury, he doesn’t get a mcmansion the style of L.A. The rich houses of Chicago are stacked together like any suburb row. The middle class demographic is represented in High Fidelity. However, John Cusack’s character of a record store owner Rob lives in an apartment that even he refers to as “dump." (Apparently Rob lives in the same apartment as Sandra Bullock [While You Were Sleeping]) The higher cost of living it seems to homogenize the class levels into living in basic similar ways, meaning there isn’t as great a contrast in lifestyles as in some cities (e.g. L.A.).
The unemployment rate in Chicago fluctuates greatly but it has the benefit of a balanced economy. With the diversification of the workforce Chicago will always have a base sufficient level of jobs, and enough jobs to maintain different economic levels (unlike say Detroit). High Fidelity’s story revolves around this privately-owned record store that shows the “mom and pop” shop still exists but through the main characters words (“maybe I should close down and just manage a Virgin mega store”) we know that private business is still under threat of being taken over by big business.
The characters in these movies work constantly. Harrison Ford’s character of Richard Kimble never stops working, even while he’s on the run from the police. Before becoming the aforementioned Fugitive we see that he can’t go home to an evening with his wife after a work banquet, instead he gets called into work for the duration of the evening and that it’s not uncommon. John Cusack’s Rob the record store owner works every day. Near the end of the film he realizes that he needs to work more to break free of his rut in life. These are people who work for everything they have, and they work hard.
Regardless of the fact that Chicago is one of the richest cities in the world it is never been glamorized as such. I have yet to see a film about the richest family in Chicago, and it makes sense, after all if I were rich I’d be in New York or California. California has its slackers, New York has its playboys (or girls), and Chicago has a workforce.
