Tom Vanderbilt on being a carless loser

Tom Vanderbilt looks at Hollywood's portrayal of non-drivers, concluding that they are generally shown as misfits, deviants, or losers. He wonders whether this is because these films are produced in the epicenter of American car culture--where no one could ever conceive of civilized transportation as anything other than driving--or whether it is a product of what John Urry terms "automobility"--the pervasiveness and constant reinforcement of the car in all aspects of life. He does note, however, that this attitude towards non-drivers may be changing, as portrayed in the recent (500) Days of Summer.

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