In high school, I was smitten with the teachers who loved to complain. They’d go on tirades about having to attend faculty meetings when all they really wanted to do was hibernate in their living rooms after school. They’d complain about the small budgets for our school’s arts programs (and rightfully so). Sometimes they’d even complain about what was on the cafeteria’s menu for lunch. I loved it. Finally! Adults voicing their honest opinions about the way the world works! This was relief at a Catholic high school where we were taught to “see God’s light” in this world and nothing else! I myself loved to complain about things and having someone to look up to in this interest of mine was refreshing. Although I aim to find some kind of light during this pandemic, I still like to complain—it comforts me, okay? And now I have the bright and fascinating Fran Lebowitz to look up to.
Fran Lebowitz is a writer who hasn’t published anything in over three decades thanks to a bad case of writer’s block and is now known for her speaking appearances. All she has to do is open her mouth and audiences are mesmerized. In the Scorsese-directed Netflix special Pretend It’s a City, Fran gives her two cents on everything from books and Times Square to the Kardashians and smartphones. It’s a show for every generation to enjoy—you’re not necessarily invited to join in on the conversations, but I think you’ll just be interested in listening anyway.
It’s hard for someone whose career is synonymous with New York to make a series about themselves and not have it feel like an ode to the city. Lebowitz’s career took off when she published Metropolitan Life in 1978—comedic essays about city life, and that’s also one way to sum up her new Netflix series. Pretend It’s a City is not just for born-and-bred New Yorkers—Lebowitz herself is from New Jersey. But if you do happen to love New York, you’ll enjoy the shots of Lebowitz waiting to cross the street, looking miserable in Times Square, and asking the guy at the Strand kiosk, “Do you people buy books here?” (She finishes with, “Do you think it’s fair to bring a book into Times Square? It’s not fair to the books.”) In other shots Fran towers above a miniature model of the city at the Queens Museum, reminiscing on her first years in Manhattan, where she lived in the West Village for cheap and drove a taxi to support herself. Clips from her past talks have found their way into the program as well. She has spoken on shows and panels with Alec Baldwin, Spike Lee and Toni Morrison, and so many more great names. The addition of these clips prove that Fran doesn’t put up a front for Netflix.
Her takes are witty and petty, but it’s just what I’ve been in the mood as of late. Finally! An honest and unafraid adult! Fran and her opinions remind me that the world is not always going to be all sunshine and rainbows; tourists will always be annoying, the Kardashians will never not be making a buck, and Times Square exists. Lebowitz defends herself when Spike Lee tries to convince her that sports are important. “Believe me when I tell you I hate sports,” she says. And when Scorsese asks her about her guilty pleasures she responds, “Pleasure never makes me feel guilty.”
This Netflix special is an endearing ode to the city that New York was and will always be—one of surprise and predictability and opportunity and threat. It was filmed before the pandemic so perhaps the shots of Lebowitz on stage in a crowded theater are what made me come back to the show. Lebowitz is a master when it comes to commentary, and she never bored me with her delivery. Whether you’re in New York or not, this show will allow you to pretend we’re back in a time when the biggest inconvenience was getting stuck behind a tourist on a Manhattan sidewalk. As Fran would put it, the nerve of those people!