Director Dave Sawle with DP Aaron Meister
While NEVER ENOUGH: Sex, Money, and Parking Garages in San Francisco presents a farcical take on today’s society, there are some underlying themes:
Conspicuous consumption society. The movie attempts to capture the current pre-occupation with wealth and status. Peter C. Why brow, MD.s “American Mania - When more is Not Enough” which discusses these issues, emphasizing the root causes rather than the effects, truly influenced the themes of the film. An article in the New York Times, “A New Measure of Well Being from a Happy Little Kingdom”, shows data indicating the populace of Latin countries are happier than those of other countries even though the GNP per person is much lower. Louisa, Junior’s fiancé exemplifies this study.
Measure of Happiness.
How do we measure the quality of ones life? Can we measure the level of a person’s happiness?
P.J. and Sylvia may believe themselves to be a happy couple; yet, they continue to want more and more affluence. “Never Enough: Sex, Money and Parking Garages in San Francisco” questions whether or not continually striving for the American Dream can bring one even greater joy in life, simply from owning more ‘
It seems a number of economists, social scientists and corporate leaders are exploring the question as well. Two recent studies reveal different answers. The study compiled buy Adrian White, The World Happiness Map, shows the 10 happiest countries being European countries. The second study, compiled by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) in association with Friends of the Earth Happiness index, shows the top country is Vanuatu (an island nation in the Pacific), but the list is dominated by smaller Latin American countries (2). Both are based on various combinations of self-reported happiness combined with a variety of other indicators.
Never Enough: Sex, Money, and Parking Garages in San Francisco explores the possibility of what can happen while pursuing the American Dream at all costs.
The power of jealousy. We show variations of the different types of jealousy couples can experience in relationships. For one, Sylvia is extremely jealous of PJ’s inherited wealth, even though it benefits her too. Also, PJ interrogates Sylvia about her affair disregarding his own discretions. The conversations and actions that occur due to this jealousy reveals not only the power of jealousy, but our own lack of discretion when prompted by jealousy.
Could psychosomatic illnesses be real? How could it happen and how it might be overcome, or even cultivated through the character of Sylvia. Still, the issue of an “illness of an unknown origin” is controversial and not all doctors agree that it actually exist. The extent of Sylvia’s illness is extreme, but there is plenty of research and belief in the feelings of a person affecting their health. Many doctors blame stress for many American chronic illnesses and the situations leading to that stress; lack of sleep, working too many hours without a break, and lack of personal relationships.
Need for control. Many people feel a strong need for control, often because of insecurity. Sylvia is our example of this. When one does not have control over their own life it can manifest itself as control over others in an attempt to control ourselves. People with eating disorders feel they cannot control their lives and so try to control their physical appearance or eating habits.