Bikes on TV shows and the endless possibilities of cities

This post is by our “Gal by Bike” columnist Kate Laudermilk. She previously wrote about how she’s been influenced by Portland’s silly group rides.

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There’s something noteworthy going on in movies and television lately — especially those taking place in New York City. There’s a theme that, while seldom discussed, speaks volumes: Bikes.

They can be found lurking in frame after frame of shows like “Girls“, “Broad City”, and movies like “Francis Ha”. Much like the iconic bike next to Jerry Seinfeld’s bathroom or the cruiser tucked away in Carrie Bradshaw’s hallway — but in a new New York City — one built by Janette Sadik-Kahn.

A little while back, me and plenty of other Portlanders sat captivated in the Mission Theater listening to Sadik-Kahn talk about the strides New York City has taken to make the city more livable for all its inhabitants — no matter how they choose to get around. It got me to thinking about how much I’ve seen this livability portrayed in the media I’ve been consuming lately.

Now, sadly, I’ve never been to New York. I know, I know… unacceptable. But, never fear, because, through the magic of movies and television, I’ve spent countless hours there, and it’s magnificent.

I’ve power-walked through Central Park with Carrie and the gang as they excruciatingly picked apart their relationships. I hung on every word of Woody Allen’s love poem to New York, “Manhattan.” I grew up visiting the Huxtables’ iconic Brooklyn brownstone each and every week.  I was at the top of the Empire State Building cheering on the love of Walter and Jessica in “Sleepless in Seattle.” And, today, I watch as characters like Hannah Horvath, Ilana Glazer, and Abbi Jacobson make New York the glistening background for their youthful weed and feminism powered shenanigans.

Once merely a background prop, bikes have now become, at times, a strong supporting role — supporting the everyday adventures of everyday people. Understated and sometimes unrelated to the overall storyline yet entirely apropos all at once. Instead of Seinfeld’s bike hanging from the wall, the new cultural vanguards of New York are riding them. Even uncoordinated self-proclaimed couch potatoes like Girls’ Hannah Horvath have given bike riding a shot.

Season 5 of Girls is, in my humble opinion, pure gold. Love her or hate her, executive producer Lena Dunham has her pulse on everything relevant in today’s popular culture and showcases it beautifully on screen each week. While hardly ever glamorous, Dunham has a way of making living in a city look effortless. Unlike so many other shows before it, the character in Girls don’t spend too much time focusing on what they are materially lacking. They don’t have cars, fancy apartments, or high paying jobs, but they still manage to make their lives look completely and utterly alluring.

Several episodes over the course of five seasons have showcased bikes in some way.  While characters Ray and Adam always have a bike prominently parked on the wall stand in their living rooms they also sometimes go for a ride. In fact, Adam once accidentally flung Hannah off of the front of his bike where she was perching much like E.T. (I’m going to make a point to reference E.T in all of my posts) on the way to an impromptu scrapping mission.  What started off as fun quickly derailed and left Hannah screaming to get off of the bike and away from Adam — sending her flying like a rag doll into the air. Contrary to what you may think, I believe this scene was not designed to show how unsafe riding a bike can be. It was used to show that, good or bad, anything is possible on a bike.  Hannah was feeling adventurous and, for one of the first times in the series, traveled out into public with her kind of boyfriend, Adam.  This adventure was emphasized by the addition of the bike. The bike punctuated a growing experience and impending change in herself and, eventually, her relationship with Adam.  

Come season 5, a very evolved, but still slightly broken, Hannah stepped foot on a bike again and the outcome was vastly different.  After a very crappy couple of days, Hannah gets flagged down on the sidewalk by her frenemy, Tally (played by Jenny Slate). First of all, this scenario only works in a pedestrian/bike friendly city. If Tally had been in a car, she would have blasted right past Hannah and kept driving. Episode over.  The fact that Tally was on a bike plays a big role in how these two nemeses got stuck together for the remainder of the episode. Much like the interaction between Adam and Hannah so many seasons before, Tally uses bikes to connect with Hannah and encourage adventure. This time, instead of perching on Tally’s bike, Hannah acquires her own in the form of a unattended, unlocked bike, outside a pizza joint.  This is the point where I mention that stealing bikes is wrong and you shouldn’t do it — but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t make for good television.

With one weighted sentence, Tally convinces Hannah to snap out of her morosity and “ride into the future.” The moment Hannah stepped onto that bike, her entire demeanor changed.  A smile spread across her face, her hatred for Tally subsided, and they both became two powerful women riding through a powerful city. They journeyed over bridges, through streets with patient slow-moving cars, on protected bike lanes, and ending on pedestrian-filled sidewalks in Tally’s idyllic neighborhood. Did I mention that Vanity Fare’s “Hitchin’ a Ride” was playing in the background the whole time? It was perfection. I cried.

This thing, the bike, was the catalyst for Hannah coming to terms with who she is and where she is in her world. After her epic failure of a bike ride with Adam she came to the conclusion that their relationship may be more toxic than positive. After her escapade with Tally she realized that she doesn’t give herself enough credit for who she is. The ride gave her a confidence that she didn’t know she had in her. By the end of the episode she proclaims, in front of dozens of Moth Story Hour listeners, that, for the first time in a long time, she felt free. Slow clap for the power of bikes.

New York has always been portrayed as a city where all things are possible. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” as poet Emma Lazarus so beautifully exclaimed. But it wasn’t until I saw characters that live much like I do traipsing effortlessly through the most densely populated city in the United States that I truly believed in the endless possibilities of all cities.  Another poet once wrote, “like any great love it keeps you guessing.  Like any real love it’s ever changing. Like any true love it drives you crazy. But you know you wouldn’t change anything — welcome to New York.”  It’s with Taylor Swift’s wise words that I invite you open your mind to the possibility of more livable cities everywhere — on and off screen.

— Kate Laudermilk, @katelaudermilk

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