Crespo 1 Anthony Crespo Tupelo Hassman English 2 April 3, 2012 The Fifth Season in California

California is well-known for being the wildfire capital of the world. The constant hot temperatures, use of machinery, camp fires, and even arson are many of the reasons why the Santa Ana winds blowing from the east spread the conflagration at alarming rates throughout large verdurous areas of California. Residents and observers see California wildfires in two different ways: A natural yearly process where firefighters anticipate the paths and power of these fires; similar to tracking the patterns of the also-famous California earthquakes. On the other hand, the frightening images of brush fires portrayed in the media have people describing them as apocalyptic, life-threatening, and terrifying. Joan Didions essay Fire Season and Bad Religions song Los Angeles is Burning illustrate the causes and repercussions of wildfires in Southern California. Fire Season is more of a factual discourse that includes statistics and explanations of how fire-fighters detect and contain wildfires while Los Angeles is Burning is an anthem to how the broadcasting of wildfires bring panic to everyone that experience and see the terrifying infernos. Despite their factual and metaphorical differences in their respective medias, Didion and Bad Religion both intend to point out how fire-fighters, victims, and spectators of the wildfires cope with the distress of dealing with the disaster.

Crespo 2 The language in Fire Season and Los Angeles is Burning are notably contrasting. Didions approach is academic and uses assuring language to inform her readers that firefighters and residents know the terminology (controlled, contained, burn index, etc.) and evacuation processes during wildfires. Early in her essay, Didion comfortably claims that there is nothing unusual about fires in Los Angeles (Didion 504). Her title Fire Season even suggests that it is a common term used to describe the routine procedure. In addition, she does not point any fingers or criticize the firefighters or the media for not being able to reduce the risk of wildfires or take advantage of a tragedy that usually receives a lot of media coverage. Los Angeles is Burning uses an alarming tone in the lyrics to show the panic the people of Los Angeles suffer when media outlets broadcast scary images of the wildfires. Part of the chorus that exclaims Even the stars are ill at ease deduces that even famous celebrities (and Bad Religion themselves) grow uncomfortable when wildfires start growing throughout the star-filled city. It can be argued that Bad Religion is saying that Los Angeles is burning rather than was, were, or is done burning in their title and lyrics because of the constant reoccurrence of the wildfires and the medias exploitation of the scary images. This song is clearly exclusive to the media of Los Angeles (and even around the world) that broadcast the news of wildfires in California. Lyrics like Catch it on prime time, story at nine and The flames are stunning, The cameras running show that the media does not hesitate in covering frightening stories of the wildfires in order to receive higher ratings and get more money. The surprisingly upbeat melody and rhythm can reflect the medias excitement when they are able to cover the stories surrounding the wildfires.

Crespo 3 Even though Fire Season gives more details in how wildfires start and how they are compressed, Los Angeles is Burning uses many more metaphors to illustrate discomfort and worry to the audience. Some lyrics like palm trees are candles in the murder wind and Jacaranda boughs are bending in the haze give a slightly more detailed description of how people see the actual burning during the wildfires. Didion does not use such metaphors or abuse frightening images in her essay because she does not intend to scare her audience or make them panic when a wildfire happens around the homes of the readers. She even seems tranquil when talking about her daughters evacuation plans at the kindergarten she attends. When a wildfire occurs and gets worse, the last-ditch site was a naval air station at Point Mugu, twenty miles up the coast (Didion 509). The California-born Didion and Los Angeles-based punk band Bad Religion express the opposing viewpoints that they experience when they are in wildfire-ridden California. Didion demonstrates the cool and calm Californian that changes the channel when they see stories about the wildfires on the news and go about their business. Bad Religion illustrate how the media drools over broadcasting stories of the wildfires and how people in neighboring states and other countries watch these stories and feel sorry for the Californians that have to deal with the ashy air and forty-foot flames. When the fires are severe, neighboring states would sometimes end up sending help by letting California borrow their firefighters and helicopters. Bad Religion may make wildfires seem scary and alarming, but Didion calmly assures people who are not familiar with wildfires that they are just like any other natural occurrences (earthquakes, storms, etc.) and can be handled in a timely manner and without anyone in danger of losing their life.

Crespo 4 Works Cited Didion, Joan. "Fire Season." Writing Los Angeles: A Literary Anthology. New York: Library of America, 2002. 503-09. Print. "LOS ANGELES IS BURNING LYRICS." Web. 03 Apr. 2012. <http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Los-Angeles-Is-Burning-lyrics-BadReligion/BD94509E0C21749748256E6E000E4C91>.