In the ‘80s, any teen worth their hairspray-encrusted hair knew about Tiffany, the pop tart who spawned such totally awesome singles as "I Think We're Alone Now" and "Could've Been." Sigh. I loved those songs.
If you were a true aficionado, you also knew that Tiffany rose to fame by performing at American malls with the cumbersomely named The Beautiful You: Celebrating The Good Life Shopping Mall Tour '87.
Then, malls were emblematic of carefully marketed prosperity, retail run amok in the form of acid-washed jeans and jelly shoes. And they were chockablock with teens seeking to express their individualism – by buying mass-produced products just like everyone else. (Including me. Ah, the folly of youth.)
And, as the documentary Malls R Us points out, during their height of popularity in the ‘70s and ‘80s, a new mall opened in the U.S. every three or four days. By 2005, 20,000 malls sprawled across the States.
But now, shopping centres in North America are in danger of extinction – driven to the brink by the slumping economy, discount stores, factory outlets and open-air plazas.
Malls R Us examines the institution’s architectural, cultural, economical, environmental and political evolution, travelling across the world. It even zips to just outside Montreal, where Rubin Stahl, the former president of the humungoid West Edmonton Mall, is planning an eco-friendly complex that’s 14 million square feet.
The doc posits that as malls fade in North America, they’re booming in emerging economies – but they may end up doing more harm than good. In fact, there’s a whole segment on the world's first anti-mall riot, which rocked India in 2006 when small businesses were threatened.
Filmmaker Helene Klodawsky also examines the mall zombie stereotype – that frequenters are mindless consumerist vessels – with super-fun footage of George A. Romero’s 1978 film Dawn of the Dead. (Though I’d have loved a mention of Kevin Smith's 1995 slacker flick Mallrats, too.)
Featuring interviews with über-archetects, founders of the website deadmalls.com and even a religion professor who claims malls are similar in structure and effect to churches, Malls R Us exposes the buildings that have come to represent community, idealism and profit-making.
It’s must-see viewing for Tiffany-era teens, pop culture enthusiasts or anyone who likes to while away the time window-shopping and daydreaming of a Paris Hilton-sized disposable income. Like me. I could’ve been an heiress, and yes, it could’ve been so beautiful.
Malls R Us airs Thursday, Aug. 20, at 8 p.m. on CBC’s Doc Zone
melissa@tvguide.ca
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