ABSTRACT
When Vivian Sobchack focused one section of her essay “Cities on the Edge of Time: The Urban Science Fiction Film” on Alex Cox’s irony-laden, darkly comedic depiction of Los Angeles in Repo Man, she conjured a claustrophobic Edge City entirely composed of margins, littered with refuse, and schizophrenic with spatial discontinuities. The points of view—characters huddling in cars, mostly—cause a state of visual/temporal flux, she avers. Though music is integral to constructing the film’s meaning, her depiction ignores the soundtrack, “a vital part... that helps convey [unruly protagonist] Otto’s culture,” Cox argued. By featuring Fear and the Circle Jerks, plus punk forefather Iggy Pop, the “hardcore” template exudes a sense of Los Angeles’ sociocultural frictions and underscores the shifting psyche of Otto. Moreover, the soundtrack highlights the urban milieu’s subcultures, advances thematic elements, and embodies the barbed satire, making the music crucial to the cinematic experience.
