Popular Culture Review Vol. 11, No. 1, February 2000 | Page 72

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Popular Culture Review

out of their grasp; hence the lure of Vegas casinos and easy money. O f course, this
is not entirely true; perhaps more than in any other Western nation, hard work is
still often rewarded with financial success in America. But this is not an oft promoted
reality in Las Vegas.
Even more so than in the Jazz Age, today’s media culture is unprecedentedly
youth driven. Accordingly, the images with which we are inundated are young and
gorgeous. Also, these youthful figures are shown to be the possessors of seemingly
unlimited supplies of liquid capital. O f course, the pairing of youth with money is
not even remotely realistic. Although th