Detropia

I haven't seen a sadder film in quite a while than Detropia, by documentarians Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady. With Detroit now in bankruptcy, I moved it up my Netflix queue.

I spent my formative years in a suburb of Detroit, Dearborn. I only went into Detroit for Tiger games, and even then, in the '70s, the city was not in great shape. From 1930, when it was the fastest growing city in the world, it has lost half of its population. The waning of industry in the country, especially concerning the automobile business, has led to unemployment and the city becoming a ghost of its former self. There are over 10,000 abandoned homes and vacant lots. Some think the land should be turned over to farming.

Ewing and Grady do not have narration, instead focusing on some Detroit citizens, such as the president of a UAW local and a lounge owner who is hoping that a plant will be used to make the new electric car, the Volt. A blogger, Crystal Starr, is followed as she makes her way through abandoned buildings. A young pair of artists have moved into the city, amazed by the cheap prices. But I wonder if they are dismayed by the lack of services, such as street lights or a police department that averages a response time of over 50 minutes to emergencies.

This makes for some sincere melancholy, but I would have liked more nuts and bolts. Instead, the film is like a collage of images and sounds. Just why is Detroit worse off than other industrial cities, like Pittsburgh? Nothing is mentioned of the incompetence and corruption of the local government over many years.

Still, Detropia can't help but strike a nerve, as what happened to Detroit could happen to other cities, and highlights the problem with capitalism--it exploits the weak. The lounge owner visits an auto show, and sees that the Chinese are making an electric car that costs half of what the Volt does. He is not encouraged, and sees the auto companies as continuing to keep their heads in the sand.