ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Brightlyme i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

Whitech It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Anthony Ochoa Anthony Ochoa Professor Ivis Zambrana UPP101 TR 23 October 2013 Project 2In Detropia, Directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady take a look at the fall of the once prosperous Detroit and more generally speaking the United States. Detropia is a combination of the words Detroit and either utopia or dystopia. Their main arguments or points conveyed throughout the film are the apathy of foreign manufacturers, the decline of manufacturing plants in the past few decades in the United States , and that the accustomed standard of living is closing the gap between wealthy and poor in America. They present these arguments through the stories of various community members who are affected by the loss of population in Detroit and provide social commentary. I would have leaned towards more statistics or studies to make the arguments seem more objective or balance out the subjective-ness of the community members' stories. Detropia uses vivid imagery, humanized effects of the decay, and allusions to the possible future for the rest of the United States.Detropia opens up with a contrast of opera music against the unmaintained Detroit streets leading into the demolition of homes and observations by Video Blogger Crystal Starr. Crystal Starr is a Detroiter who looks for stories and beauty within the abandoned and wrecked buildings. She and a couple other Detroiters offer personal insight and reminiscence in coupling with the heavy use of imagery and statistics. The imagery in Detropia is so vivid and devoid of human presence that the sense of abandonment becomes very apparent to the viewer and contrasts the traditional use of the video medium. The use of audio is limited to the use of contrast against Detroit's prosperous past and for the use of the continued sense of loneliness throughout the documentary. The majority of the quotes are presented in text across the screen to further limit the use of audio. If background music is present it is from the eras prior to the decline and is accompanied by people's fond memories of prosperity. Other background audio is usually somewhat soft and eerie with the sounds of the dying city. The persistent imagery is often heavy with visual juxtaposition such as the beautiful view from an abandoned or vandalized buildings.While Detropia's vivid imagery is lacking in human presence, it places emphasis on the use of a few chosen community members to humanize the decline of Detroit. Along with aforementioned Crystal Starr the other prominent speaking community members are George McGregor and Tommy Stephans whose titles are Local 22: United Auto Workers Union President and owner of the local business The Raven Lounge, respectively. George McGregor is introduced by announcing the latest proposition from an auto manufacturer to the union members, who consider the pay cut proposition an insult. After their refusal of the proposition, the plant was closed and the manufacturing jobs outsourced to Mexico. George McGregor speaks about how the country is losing manufacturing jobs to foreign markets and how there is a growing absence of American-made products. Tommy Stephans speaks about how Detroit is an example of how when jobs are lost, people leave in pursuit of work, which further hurts the businesses by loss of customers. He also speaks about the Americans' choice to choose comparable foreign products at a cheaper price and how it hurts the global economy by supporting foreign markets and their workers.George McGregor and Tommy Stephans speak about the negative effects of outsourcing jobs and buying foreign products. In line with what they have said, it is reasonable to assume and partially alluded to by the directors, America is following suit with Detroit by our continued choices to value competitively priced foreign products over the positive effects of buying American-made products. It is a well known issue in the automotive industry and is showing specifically in Detroit's automotive based economy. If more American jobs and products are given or lost to foreign markets for cheaper production, those American workers will lose their jobs and we will see similar situations to Detroit. Capitalism is the economic system that drives American businesses to compete in order to offer the best product at the lowest price. After WWII, we had spread American ideals and systems, such as Capitalism, to foreign countries. This created competitors in the global markets as we consolidated our emerging industries. Then, we began to move away from manufacturing as labor laws prevented US manufacturers from producing cheaper than foreign manufacturers where different or no labor laws exist. As the director alluded to in the case of the automotive plant in Detroit, Americans have become accustomed to a certain standard of living. The American automotive employees were struggling, refused to be paid less, and were laid off as their jobs were outsourced to Mexico. As shown in the automotive show, the worst part of the cycle of destruction we are enabling is that we further support it, whether through ignorance, apathy, or financial priorities.Overall, Detropia uses vivid imagery, humanized effects of the decay, and allusions to the possible future for the rest of the United States. It is a powerful documentary that outlines the variety of issues that caused the decline of Detroit and is currently harming the USA. Works Cited 1. Detropia. Dir. Heidi E. Ewing. Perf. George McGregor. New Video, 2012. Film.

topidea "Detropia" is a voyeuristic snapshot of Detroit as it is today but offers little insight into how things got so bad so fast. Its creators, like most of America, seem to accept Detroit's condition as the inevitable result of auto companies migrating out of the city. They entirely miss the point that citizens of Detroit have made poor decisions that CAUSED the auto companies, as well as most of the hard-working population and the good teachers, to abandon the town.What everyone misses is that Detroit's decline began at the height of the U.S. auto boom, when everyone was doing so well here that they thought they could afford to give everything to everyone and it would last forever. Some landmarks: -- The big 3 agree to strike demands that are obviously unsustainable including pensions, wages and even a guarantee that workers will get full salaries when they're laid off!-- The white majority, wishing to be "progressive", elects the first black mayoral candidate that comes along...never mind that he's not qualified, hates white people and is blatantly corrupt (Colman Young)-- The same white liberals move out of the city, taking their limousines with them-- Detroit enacts a City Income Tax, driving the remaining productive people and businesses out of town. This money is supposed to be for education but ends up in the pockets of school administration, union leaders and mayoral appointees-- The (now) black majority continues to re-elect Coleman Young for 20 years because he promises freebies for all-- Like a vulture sweeping in for the remains, Quame Kilpatrick gets elected mayor and sucks up every dime left in the Detroit treasuryThese are all DECISIONS made by Detroit voters (white and black) that have brought the city to its knees.The directors of Detropia similarly avoid suggesting any CURES for the city. They blame the suburbs for not supporting Detroit when, in fact, surrounding counties have voted many tax millages upon themselves to fund the Detroit Zoo, the Detroit Institute of Arts, etc. In fact, the city has been largely supported by its suburbs and the state and federal governments for many, many years.The appointment of a Financial Manager by the state was an absolute necessity (no one WANTED it). After 50 years of waste and corruption, someone had to become the adult in the room. One of Detropia's directors(dreamily) said on CSPAN this morning: "It does no good to look at the past, we must look forward." (GAG!) I offer this quote: "He who does not learn from the past is doomed to repeat it".

ultradave-1 This movie is phenomenal for all the wrong reasons. Upon watching this film, I found myself laughing at idiocracy of the residents. They constantly miss the point. The UAW bosses, workers, the citizens of Detroit, and the mayor they elect are just classic showings of people who simply do not understand. The opening scene of the movie sums it up. They won't close the plant down on us, we need to be paid a fair living wage above $13.00 an hour. The basic understanding of supply and demand economics are simply lost, and that is what truly makes the film great. I am sure the director did not intentionally do this, but it becomes clear immediately the disconnect. $13 an hour in Detroit is a living wage. Compare that to China for $2-$3 an hour, the Chinese will soon be able to demand $9 an hour, which will make you middle-class to upper middle-class in China. The citizens do not understand they are the ones driving away the jobs. GM needs to make profit, and they haven't in years. Even now, as they are doing a little better, we all know it is just another recession, another crappy brown sedan, before they are bankrupt once again. The best part of was the mayor, as he was watching his redistricting plan, and then denied any tax incentives or tax cuts as a way to stimulate job growth. The citizens simply demand things, and then blame it on everyone but themselves. The best part was when one of the citizens in the film begged for more government services, not realizing that in order to provide those services they need revenue.This film is hilarious to anyone that knows the basic fundamentals of the economy. "Please, please don't take our transportation away". Sums up their just misunderstanding for the basics of business. This movie is able to highlight this on all levels, and is only for the truly intellectual to come to that conclusion. Everyone else will continue the tradition of mediocrity. Don't expect a statement from the film either way, all it takes is common sense.

David Ferguson Greetings again from the darkness. Admittedly, I am tough on documentaries. My expectations are quite high. Reason being, documentary filmmakers need not be burdened with fluffy entertainment requirements. Instead, they can tell a story, debate an issue, or expose a wrong. Wasted opportunities annoy me.Have you heard anything about the economic hardships in the city of Detroit? Of course you have. It's been a story for more than two decades. So a documentary "exposing" the hardships in Detroit should at least offer a different perspective, debate options, or discuss the challenges of progress. Otherwise, it's a wasted opportunity, which is what we have here.The film is beautifully photographed and very well put together. It's just missing a reason to exist. It's a clump of different pieces that don't fit and provide little insight. We get a clueless local union president who is clinging to the past and offering no help to his constituents. We get some obscure video blogger whose main credentials seem to be that she lives in Detroit and has her own camera. We get a couple of guys sitting on a front porch making fun of any efforts by local officials to develop solutions.There seems to have been a very narrow focus on choosing who to interview. At least Tommy Stevens, a local bar owner, is an interesting guy to follow around. He holds out hope that GM will open a Chevy Volt plant and spur business at his club, so he can re-hire his cook. His hopes are dashed when he attends a local auto show and finds out that China has an electric car that at a significantly lower price than Chevy. He recalls the days that stubborn US automakers refused to acknowledge upstart Honda in the US.We are offered brief glimpses into some type of town hall meeting and the absolute rejection by the union of the "last" offer from American Axle. We are shown a few clips from inside the Detroit Opera, which the Big 3 automakers continue to finance. Lastly, we are introduced to a couple of young artists, who are part of a growing trend of relocations to inner city Detroit to take advantage of the low rents and low housing costs.All of the above are interesting enough, but again, it's been two decades and we only get one angry lady spouting off about Mayor Dave Bing's seemingly appropriately creative idea of consolidating the outlying areas into a smaller geographic area, so the city can provide services for its citizens and start the process of healing and growing.There seem to be two real issues worth analyzing. First is the unwillingness of so many to accept that change has already occurred ... so fighting change is a lost cause. Your city is broke. No need to make things worse. Secondly, looking into the true cause of the downturn could lead to interesting discussions of greed. Corporate greed as well as the greed of the people. The Chinese can make a car (and TV's, washing machines, etc) so much cheaper because they are not holding on to our standard of living. Detroit has been called the birthplace of the middle class, but just what is that definition today? These are some of the discussions that need to be had. Just one more look at houses being torn down and empty hotels ... all with the shiny GM towers in the background ... is just a re-hash of what we already know. So yes, the wasted opportunity has me annoyed.