Now that our main industry is on death's doorstep, the world's media has taken a keen interest in our decline. The Free Press links to ten examples of the booming genre. I'd call the Weekly Standard's piece the most demeaning, but our own Mitch Albom (must we claim him?) didn't do us any favors either when he penned a sob/survival story for Sports Illustrated. Many have commended him -- D-Tales calls it the best story ever on Detroit -- but I'm with Model D on this one. We're not just martyrs braving our bad luck, and there's much more to this city than poverty and blight. It's time to shut up about Hudson's and start talking about the future -- or even just the present.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I understand where Model D and yourself are coming from, I do, but none the less it frustrates me. Albom wrote an honest accurate article about Detroit and the people who live here in a time where everyone seems to be laughing. Sure he didn't paint a rosy picture of all the development in the D, he painted the current character of Detroit and it's citizens. A working class city who never seem to give up, hence the incessant "and yet."
Mitch projects the character of Detroit that isn't present anywhere else in America. That is important. You could say hey look at this development, we have some really cool places springing up here. We have good restaurants. But nobody is going to say oh, I didn't know that, wow. They are going to say, so what, Chicago has 1000's of restaurants, 1000s of great hangouts, thousands of new businesses. Mitch spoke to a specific demographic, the sports fan, in a way that inspired respect. He compared Detroit to other cities in a way none other could compare, and he did it well, evoking emotion and resilience. Again, Detroit has some great stuff, and it will show, in due time. But we need to be like Dumars and Barry, respectful and persistent, a silent unprecedented drive, don't start shouting, look at me, we arn't Dallas.
I think you win this one. I'm not a big fan of Mitch Albom period, but he did a good job defending our honor on the national stage. I'll credit him that.
Post a Comment