How do You Feel about the "Chiraq" Movie? (Chicago: theatre, costs)

[linicx]

Martin O'Malley Governor of Maryland (2007-2015) and Mayor of Baltimore (1999-2007) made a comment that when he became Mayor of the City of Baltimore it was the worst in the country for guns and violent crime. He said *in the year before* the killing of Freddie Gray, and the subsequent eruption of violence in the city, the number of violent deaths in the city had had been reduced to a*total of 38 victims.

[NOLA101]

Originally Posted by Ace Rothstein

There are definitely some right wingers on some political boards that I post on who think all of Chicago is the wild west.

Also, Detroit is pretty damn close to being uniform in regards to crime and socioeconomics.

I doubt right wingers are that stupid. They may be dumb, but I think my dogs would get that a city of 3 million would have some inherent variability.

And, no Detroit is not even close to being uniform in regards to crime and socioeconomics. It's just like Chicago and every other major city. Violent crime is heavily concentrated in a few areas, and there are parts of the city that are wealthy and extremely safe.

[Avondalist]

Originally Posted by NOLA101

And, no Detroit is not even close to being uniform in regards to crime and socioeconomics. It's just like Chicago and every other major city. Violent crime is heavily concentrated in a few areas, and there are parts of the city that are wealthy and extremely safe.

Detroit may be like Chicago and every other major city using the vague terms you have used to describe it, but it is unlike many other major cities in that large swathes of it are uninhabited grassland, reclaimed from extreme urban decay.

I see this line of thinking bandied about here quite frequently, that "Chicago (Detroit, Baltimore, etc.) is just like any other city, with good and bad parts." That's vague enough to be true and also vague enough to be meaningless. On measures like violence, income inequality, housing affordability, school quality, and political corruption Chicago is below average if not near the bottom of the heap. That's why "Chiraq" is set here and not, say, San Diego, Boston, or San Francisco (cities which are nicer than Chicago along many dimensions.)

There are other things Chicago is very good at, to be sure. The city wouldn't be standing today if the negatives so outweighed the positives. However, especially with respect to violence, many people in this city have their heads in the sand and equivocate about Chicago's violence problem and other cities' violence problems. We do have statistics such as murders per capita that allow us to be more specific than saying, "all cities have problems," when in fact Chicago has a bigger problem than most.

[Gemini1963]

Here is a link (I hope) to today's Tribune article that also has a link to the official trailer for Chi-Raq.
A first-look at the trailer for Spike Lee's 'Chi-Raq' - Chicago Tribune

[personone]

^ABC 7 also posted a clip on the reaction to the trailer, along with the official Chiraq trailer.

Spike Lee's 'Chi-Raq' trailer released | abc7chicago.com

[quigboto]

Originally Posted by bahiabrazil

I just wanted to know peoples opinions on the Chiraq movie in the works. For one, I am strongly against the movie. I feel like it will portray the city as even more of a bad place than it is. On top of that its going to be in MOVIE THEATERS around the country!!!!!!!!! I don't want others that haven't been here to see our city in that way. Why is it that African Americans like to take part in movies like this? Spike Lee isn't even from Chicago. He should go back to Atlanta and make a similar movie to embarrass the locals there. Im sorry if im not making sense but this movie really makes me cringe.

I won't know how I feel about it until I actually see it.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by personone

Yeah, but "Do the right thing" doesn't associate NYC with the title of the film. A person would have to watch the film to see that it's about NYC, and the movie was more about racial tensions in the neighborhoods. "Chiraq" is equating Chicago with a war zone, and the name itself is obvious and a reminder to the public about Chicago violence.

There are two Chicagos - the Emerald City where the majority of you live, and the rest. Why are you uncomfortable with someone shedding light on what everyone else around here seems very comfortable ignoring - apparently until it might make them look bad anyway.

[18th&BlueIsland]

From the trailer it appears it may have some comedic value, but by and large it just looks really, really dumb. I've lost a lot of respect I once had for Spike Lee.

[PerseusVeil]

Originally Posted by 18th&BlueIsland

From the trailer it appears it may have some comedic value, but by and large it just looks really, really dumb. I've lost a lot of respect I once had for Spike Lee.

It's based on Lysistrata, an Athenian comedy from 411 BC. Once I heard that, I knew it wasn't going to be terribly hard hitting.

[via chicago]

It was never intended to be a documentary