Review of Murder City Documentary
This documentary was very interesting to watch. One thing off the bat that someone can notice is that is was a low budget film, but it had an interesting message that came with it. This message was that Detroit was and still is a great city even though violence consumes it. This violence doesn't mean that all people who live their are bad and or violent, but that circumstances out of their control led them to the violence desperate self they turn into. Another message that the film gave at the very end, I mean the very end, was to stop the violence. What ties these two messages were the people of Detroit and the people who were brave enough to come forward with their personal stories to tell us why they ended up who they are now, i.e. criminals, addicts, etc., and what led them and their city to this point.
Now these two messages were interesting. I agree that Detroit was once a great place and that not all people from and live in Detroit are violent or criminals. But what I don't get is the last message of "stop the violence." I mean I really didn't get that message from the movie at all. The movie showed the history of Detroit and it's crime and how Detroit came to be what it is like today. The other message I did understand because you can actual listen to Detroiters talk about their life and criminal backgrounds and what it was like to live during the riots and drug gangs. I could especially understand the message when that last guy did his interview about his friend from his childhood shooting him and how because of that he carries a gun everywhere. That interview put the message across that people in Detroit can not be criminals at all but are just scared of those who are and need/want protection. This man's claim and others in the film I find believable because who would want to make this stuff up and by just going and looking around in Detroit it is hard not to believe their claims of crime and violence.
Okay, going on about the actually filmaking. As I said before one could tell this was a low budget movie with no professional editors or other crew members. The sound for the interviews were not the greatest because sometimes you couldn't hear what they were saying and the subtitles that said the names of the interviewees could not be seen since they blended into the background (white on white). What was cool was learning about the history of the "murder city" and actually hearing interviews from people who experienced these events and met the criminals in question. But what didn't work was that most of the time you couldn't understand what the interviewers were saying because it sounded like they were speaking another language, so maybe get people who can be understood or use subtitles. Also, somethings that the interviews talked about were totally random. I mean that guy talking about raping in prison showers was kind of topic and just something I could have gone without hearing. But overall this film was interesting, eye-opening and informative.
So this film did have and touch on major points that are relatetable to larger historical and cultural issues. One is race and ethnicity and this film touched of African Americans in general with crimes statistics and also with immigrants leading mobs and being involved in crimes too. Another issue was class. The film stated that class, particularly those in the lower class mostly live in Detroit and are the leaders in crime going-ons in the city. With gender it also states that males are more likely than females to participate in criminal activities. Education was a very interesting topic because a person not from Detroit had the chance to see what the Detroit schools are like, which is a very eye-opening experience. I am personally terrified to going to school in Detroit after hearing that kids carry guns, get beat up and robbed. If anyone needs help and to be protected it's the youth in the Detroit schools. Another topic was the American Dream, which the film showed that Detroit was the American Dream for a lot of African Americans who came here to live during a time of racial inequality. And finally it talked about the Great Migration and Suburbanization which led to the decline of Detroit. The Great Migration happened in two waves. The first was waves and waves of African Americans moving here from the South and from other places around the country. The second was people migrating to the suburbs. This migration is call Suburbanization because waves of people, mostly white, migrated to the suburbs around Detroit.
One last thing I wanted to talk about was the interviewees themselves. I want to know want happened to them today. I also want to see the places that the documentary mentioned to in order to see if the places are still in runes or if they have been fixed up. I don't know how we can check-up on that people, but maybe during a future field trip we can visit the places the movie mentioned.
So that's all I have to see about this documentary and I hope that other people have the chance to see this as well.
Now these two messages were interesting. I agree that Detroit was once a great place and that not all people from and live in Detroit are violent or criminals. But what I don't get is the last message of "stop the violence." I mean I really didn't get that message from the movie at all. The movie showed the history of Detroit and it's crime and how Detroit came to be what it is like today. The other message I did understand because you can actual listen to Detroiters talk about their life and criminal backgrounds and what it was like to live during the riots and drug gangs. I could especially understand the message when that last guy did his interview about his friend from his childhood shooting him and how because of that he carries a gun everywhere. That interview put the message across that people in Detroit can not be criminals at all but are just scared of those who are and need/want protection. This man's claim and others in the film I find believable because who would want to make this stuff up and by just going and looking around in Detroit it is hard not to believe their claims of crime and violence.
Okay, going on about the actually filmaking. As I said before one could tell this was a low budget movie with no professional editors or other crew members. The sound for the interviews were not the greatest because sometimes you couldn't hear what they were saying and the subtitles that said the names of the interviewees could not be seen since they blended into the background (white on white). What was cool was learning about the history of the "murder city" and actually hearing interviews from people who experienced these events and met the criminals in question. But what didn't work was that most of the time you couldn't understand what the interviewers were saying because it sounded like they were speaking another language, so maybe get people who can be understood or use subtitles. Also, somethings that the interviews talked about were totally random. I mean that guy talking about raping in prison showers was kind of topic and just something I could have gone without hearing. But overall this film was interesting, eye-opening and informative.
So this film did have and touch on major points that are relatetable to larger historical and cultural issues. One is race and ethnicity and this film touched of African Americans in general with crimes statistics and also with immigrants leading mobs and being involved in crimes too. Another issue was class. The film stated that class, particularly those in the lower class mostly live in Detroit and are the leaders in crime going-ons in the city. With gender it also states that males are more likely than females to participate in criminal activities. Education was a very interesting topic because a person not from Detroit had the chance to see what the Detroit schools are like, which is a very eye-opening experience. I am personally terrified to going to school in Detroit after hearing that kids carry guns, get beat up and robbed. If anyone needs help and to be protected it's the youth in the Detroit schools. Another topic was the American Dream, which the film showed that Detroit was the American Dream for a lot of African Americans who came here to live during a time of racial inequality. And finally it talked about the Great Migration and Suburbanization which led to the decline of Detroit. The Great Migration happened in two waves. The first was waves and waves of African Americans moving here from the South and from other places around the country. The second was people migrating to the suburbs. This migration is call Suburbanization because waves of people, mostly white, migrated to the suburbs around Detroit.
One last thing I wanted to talk about was the interviewees themselves. I want to know want happened to them today. I also want to see the places that the documentary mentioned to in order to see if the places are still in runes or if they have been fixed up. I don't know how we can check-up on that people, but maybe during a future field trip we can visit the places the movie mentioned.
So that's all I have to see about this documentary and I hope that other people have the chance to see this as well.