As I write this at 5 pm, it appears that the two teenage Canadian murderers on the lam have been found, or at least their bodies. No doubt done in by the flies, which can drive a person completely insane within minutes. I am hardly qualified to get inside the head of someone who wilfully murders without motive, but killing strangers has always been a rare thing. Like child abuse, it is usually done by someone who knows the victim. There are very few random murders of strangers in Detroit, but there are plenty of murders. Sometimes crossfire will kill an unintended victim, too. Having been to Detroit hundreds of times, though mostly in better areas, we haven't even seen a gun yet. Odds are we won't, but one never knows. America is one of the more dangerous countries on the planet. The price of freedom? It is a rather high price.
Trump has split the US politically more than anyone else in my lifetime. So have guns. And so Brexit has split the UK more than any other event in my lifetime. The world seems to be heading for an either/or showdown, which will result in more violence, more protests, and more damage to human relations. This is not a world that is ready for any sort of peace. And so it is a world that will never be able to agree on methods to control climate change, or stem the flow of greenhouse gasses. And some people wonder why we did not wish to have children. This crisis of humanity has been a long time in the making. I see no hope for a solution. As one country enables a liberal and Earth-loving leader, another one enables a right wing denier. This is not balance, but catastrophe. Deb and I should be able to live out our days on the planet, but adaptations are already required. How many people/countries will be able to adapt? We watch our Detroit River and surrounding Great Lakes at record high levels, with flooding a daily event. Our backyard creek, which is supposed to flow into the major river, cannot. Instead, the Detroit River now flows into our backyard.
As Kurosawa notes, in his weird, epic film "Dodes'ka-den" (the sound of a trolley moving along the tracks), poverty will never go away, and will only increase. Climate change and violence always hit the lowest income earners the hardest, as they have less leeway and wiggle room than anyone else. As a result, they are in the line of fire more often than anyone else.
Kurosawa's first colour film is from 1970, and he uses colour in unique ways. The film would have been too unrelentingly depressing in black and white, though perhaps some scenes would have worked better this way. A small village built upon a landfill on the outside of the world, it would seem, is inhabited by a collection of rough living people living around a fresh water tap. Shelters are made from old gasoline tins, a car, and scrap of all kinds. The film is episodic, and examines several lives a bit at a time. I have seen the film before, but remembered almost nothing about it, which is rather strange. It is a memorable film, firstly for its use of colour, and secondly for its unrelenting look at the lowest class of humanity, those just barely able to scrounge a life from their surroundings. Of course watching a depressing film makes one reflect on any manner of depressing events going on around the world at the time, so forgive me my first few paragraphs of this blog. Of course everything will work out okay. Brexit will be wonderful, as will another four years of Trump, and an upcoming Conservative government in Canada. At least two murderers have been brought to a form of justice.
Dodes'ka-den.
In other cheerful news, typical of Detroit, the largest downtown skyscraper project has suddenly been greatly reduced in scope. From 912 feet, it is now way, way down. No one yet knows how low, but I'm guessing that leasing hasn't gone well. Oh well--I always said that I wouldn't care about any new buildings downtown, as long as the major existing skyscrapers were fixed up and occupied. At least that part has come true. And downtown has never been more lively or beautiful since we moved here in 1976, so I am not going to complain about the height of a new scyscraper being reduced. Detroit day was moved till tomorrow. Looking forward to it, as usual.
Mapman Mike
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