Mrs Tom Hanks likely to film HBO series based on Eugenides novel in the D

**FlyingJ** · July-09-09, 02:04 AM

http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/d..._out_of_d.html

**davewindsor** · July-09-09, 09:41 AM

Originally Posted by FlyingJ

http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/d..._out_of_d.html

I don't like it. Michigan shouldn't be funding it with tax credits. It's another fictional TV series that's associating Detroit with crime and its negative elements, at least that's what I'm reading from the plot. Reminds me of Butterfly Effect Revelations which associated serial killing with downtown Detroit. That movie really helped our tourist industry. Why is it that when Hollywood wants to do a movie or show about crime, Detroit gets chosen, yet when the movie or show is about living in a vibrant business city or people seeking romance it takes place in New York or Chicago? The latter is what these film tax credits should be used for. There should be some restriction on what kinds of movies get these tax credits

**Supersport** · July-09-09, 09:44 AM

Why is it that when Hollywood wants to do a movie or show about crime, Detroit gets chosen, yet when the movie or show is about living in a vibrant business city or people seeking romance it takes place in New York or Chicago?

Uhhhh....because Detroit often leads the country in crime, and New York and Chicago are vibrant business cities where people seek romance. DUH!

EastSider · July-09-09, 09:55 AM

Originally Posted by davewindsor

I don't like it. Michigan shouldn't be funding it with tax credits. It's another fictional TV series that's associating Detroit with crime and its negative elements, at least that's what I'm reading from the plot. Reminds me of Butterfly Effect Revelations which associated serial killing with downtown Detroit. That movie really helped our tourist industry. Why is it that when Hollywood wants to do a movie or show about crime, Detroit gets chosen, yet when the movie or show is about living in a vibrant business city or people seeking romance it takes place in New York or Chicago? The latter is what these film tax credits should be used for. There should be some restriction on what kinds of movies get these tax credits

The funding for these movies does not come from the state; the studios and production companies front the money.

Under your delusion, which person would be The Film Monitor? Would this fictitious nanny have sole and binding authority or would the companies have the ability to appeal the decision? How would the standards be set, exactly? Would a legislative act be required, or would the tastes of the bureaucrat suffice for you? What if my standards differ from yours or the bureaucrat's? What if the person deciding what gets produced here is Terry Rakolta? Would you still support the idea?

**davewindsor** · July-09-09, 10:19 AM

Originally Posted by Supersport

Uhhhh....because Detroit often leads the country in crime, and New York and Chicago are vibrant business cities where people seek romance. DUH!

You're not getting it. Why would a business want to set up in a city with bad associations? Companies like Coca Cola, Pepsi and Nike spend billions associating sports celebrities with their product so people buy their product. If it didn't make a difference, why would they be spendings billions? Positive associations sell cities. You want a computer software firm, head office or some other company to buy into setting up shop in downtown Detroit when the media associates all these negative associations with the city? Doesn't happen. Companies are not going to set up shop in a city that continues to have a lot of negative associations associated with it. Not saying ban movie productions, just regulate who gets the credits that's all, DUH!

**tetsua** · July-09-09, 10:34 AM

Why is it that when Hollywood wants to do a movie or show about crime, Detroit gets chosen, yet when the movie or show is about living in a vibrant business city or people seeking romance it takes place in New York or Chicago?

The 3 cities you named are ALL branded in one way or another. Unfortunately, and understandably Detroit isn't seen in positive side of the spectrum. People associate Chicago, and Manhattan as bustling, and success.

**bailey** · July-09-09, 10:39 AM

If it didn't make a difference, why would they be spendings billions? Positive associations sell cities. You want a computer software firm, head office or some other company to buy into setting up shop in downtown Detroit when the media associates all these negative associations with the city? Doesn't happen. Companies are not going to set up shop in a city that continues to have a lot of negative associations associated with it. Not saying ban movie productions, just regulate who gets the credits that's all, DUH!

Ok, where is every Law&Order variant set? Where is Southland set? Where was the Departed set? Where was The Wire set? Is there a CSI Detroit? I mean in the grand scheme of things, the vast majority of cop drama/crime shows and movies are not set in Detroit. However, no one is NOT going to NYC, or LA or Boston, Miami because they saw a show or movie about murders or crime or corruption or collapsing school systems. They are going to those cities because in spite of being large cities with huge problems, they also function as livable and enjoyable places and vibrant places. Detroit does not and has not for what...thirty years? Detroit needs to figure out how to function as city before it will attract anyone's imagination like the Chicagos, NYCs, or Bostons do. worrying about what sort of movies get shot here is pretty low on the priorities list.

**EastsideAl** · July-09-09, 11:19 AM

And of course there is the little matter that Jeffery Eugenides is from the Detroit area, and the novel [[the Pulitzer Prize winner in 2003, by the way) is set here.

Much better in my view that they actually shoot it here than try to have Toronto or Vancouver "stand in" for Detroit, as they have in many other movies and shows, which will look fake and generic, and will take away money we could be getting here. Anyway, do you really think that people around the country will suddenly start thinking of Detroit as vibrant, economically healthy, and crime-free if no movies or TV with crime in them are made here?

**jcole** · July-09-09, 11:22 AM

Companies like Coca Cola, Pepsi and Nike spend billions associating sports celebrities with their product so people buy their product

Atlanta, GA is in the top 20 most dangerous cities in the U.S. for 2008.

EastSider · July-09-09, 01:44 PM

Originally Posted by davewindsor

You're not getting it. Why would a business want to set up in a city with bad associations? Companies like Coca Cola, Pepsi and Nike spend billions associating sports celebrities with their product so people buy their product. If it didn't make a difference, why would they be spendings billions? Positive associations sell cities. You want a computer software firm, head office or some other company to buy into setting up shop in downtown Detroit when the media associates all these negative associations with the city? Doesn't happen. Companies are not going to set up shop in a city that continues to have a lot of negative associations associated with it. Not saying ban movie productions, just regulate who gets the credits that's all, DUH!

No, you're not getting it. There is no company in the world that makes it location decisions based on television shows and movies! I take that back...there might be one, but it'll go bankrupt soon so it doesn't count.

Companies make their decisions based upon data, and the data for Detroit shows it sliding into third-world status.

**RO_Resident** · July-09-09, 02:59 PM

Originally Posted by davewindsor

I don't like it. Michigan shouldn't be funding it with tax credits. It's another fictional TV series that's associating Detroit with crime and its negative elements, at least that's what I'm reading from the plot. Reminds me of Butterfly Effect Revelations which associated serial killing with downtown Detroit. That movie really helped our tourist industry. Why is it that when Hollywood wants to do a movie or show about crime, Detroit gets chosen, yet when the movie or show is about living in a vibrant business city or people seeking romance it takes place in New York or Chicago? The latter is what these film tax credits should be used for. There should be some restriction on what kinds of movies get these tax credits

I take it you haven't read the book. What better place to film the series than the place where the book was [[mostly) set?

**Mackinaw** · July-09-09, 08:54 PM

yeah, like Bailey said, it's mostly other 'great' cities getting the shows about crimes. i don't think the D is getting picked on.

It would be great if a book which really features Detroit prominently is made into film/show that covers the same terrain. There are even a handful of really quirky houses on Middlesex in Grosse Pointe Park that they could use to fit the bill perfectly. This should be cool.

**WolverinesA2** · July-09-09, 11:50 PM

Originally Posted by davewindsor

Why is it that when Hollywood wants to do a movie or show about crime, Detroit gets chosen

What?

This is completely untrue. Very few movies and television shows are set in Detroit, period. I'd say that New York City has the most crime shows and movies [[NYPD Blue, all of the Law & Orders, CSI: NY, the Godfather movies, etc).

**Gistok** · July-10-09, 01:15 AM

... all ad hominem temper tantrums aside...

If the film is ABOUT Detroit, then it might as well be filmed here. What's the point of filming it elsewhere if they mention that it IS Detroit.

**KarmicCurse** · July-10-09, 01:17 AM

For those unfamiliar with the Pulitzer winning novel Middlesex you get both the best and the worst of Detroit. We are introduced to Detroit in the 1920s when immigrants come to work for Ford, and to the the dubious employment practices of the time. We live through the prosperity of Detroit and into the riots of the 60s and then onto suburbia in the 80s. So it's honest and well balanced having been written by a native.

It's a wonderful story about a hermaphrodite trying to accept himself with the immigrant experience portrayed over two generations. We see the family and Detroit develop. Very well written but it takes a little open-mindedness and empathy to accept the characters.

**davewindsor** · July-10-09, 07:43 AM

Originally Posted by xstigmatax

Yet another example of how ignorant some of the people on this board can really be. Anyone with even a shred of common sense knows people don't make decisions such as where to open a business or visit based on a TV series. I mean seriously are some people's heads stuck so far up their ass that they really believe this is how people make decisions? News Flash, everybody knows Detroit is a dying and run down city, they don't need TV shows or movies to help them know this.

Thankfully people like this are a very small percentage of the population on the outer fringe of society which outside the internet are either not taken seriously or flat out ignored.

In that case, I think you have your head pretty far up your ass. So far, you can't even understand anything anymore. Media image is what determines the future of cities. Like I said before, it's all about associations. You can literally erase the past with good PR and media imagine and create a new future and environment. It's not based on a conscious common sense level. It's based on a deeper subconscious level. Like the poster above said about Atlanta, Georgia, being one of the most dangerous cities, yet it's known as one of the ten best cities to set up shop. I've never been to Atlanta myself, but I never thought of it as the most dangerous and probably wouldn't unless I really started researching it. I've been to different parts of LA and some areas I'd never go back to. Yet, the image is of a great city by most because they focus a lot more on the positives. Chicago and NY also has their bad areas, yet they focus on the positives and it's known as a vibrant business city. NY had riots in the sixties. 70s they had some of the highest vacancy and crime rates in the US. Yet, they changed their image and the people came back and thought differently about it.. Detroit can do the same thing by improving their image, yet there's a majority like you who still believe it's not possible and prefer to accept the status quo. I hope you feel proud for settling for this crap.

**davewindsor** · July-10-09, 08:30 AM

Originally Posted by KarmicCurse

For those unfamiliar with the Pulitzer winning novel Middlesex you get both the best and the worst of Detroit. We are introduced to Detroit in the 1920s when immigrants come to work for Ford, and to the the dubious employment practices of the time. We live through the prosperity of Detroit and into the riots of the 60s and then onto suburbia in the 80s. So it's honest and well balanced having been written by a native.

It's a wonderful story about a hermaphrodite trying to accept himself with the immigrant experience portrayed over two generations. We see the family and Detroit develop. Very well written but it takes a little open-mindedness and empathy to accept the characters.

I googled the summary and it sounds like the worst of Detroit and it's a fictional novel. I'd never buy this book. What's the criteria for even getting a pulitzer these days? A sister and brother from Greece have an ongoing love affair. Is this supposed to be a true romance story? The sister marries a Detroiter named Jim to enter the country. Later, the sister becomes pregnant and Jim realizes that a love affair was going on and this is the brother's offspring and he leaves. The offspring becomes a hermaphrodite. Last time I checked, incest was illegal so this a great association with Detroit. Then this family gets involved in running an illegal gambling house because people who in live Detroit can't find honest work--they have to get involved with the mafia. Oh and let's not forget the priest who tries to extort $25,000 from this family from confidential information and next thing you know the member who pays the $25,000 gets killed. And it goes on and on. The lifestyle of criminals. They use negative controversy and associate it with Detroit. The writer basically sold the city out for personal gain. A great association with improving the image of Detroit.

**jcole** · July-10-09, 08:47 AM

Do you honestly think that people who read this book went 'Wow, if that's what the citizens of Detroit are like, I'd better stay away from there"? If they did, they are the same people that read the Harry Potter books and thought that people in London were witches and worship the devil.
If your theory of TV shows influencing business as to where to locate, then the demons and witches of 'Charmed' must have caused a mass exodus out of San Francisco, people must be afraid to walk the streets of Las Vegas after dark lest they end up on the slab at the CSI headquarters, and Tony Soprano and crew must be the only ones left in Jersey.

EastSider · July-10-09, 09:05 AM

Originally Posted by davewindsor

In that case, I think you have your head pretty far up your ass. So far, you can't even understand anything anymore. Media image is what determines the future of cities. Like I said before, it's all about associations. You can literally erase the past with good PR and media imagine and create a new future and environment. It's not based on a conscious common sense level. It's based on a deeper subconscious level. Like the poster above said about Atlanta, Georgia, being one of the most dangerous cities, yet it's known as one of the ten best cities to set up shop. I've never been to Atlanta myself, but I never thought of it as the most dangerous and probably wouldn't unless I really started researching it. I've been to different parts of LA and some areas I'd never go back to. Yet, the image is of a great city by most because they focus a lot more on the positives. Chicago and NY also has their bad areas, yet they focus on the positives and it's known as a vibrant business city. NY had riots in the sixties. 70s they had some of the highest vacancy and crime rates in the US. Yet, they changed their image and the people came back and thought differently about it.. Detroit can do the same thing by improving their image, yet there's a majority like you who still believe it's not possible and prefer to accept the status quo. I hope you feel proud for settling for this crap.

New York did not just "change their image." They did the hard work of actually IMPROVING THE CITY, something which Detroit has not been able to do for 2 generations. [[As an aside, based on the bumper crop of boobs running for council, the next 4 years doesn't look good, either.)

New York didn't resort to lying about their crime numbers to lower their rate. They were able to actually reduce crime. Imagine that.

Those other cities may have an easier time "focusing on the positives" because they have more positives upon which to focus. Sure, you can make any city "look like Detroit" if you take away the groundfloor retail, population, employment, clean streets, and the rest but that's exactly the point. Those other cities have those things to take away.

**bailey** · July-10-09, 09:37 AM

And it goes on and on. The lifestyle of criminals. They use negative controversy and associate it with Detroit. The writer basically sold the city out for personal gain. A great association with improving the image of Detroit.

dave you are either commenting sardonically; or so obtuse, further conversation on this subject is pointless. In either case, I wonder why you have no concern over the 'trashing' Grosse Pointe gets in this book? For that matter, why no concern over Grosse Pointe Blank? or the Virgin Suicides [[an earlier work by the same author that was also set in GP). Why do you hate Grosse Pointe?

**cloud_wall** · July-10-09, 09:49 AM

Dave, you're crazy. Or maybe you're messing with us. Baltimore gets all the best violent crime shows. I wouldn't know much about that city if it weren't for classics like Homicide and The Wire and now I visit semi regularly. Those shows depict a complicated, beautiful city, and that's what they've got. Every town has crime. Back when Detroit was a good crime town and not a failed business town, it had a lot more going for it. Better jokes, too.

Plus, Eugenides gives the city major cultural cred, which is good. This is a good thing all the way around. Not every television show or movie set in the area has to be a long version of a Pure Michigan ad.

**aoife** · July-10-09, 11:25 AM

Originally Posted by davewindsor

I googled the summary and it sounds like the worst of Detroit and it's a fictional novel. I'd never buy this book. What's the criteria for even getting a pulitzer these days? A sister and brother from Greece have an ongoing love affair. Is this supposed to be a true romance story? The sister marries a Detroiter named Jim to enter the country. Later, the sister becomes pregnant and Jim realizes that a love affair was going on and this is the brother's offspring and he leaves. The offspring becomes a hermaphrodite. Last time I checked, incest was illegal so this a great association with Detroit. Then this family gets involved in running an illegal gambling house because people who in live Detroit can't find honest work--they have to get involved with the mafia. Oh and let's not forget the priest who tries to extort $25,000 from this family from confidential information and next thing you know the member who pays the $25,000 gets killed. And it goes on and on. The lifestyle of criminals. They use negative controversy and associate it with Detroit. The writer basically sold the city out for personal gain. A great association with improving the image of Detroit.

Wow- do you base all you life decisions on Google? Your ignorance is absolutely stunning- you have not read the book, nor do you know the writer, yet you feel justified in trashing him, his work, and plot lines you scanned off of the internet. FYI, it is not the plot that counts [[unless all you read are Hardy Boys novels), but how the material is handled. That is why he won a Pulitzer. And got a Gugenheim. And works as a Professor at Princeton. But I guess Google knows better.

It is a gorgeously written book, written by an author who treats his hometown with respect. I would love to see them film it here- so much of the book takes place in the days when Detroit was vibrant [[1920s-1960s). Who would not want to see that put on the screen?

**hybridy** · July-10-09, 01:06 PM

^^^^^ditto to aoife-dave your ignorance is nothing short of stunning-Eugenides is freakin genius

also try reading the virgin suicides-made into a movie-mostly set in grosse point but filmed in cali-directed by sofia coppola

**FlyingJ** · July-10-09, 01:34 PM

"Virgin Suicides" was filmed in a far-off land called Ontario. The only Detroit project to ever make me angry was "Polish Wedding"[[never saw that WDIV thing), pointless to add I was able to do something about it

**RO_Resident** · July-10-09, 04:51 PM

Originally Posted by davewindsor

I googled the summary and it sounds like the worst of Detroit and it's a fictional novel. I'd never buy this book. What's the criteria for even getting a pulitzer these days? A sister and brother from Greece have an ongoing love affair. Is this supposed to be a true romance story? The sister marries a Detroiter named Jim to enter the country. Later, the sister becomes pregnant and Jim realizes that a love affair was going on and this is the brother's offspring and he leaves. The offspring becomes a hermaphrodite. Last time I checked, incest was illegal so this a great association with Detroit. Then this family gets involved in running an illegal gambling house because people who in live Detroit can't find honest work--they have to get involved with the mafia. Oh and let's not forget the priest who tries to extort $25,000 from this family from confidential information and next thing you know the member who pays the $25,000 gets killed. And it goes on and on. The lifestyle of criminals. They use negative controversy and associate it with Detroit. The writer basically sold the city out for personal gain. A great association with improving the image of Detroit.

Yep. I can't disagree with any of the points. They are all in the book.

Sort of like 'Romeo and Juliet' just being about an underage girl marrying a man from a rival family that ends in suicide. Or 'Casablanca' just being about a shady bar owner who peddling stolen travel documents while trying to carry on an affair with a married woman.

I guess it is all in the delivery.