Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Flint, Meet Los Angeles

Spot photography
Grey L.A. courtesy of Spot.

"Nostalgia is a byproduct of action and memory. It doesn't have to exist but culture tends to impose a 'longing for times gone by' and 'the other side is always greener' mentality on perception. It's very marketable and does a great job of spinning history into easily digestible hot dogmas and popsicle politics. It's why America has such a fascination with the Wild West and a 'rugged individualism' that maybe never existed. We've all pined for living in a time we were never part of."
Spot



1 comment:

  1. There are a lot of misconceptions about the past, but there's also a lot of misinformation about the present and future as well. If you ask someone what growing up in the eighties was like, they'll tell you that everyone was prosperous and that kids wore brand-name acid-wash jeans while they watched their MTV. Having been there, I can tell you that I wore a lot of thrift-store clothing and spent a bunch of time helping my Dad cut, split, and stack wood for heat. And, cable wasn't even available in our area let alone trying to get my old man to pay for it. Now, I have to sit and listen to how horrible everyone's lives are while they're staring at their eight-hundred dollar cell-phones.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.