vitriol1

So I'm making an attempt at writing a novel set in Detroit. Because I haven't owned a television for a few years, I was blissfully unaware of the film 8 Mile until someone here mentioned it in their journal (of course the next time I was out shopping, there were $6.99 soundtracks in the checkout aisle). When I caught a brief synopsis of the film on IMDB, my heart lurched, and believe me that doesn't happen very often.

I'm pretty upset about the fact that I have to go see a movie with Eminem in it. While his appears to be a "coming of age" story and mine is about black-block radicals as seen through the eyes of marxist junkie strippers, I don't ever want to have to worry about coming off as derivative of something so large in popular consciousness right now.

However, there is one fortunate side-effect. With <i>Detroit</i> front and center for the moment, research gets quite a bit easier.

Last year, working the show at DEMF, I had a couple of conversations with a photographer who was into "hacking buildings" as he called it. His hobby was breaking into abandoned Detroit buildings and exploring them, sometimes shooting pictures. I based a character loosely on him, and some of my characters are squatting in an as yet undetermined downtown high rise. I found this site attached to a story about 8 Mile at another board I often read:

http://www.detroityes.com/

While I don't have the time to drive to Detroit to scout for myself, I have all the information I need!