Gentrification or the 167st steps
Preface: yes, the title is a play on “Salo or 120 days of Sodom”. This piece is about the intended and unintended impact of Hollywood and the film industry on gentrification. Are they a positive force or are they hurting our communities?
If you’re reading this then it means that you’re either a concerned Bronxite or buying into the Insta-moment created by the new “Joker” movie. Now, This isn’t a critique of the film itself or the story, rather it’s a mild look into how films can perpetuate gentrification and encourage outsiders to co-opt the local culture of communities at risk of displacement.
Some time ago Warner Bros. released the trailer for the Joker film and in it were the locally iconic “167 Stairs” as a backdrop for arguably the most memorable scene in the movie; you know, the scene where he’s dancing right on the stairs. There were some comments on the fact that the Bronx was chosen as the primary location to shoot this fictional story but the conversation quickly died down until its release a few weeks ago.
Since the film’s release and quick success, we’ve seen memes, fan art, and also, a sudden influx of people wandering onto those iconic stairs to take selfies and buy into the moment created by the film. Now, that’s more or less to be expected with any film that becomes a favorite, but it’s deeper than that. The iconic and local monument which we’ve always referred to as either “the steps” or “the 167 stairs” is being rebranded, or shall we say, named “the Joker stairs”. People are flooding the stairs to take selfies under #jokerstairs to the degree that it’s even discoverable on Google maps under that name. Yup, that’s a problem.
It’s a problem when a local monument is claimed by outsiders inspired by a 55-70 million dollar film and co-opted under a different name; It’s literally colonization. 167th street falls between the Concourse and High Bridge, communities that are currently seeing rampant changes because of their proximity to Manhattan. It’s an immigrant strong community where people are just trying to get by and now as a result of this film have one more thing to worry about.
It’s not a surprise or coincidence that a film of this magnitude would be released at a time when the community where the film was primarily produced is experiencing gentrification. Let’s dive a bit into that.
Films are a form of artistic expression and storytelling but we mustn’t forget, especially in the case of big studio productions, that they are also intellectual property and as such products of a business. Films require money to produce and a budget, and that all plays a huge role in how the story unfolds. There is the revenue from ticket sales but there is also the money that comes in from product placement. So no, it’s not a coincidence that a particular scene in a movie or Netflix series was shot in a particular location.
Sometimes, writers fuss about where the story needs to unfold but in the case of fictional works, it’s more of a feeling rather than a very specific location. These flexible parts of a screenplay are where product placement works best because it’s such subtle advertising that the story flows without people paying too much attention.
Now, let’s juxtapose it with the current situation here on 167th street. Would a real estate developer looking to fill vacancies at a new project not want to have a film shot near their development site? Is it not in their best interest to invest $10-$15 million dollars (as did Ford for 3 minutes in Casino Royale) to fill up vacancies in a community where people were previously too afraid to visit?
After all, if we follow real estate trends then any big firm would have purchased any building in that area for pennies on the dollar. So what’s 20-30 million dollars to have a gentrifying community placed as a backdrop for the beloved “JOKER”? especially when you’ve saved on real estate purchases and are benefiting from Opportunity Zone tax incentives. Nothing more than business as usual.
But, to us it’s much more; It means displacement and when you have movies and entertainment complicit in this, it hurts even more. When business is being conducted on the backend that involves us but doesn’t include us, it hurts even more. Business is business but when it involves communities at risk of displacement when there are no safety nets in place to prevent displacement, it’s a dirty business.
So, how can Hollywood and these big production flicks tell a story in a community at risk of displacement without the negatives? Some people would argue that they shouldn’t or can’t.
I’d offer this advice:
Create a fund that comes directly out of the ticket sale revenue to help these communities at risk.
Cast people from the community in the film and hire scouts that will be transparent with the community so that everyone has a fair shot of getting involved.
Stop taking money from real estate developers to shoot films in the communitites where they’re gentrifying.
I grew up on 170 (One, Seven, Oh!), it’s the first place I made friends and had a crush. For fellow Bronxites, 167th street which is literally 3 blocks away is just another part of our community; It’s part of what makes us who we are. But for the Bronx as a whole it’s part of our DNA and as such a place that we intend on keeping ours. 167th is the street and 167th is the stairs. NO JOKE.
