Slog
News & ArtsTuesday, May 8, 2012
Film Tacoma Will Not Forget; Tacoma Is Still Mad at Me
Posted by Charles Mudede on Tue, May 8, 2012 at 8:44 AM
Well, lookee who braved the dark woods and made his way to Tacoma this week.Screenwriter Charles Mudede, aka the columnist for Seattle alternative weekly The Stranger, was part of a movie crew hunkered down near Old City Hall to shoot a true story about a turn-of-the-century hobo outlaw.
Mudede claims the crew came here for the architecture. We think he came expecting a ready supply of hobo outlaws to cast as extras.
“Thank you, Tacoma!” he gushed in a blog post Wednesday, like we’re suddenly sweethearts and his past is forgiven and forgotten.
Not so fast, Mr. Hollywood bigshot.
Recognize the name? “Mudede” was once spoken around these parts with irritation – a one-word oath, like when Jerry hisses, “NEW-man!!” in “Seinfeld” reruns.
Mudede’s film, “You Can’t Win,” sounds like the title he’d choose if he made a movie about Tacoma.
It was August 2000 when he wrote: “By all accounts, Tacoma is a failure. Every day it lives failure, sleeps failure, eats failure; this is part of its charm.” He also called Lakewood a “working-class neighborhood in South Tacoma.”
Mu-DE-de!!
The post then mentions my rather unkind piece for the New York Times, and feature about the Black Friday shootings, and so on and so forth. My problem with Tacoma? It wants to be what it can't be: Seattle. My problem with Seattle? It refuses to be what it needs to be: Vancouver BC. Tacoma needs stop trying to be Seattle; and Seattle needs to stop being Seattle.
- Michael Pitt is Jack Black
4
Who would have thought that when you say outlandish things to piss people off, they get pissed off?
9
Weirdly, I've always thought Tacoma was trying hard NOT to be Seattle. It seems like a pretty cool place in its own right, and way more self-depricating than Seattle.
12
Vancouver is a major Canadian city and a node in the global network of Commonwealth countries. Seattle is a second-tier American city that hasn't quite shed its past as a colonial outpost. By this logic, Seattle has the same problem as Tacoma, it wants to be something it can't be: a major destination.
13
@12 - that's some pretty tortured logic. In terms of commerce, tourism, transportation... Vancouver's #s are about half of Seattle's.
Look, you've got a lovely city up there. Beautiful surroundings and a great quality of life. But don't be getting too big for your britches.
Look, you've got a lovely city up there. Beautiful surroundings and a great quality of life. But don't be getting too big for your britches.
15
Apples and oranges. More accurate gauge is metro area population, rather than random geopolitical boundaries.
16
Losing sight of the point, in any case. This isn't a pissing match on who's bigger. This is about who's better. Bigger != Better.
17
With regard to Seattle needing to become Vancouver: be careful what you wish for. It's true that you can't unbuild I5 and that Vancouver (barely) dodged the urban freeway bullet, which promoted density. But contrast what happened when Empty Space and Intiman ran aground to what happened when Vancouver Playhouse did so: the first we- and by "we" I mean long-time subscribers- heard about problems with the Playhouse was when it was announced that they were closing down after 49 years because of relatively minor financial woes. Can you imagine that happening with Empty Space or Intiman? As tiresome as it might have been to suffer the campaigns to keep 'em going, what does it say about civic health when a collective shrug is the response to an arts disaster of this magnitude?
18
@16: Lower Mainland is about 2.6m. Greater Seattle area is 3.3m. Agree that's somewhat more, but not close to double. Understand that this is not your key point. Jus' sayin'...
@13: Translink is about *twice* the size of King County Metro, measured as number of vehicle stops. Throw in Pierce and Community and Everett and you've still got a bigger agency.
Let's get back to picking on Tacoma, though. Also- anybody wanna... ah... go to Tukwila?
@13: Translink is about *twice* the size of King County Metro, measured as number of vehicle stops. Throw in Pierce and Community and Everett and you've still got a bigger agency.
Let's get back to picking on Tacoma, though. Also- anybody wanna... ah... go to Tukwila?
20
Seattlites are so delusional. Tacoma does not aspire to be Seattle. We relish the differences and, for some reason, you can't handle that. You're like some bullying older brother who beats up his younger, smaller siblings because they don't look up to him enough. We don't want to be like you. We don't like your friends and we don't think you're cool. Stop taking your insecurities out on us!
22
I grew up in Tacoma and from my 18+ years of experience, it was not trying to be Seattle and is a very pleasant place in and of itself. So back off! Let Tacoma be Tacoma.
23
So Seattle needs to be a souless city with no culture, ugly condos and an economy based on wealthy asians purchasing said condos. I think I'll stick with what we've got.
27
at least with spokane you know everyone there hates seattle. with tacoma(and everett and belleve) it gets confusing
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