Difference between revisions of "Rat Film"

From blackwiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Line 1: Line 1:
 
[[File:Rat Film.jpg|thumb|Rat Film Movie Cover]]
 
[[File:Rat Film.jpg|thumb|Rat Film Movie Cover]]
Rat Film is a 2016 documentary directed by American filmmaker Theo Anthony employing techniques of essay and collage. The documentary uses rat infestation in Baltimore as a starting point to explore issues of segregation, redlining, poverty, and resource allocation in American cities. <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Film Rat Film]. Wikipedia. Retrieved January 19 2021.</ref>
+
Rat Film is directed by Theo Anthony, is a documentary utilizing strategies of essay and collage, published in 2016. Rat infestation in Baltimore is a starting point in this documentary to investigate issues regarding segregation, redlining, poverty, and the allocation of resources in American urban areas. <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Film Rat Film]. Wikipedia. Retrieved January 19 2021.</ref>
  
 
== Synopsis ==
 
== Synopsis ==
Across walls, fences, and alleys, rats not only expose our boundaries of separation but make homes in them. Rat Film is a feature-length documentary that uses the rat—as well as the humans that love them, live with them, and kill them--to explore the history of Baltimore. "There's never been a rat problem in Baltimore, it's always been a people problem".<ref>[https://memory.is/rat-film Rat Film]. Memory. Retrieved January 19 2021. </ref>
+
Across walls, fences, and alleys, rats not only expose our boundaries of separation but make homes in them. This documentary film uses rat, as well as humans that adore them, live in the same place as them, and also kill them, to go through the history of Baltimore. "There's never been a rat problem in Baltimore, it's always been a people problem".<ref>[https://memory.is/rat-film Rat Film]. Memory. Retrieved January 19 2021. </ref>
 
The film director, Anthony, looks into a 1911 Baltimore law mandating the segregation of its neighborhoods. In 1917, that law was overturned and replaced by the private enforcement of segregation, by means of restrictive covenants in title deeds. Anthony traces the development of the city’s segregated neighborhoods—and the unwholesome conditions in which the city’s black residents were forced to live. He connects the city’s efforts at rat eradication to the government’s fear, during the Second World War, that Germany would use the bubonic plague as a biological weapon. (The extermination effort involved experimentation with untested substances in black neighborhoods.) Yet, after the war ended, efforts at pest control waned. Working with a demographer, Anthony discovers a close correlation between the prevalence of a wide range of present-day afflictions and the predominantly black neighborhoods established a century ago—including, of course, the unrelieved prevalence of rats.<ref>Brody, Richard [https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/three-genre-expanding-documentaries-about-racist-crimes-of-the-past Three Genre-Expanding Documentaries About Racist Crimes of the Past]. The New Yorker. 8 March 2017. Retrieved January 19 2021.</ref>
 
The film director, Anthony, looks into a 1911 Baltimore law mandating the segregation of its neighborhoods. In 1917, that law was overturned and replaced by the private enforcement of segregation, by means of restrictive covenants in title deeds. Anthony traces the development of the city’s segregated neighborhoods—and the unwholesome conditions in which the city’s black residents were forced to live. He connects the city’s efforts at rat eradication to the government’s fear, during the Second World War, that Germany would use the bubonic plague as a biological weapon. (The extermination effort involved experimentation with untested substances in black neighborhoods.) Yet, after the war ended, efforts at pest control waned. Working with a demographer, Anthony discovers a close correlation between the prevalence of a wide range of present-day afflictions and the predominantly black neighborhoods established a century ago—including, of course, the unrelieved prevalence of rats.<ref>Brody, Richard [https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/three-genre-expanding-documentaries-about-racist-crimes-of-the-past Three Genre-Expanding Documentaries About Racist Crimes of the Past]. The New Yorker. 8 March 2017. Retrieved January 19 2021.</ref>
  
Line 10: Line 10:
 
Baltimore was the first city in early 20th century America to pass a residential segregation law — later scrapped by the Supreme Court — restricting blacks and whites to certain parts of the city. “Ain’t never been a rat problem in Baltimore; it’s always been a people problem,” says one of his subjects, a wise and wizened rat exterminator who notes that the critters thrive in poor housing areas. <ref>[https://www.arabnews.com/node/1177551/offbeat ‘Rat Film’ highlights Baltimore’s rodents, racism]. Arabnews. 14 October 2017. Retrieved January 19 2021.</ref>
 
Baltimore was the first city in early 20th century America to pass a residential segregation law — later scrapped by the Supreme Court — restricting blacks and whites to certain parts of the city. “Ain’t never been a rat problem in Baltimore; it’s always been a people problem,” says one of his subjects, a wise and wizened rat exterminator who notes that the critters thrive in poor housing areas. <ref>[https://www.arabnews.com/node/1177551/offbeat ‘Rat Film’ highlights Baltimore’s rodents, racism]. Arabnews. 14 October 2017. Retrieved January 19 2021.</ref>
  
The filmmaker highlights the historical city government practice of denying home and business loans to people living in majority-black neighborhoods. City officials, he demonstrates, were using the same language in the 1930s to talk about the "infiltration" of black populations as they do now to talk about rats. To underline his point, Anthony lays statistical maps of present-day Baltimore's unemployment and mortality rates over a racial segregation map from 80 years ago, showing how accurately they dovetail.<ref>[https://www.france24.com/en/20171014-rat-film-highlights-baltimores-rodents-racism 'Rat Film' highlights Baltimore's rodents, racism]. France24. 14 October 2017. Retrieved January 19 2021.</ref>
+
The filmmaker highlights the historical city government practice of denying home and business loans to people living in majority-black neighborhoods. The same language to talk about the "infiltration" of black populaces was used the way when city officials talk about rats as they talk about it now. To underline his point, Anthony lays statistical maps of present-day Baltimore's unemployment and mortality rates over a racial segregation map from 80 years ago, showing how accurately they dovetail.<ref>[https://www.france24.com/en/20171014-rat-film-highlights-baltimores-rodents-racism 'Rat Film' highlights Baltimore's rodents, racism]. France24. 14 October 2017. Retrieved January 19 2021.</ref>
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
 
{{reflist}}
 
{{reflist}}
 
[[Category:Black Racism in Documentary Movies]]
 
[[Category:Black Racism in Documentary Movies]]

Revision as of 06:22, 7 March 2021

Rat Film Movie Cover

Rat Film is directed by Theo Anthony, is a documentary utilizing strategies of essay and collage, published in 2016. Rat infestation in Baltimore is a starting point in this documentary to investigate issues regarding segregation, redlining, poverty, and the allocation of resources in American urban areas. [1]

Synopsis

Across walls, fences, and alleys, rats not only expose our boundaries of separation but make homes in them. This documentary film uses rat, as well as humans that adore them, live in the same place as them, and also kill them, to go through the history of Baltimore. "There's never been a rat problem in Baltimore, it's always been a people problem".[2] The film director, Anthony, looks into a 1911 Baltimore law mandating the segregation of its neighborhoods. In 1917, that law was overturned and replaced by the private enforcement of segregation, by means of restrictive covenants in title deeds. Anthony traces the development of the city’s segregated neighborhoods—and the unwholesome conditions in which the city’s black residents were forced to live. He connects the city’s efforts at rat eradication to the government’s fear, during the Second World War, that Germany would use the bubonic plague as a biological weapon. (The extermination effort involved experimentation with untested substances in black neighborhoods.) Yet, after the war ended, efforts at pest control waned. Working with a demographer, Anthony discovers a close correlation between the prevalence of a wide range of present-day afflictions and the predominantly black neighborhoods established a century ago—including, of course, the unrelieved prevalence of rats.[3]

Controversy

Rat Film’s attempt to expose systemic racism through Baltimore’s overwhelming infiltration of rampaging pests, it is too often distracted with experimentation. Horrifying history lessons surrounding segregation ordinances, clandestine scientific experiments on the black population, and the racist redlining of city blocks will spark a healthy, and much-needed dose of rage. [4] Baltimore was the first city in early 20th century America to pass a residential segregation law — later scrapped by the Supreme Court — restricting blacks and whites to certain parts of the city. “Ain’t never been a rat problem in Baltimore; it’s always been a people problem,” says one of his subjects, a wise and wizened rat exterminator who notes that the critters thrive in poor housing areas. [5]

The filmmaker highlights the historical city government practice of denying home and business loans to people living in majority-black neighborhoods. The same language to talk about the "infiltration" of black populaces was used the way when city officials talk about rats as they talk about it now. To underline his point, Anthony lays statistical maps of present-day Baltimore's unemployment and mortality rates over a racial segregation map from 80 years ago, showing how accurately they dovetail.[6]

References

  1. Rat Film. Wikipedia. Retrieved January 19 2021.
  2. Rat Film. Memory. Retrieved January 19 2021.
  3. Brody, Richard Three Genre-Expanding Documentaries About Racist Crimes of the Past. The New Yorker. 8 March 2017. Retrieved January 19 2021.
  4. Gulllickson, Brad. ‘Rat Film’ Nibbles at the Systemic Racism Plaguing Baltimore. Nonfics. Retrieved January 19 2021.
  5. ‘Rat Film’ highlights Baltimore’s rodents, racism. Arabnews. 14 October 2017. Retrieved January 19 2021.
  6. 'Rat Film' highlights Baltimore's rodents, racism. France24. 14 October 2017. Retrieved January 19 2021.