i saw Slumdog Millionaire yesterday
and I loved it
but i think i have a loyalty to Danny Boyle from my childhood in England…
the filth was terrifying
but i’ve seen similar stuff in Brazil and South Africa
still.. nothing THAT intense (is it really like that in India? or was that played up for the screen? i imagine it is that bad or worse… maybe not such pretty trash)
still, what struck me hardest about all the strange injustice in the film
was the horror of modernization there
( i know.. i know.. )
and all the fucking cars…
SO MANY CARS
i hate cars.
i don’t like how they look or smell or sound
it’s kinda fun to drive them
but i’m happy to give that up
well worth it to get rid of the fuckers
that’s why i live in NYC
i can go hundreds of miles and not need a car
i’ve come to see cars as the largest symptom of humanities self-destruction
Any of you reading this
have you been to Switzerland?
have you been there when they have Car-Free days?
the center of the cities, the old towns
always have a day a year when cars are not allowed
and people walk the streets
fairs
and kids playing on the pavement . . .
could we make that happen here in NYC?
i keep wanting to get some initiative going to get some fucking pedestrian and bike ONLY streets here in NY
why not?
there are so many fucking streets in this city
why not every 10 blocks? every 12?
only people on bikes and foot
… maybe an avenue or two, yeah?
every city i’ve been in in europe has streets with no cars
sure, they’re old and tiny and midaevil
but why not here?
it’s GREEN after all…
anyone more politically minded than me know how i would start this sort of thing into action?
0 thoughts on “i hate cars”
bboyblue32
I agree
I just saw Slumdog myself and I was in India last year in May. And Mr. Boyle did an accurate job of portraying India. The only thing you can’t really capture on film is that India is a visceral experience, similar to one you might find in Africa or South America.
Regarding the cars, it is crazy in India the smog being the worse in their major cities of New Delhi and Mumbai, even though the largest car manufacturer TATA has come out with eco-friendly cars, the city is congested with cars we used in the US like 30-40 years ago, tractors, auto-rickshaws (which I heard are green-friend), buses, etc. I think Boyle did an accurate job of portraying that but once again I think its something you need to be there to experience.
Dom I am on the same page with you, I don’t even have a driver’s license. Which drives some of my family members crazy, but I enjoy having the smallest carbon foot print I can have and I see no reason why I should increase and already over-populated planet by the need to have a car myself.
I also so The Day The Earth Stood Still (mediocre film) but I like the message that we as a species are destroying our planet, and it would be best for us to be obliterated by Aliens to have the earth saved because there are so few planets with sustainable life and look how we squander ours.
Anonymous
India
Yes, it is that dirty in India, one can be eating at a nice restuarant and
look out the window to see “untouchables” eating out of the garbage thrown in the street across the road.
dominicvine in reply to Anonymous
Re: India
i know that…
i just meant the “slums”
i’ve seen them in Brazil and South Africa
and they looked different than that
but that was India (in a movie)
is the trash and filth really that beauty?
both Brazil and ZA was far dustier and browner…
but i know that India is intrinsically more colorful.
hantsbear
Childhood in England? Whereabouts?
dominicvine in reply to hantsbear
my childhood in england
Well… i lived in Newcastle-upon-tyne for a year
when i was 17/18
i was still a child then, yes?
in sixth-form
quietly dropping out
and traveling round the north, scotland, and other little towns up there
and London, of course
and Paris
it made quiet an impression on me.