SYNOPSIS

 

Flag Wars is a stark look inside the conflicts that surface when black working-class families are faced with an influx of white gay homebuyers to their Columbus, Ohio neighborhood.

 

Filmed over four years, Flag Wars' "as-it-is-happening" verite style captures the raw emotions and blunt honesty of unguarded moments as tensions mount between neighbors.

 

The story begins with Nina, a lesbian realtor who lives and works in the neighborhood and is at the center of the changes taking place. The changes include having areas of the neighborhood designated a Historic District (creating restrictive housing codes), an increase in code enforcement complaints, and efforts to reduce low-income housing in the community. Code enforcement is complaint driven and Linda believes the new residents moving in on her block are responsible for the code and zoning citations that have landed her in Judge Pfeiffer's Environmental Court. Linda suffers from cirrhosis of the liver and lives on disability. She refuses to address the zoning violations and her limited resources prevent her from making repairs to her home. This puts her in jeopardy of arrest. Baba, a black Yoruba priest and plumber, is the founder of the community gallery in the neighborhood, which occupies the bottom two floors of his three-story house. The name and address sign that he hangs above his porch is now in violation of Historic (i.e., Victorian) Code because it is carved in an African-relief style. Baba is also prosecuted in court before Judge Pfeiffer and faces fines and possible arrest for refusing to remove his sign. Jim, a working-class gay man, works two jobs to buy a boarded up Victorian house in Olde Towne. He risks his financial future when he purchases and begins renovations on the house using credit cards.

 

From porch conversations and family dinners to public hearings and street protests, Flag Wars provides a rare and extraordinarily intimate account of the social and human consequences of capitalism and the pursuit of the "American Dream" told through the lives of residents in a community confronted by gentrification.

 

Sadly, this movie only has about 24 views on youtube despite it winning awards and being fairly popular in planning circles. I'm about to watch it for the first time. Pretty exciting since it takes place in Old Towne East. If you have an hour or so of time, it's suppose to be a great movie; a realistic depiction of the whole process. A recent discussion I had about OTR kinda reminded me that I need to check out this 2003 flick.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lzmWpmLuJI

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fesnAZnDwc&feature=related

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h841wOOskc&feature=related

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ob2GyBfviY&feature=related

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1amsgm87hjs&feature=related

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abNgd4I0DaE&feature=related

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MHWI9O4Y7g&feature=related

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvXE7z5nMIQ&feature=related

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkIDo6XZOuc&feature=related

 

I can't watch this $hit.  The guy with the megaphone and the kid with the noose around the ken doll in a compromising position was just sick! 

 

I have an attitude.  All these people want to be heard and not moved out, but nobody wants to learn to live together. 

 

I can't even speak.

^Come on man, down some Ginger and sugar for the nausea and watch it all the way through. It's a great movie. I'm almost done watching it. More interesting than Store Wars (snorree ZzzZz)

>yawn<

 

Blacks vs Gays, been there/done that.  Welcome to Dayton.

 

 

We watched this in class a couple of years ago.  My professor kept asking me if I was familiar with the area since she knew so well that I was from Colubus.  I felt like an idiot because i didn't recognize any part of it. I was ashamed though because I have never seen my city in such a negative light.

Neighborhoods go through cycles. This is just another cycle. Its a good movie but it paints GLBT people in a negative light and from what I recall when I watched it, it fails to mention alot of the postives that come with GLBT people moving into an area. Victorian Village would be just another run down dump if it were not for the gays moving in. My mom often tells me stories of seeing hookers on High Street and Neil Ave and Crack houses on many corners! Mind you, this was way back in the 70s. lol

Now this really makes me feel like an ignoramus. Totally a new issue to me.

>yawn< Blacks vs Gays, been there/done that. Welcome to Dayton.

 

And in 2009, it will be the same in Cleveland - a coalition of African-American hypocritical bigots bible-thumping pastors are plotting to overthrow the city's recently enacted domestic partner registry.

^

In Dayton, the wild card was the mayor, who's black, but rumored to be a lesbian.  So it was her tiebreaking vote that gave the city an antidiscrimination ordnance (dont even go there here with something like a DP registrly, lol...) blacks opposed/white yuppies on the commission for.  Yet her biggest opponents seem to be white gentrifiers and their suburban supporters....mostly variations on the GOP/libertarian theme. 

 

The Flag Wars gay gentrifiers vs black folk thing isn't an issue in Dayton as there aren't that many gays wanting to live in the city in the first place, so a small part of the gentrification scene here.  And that scene is impinging on the "appalachian" parts of the city more than the black parts anyway.

 

 

 

 

Its a good movie but it paints GLBT people in a negative light and from what I recall when I watched it, it fails to mention alot of the postives that come with GLBT people moving into an area.

 

Well it was directed by a lesbian so I doubt that was the movie's intention. From what was shown in the movie, I think the city was pretty lenient on that woman and willing to work with her. Sh!t it took her probably a year just to remove the beat up cars from her back yard and she wasn't penalized. I don't think the movie has any particular villains or heros, unless you label them yourself; it's just a movie about the reality of the hostility that goes on during the transformation. From their point of view, if people are moving into the neighborhood and gentrifying it, I can see why they would think "oh, this neighborhood isn't good enough for them? They have to spruce it up to meet their standards?" Then there's the reality that most people like living in neighborhoods with people that are like themselves, in terms of race or economics. I would like to see cities give tax breaks to low income homeowners in situations like Olde Towne East where they have been there a long time. There isn't much they can do if the neighborhood suddenly increases in value because a new demographic is moving in.

 

Anyone that's lived in Cincinnati ... Doesn't this remind you of Hyde Park???

 

Irish Flag house next to German Flag house, Chicago flag house next to Cincinnati flag house, gay flag next to ... hell, I don't know, but it's definitely visible.

It'll be interesting to see if this happens to Franklinton. It's the only neighborhood bordering Downtown Columbus that hasn't been gentrified yet. Olde Towne East was kind of inevitable because the housing stock is just incredible, but the housing in the Bottoms is very sub par. I get a feeling that eventually a lot of those houses will be razed. The artists are already moving in.

 

http://www.franklintonartsdistrict.org/

 

Its a good movie but it paints GLBT people in a negative light and from what I recall when I watched it, it fails to mention alot of the postives that come with GLBT people moving into an area.

 

Well it was directed by a lesbian so I doubt that was the movie's intention. From what was shown in the movie, I think the city was pretty lenient on that woman and willing to work with her. Sh!t it took her probably a year just to remove the beat up cars from her back yard and she wasn't penalized. I don't think the movie has any particular villains or heros, unless you label them yourself; it's just a movie about the reality of the hostility that goes on during the transformation. From their point of view, if people are moving into the neighborhood and gentrifying it, I can see why they would think "oh, this neighborhood isn't good enough for them? They have to spruce it up to meet their standards?" Then there's the reality that most people like living in neighborhoods with people that are like themselves, in terms of race or economics. I would like to see cities give tax breaks to low income homeowners in situations like Olde Towne East where they have been there a long time. There isn't much they can do if the neighborhood suddenly increases in value because a new demographic is moving in.

 

 

As someone who has worked in that neighborhood and was told he was goona get shot one night, I can tell you LOTS of those streets wouldn't meet ANYONES standards. OTE is getting better, but it ain't no Victorian Village, atleast not yet! And I'm sorry, but its pretty clear in that movie who the victims are and who the bad guys are. As I stated before, neighborhoods go through cycles. When my mother was young, OTE was mostly populated by white, middle and upper middle class people. Then in the 60s and 70s, like ALOT of inner city neighborhoods, it began to decline. Now the area is improving and is the case in most cities, there are winners and losers, just like in the economy. I hate to see good people lose their homes because of the increased property values and taxes, but thats the way the system works.

Anyone that's lived in Cincinnati ... Doesn't this remind you of Hyde Park???

 

Irish Flag house next to German Flag house, Chicago flag house next to Cincinnati flag house, gay flag next to ... hell, I don't know, but it's definitely visible.

 

I don't see that many flags in Hyde Park but it's not something I usually pay attention to either. Hyde Park has always been wealthy and gentrified. You had to be approved by a committee just to live there in the early 1900s. I don't really see many similarities between Hyde Park and OTE. Not even architecturally. It's more like Avondale.

I hate to see good people lose their homes because of the increased property values and taxes, but thats the way the system works.

 

This coming from a guy who threatens to move to Canada every day!

I hate to see good people lose their homes because of the increased property values and taxes, but thats the way the system works.

 

This coming from a guy who threatens to move to Canada every day!

 

Ok, A) Its not a Threat, its a promise! LOL And B) What does Canada have to do with anything? We have the SAME SYSYEM UP THERE! Despite, the rumor, we're not Communist or Socialist. If people can't afford a neighborhood because of taxes or the price of the housing, they move out of that neighborhood, or never move there in the first place and look for something cheaper. Whats happening on OTE is happening in Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, and many other cities. Canadians too are rediscovering the city!

I can see how some of the gay people come across as not caring too much about current residents there. Unfortunately, a good chunk of black neighborhoods are hostile to gays (not to mention educated blacks), which in part stems from dependence on "the black church" which plays a large role in encouraging ignorance and has done nothing to minimize gang culture. This year alone, eight homicides have occurred all along Ohio & Champion, which is no coincidence since this section is mostly ungentrified. If only being an ignorant barbaric "gangsta" was as taboo as being gay. If current residents won't do their part to change the neighborhood, and they've had decades, then I can't say I feel very sorry for them when they get kicked out with the trash.

The characters that come across as most, well, symathetic, the ones with the most humanity, was Judge Pfeiffer and Ms Mitchell. 

...also, this movie certainly does play to certain popular negative stereotypes of gays (wealthy, elitist, materialistic, slightly effiminate for the gay men, "dyke" for the lesbians) .  That a lesbian made this movie tells me that this was a directorial intent.

 

 

I can see how some of the gay people come across as not caring too much about current residents there. Unfortunately, a good chunk of black neighborhoods are hostile to gays (not to mention educated blacks), which in part stems from dependence on "the black church" which plays a large role in encouraging ignorance and has done nothing to minimize gang culture. This year alone, eight homicides have occurred all along Ohio & Champion, which is no coincidence since this section is mostly ungentrified. If only being an ignorant barbaric "gangsta" was as taboo as being gay. If current residents won't do their part to change the neighborhood, and they've had decades, then I can't say I feel very sorry for them when they get kicked out with the trash.

 

Good points.

I have very mixed feelings about gentrification. On the one hand it is fantastic for people who are trying to preserve the history and story of their neighborhood. On the other I don't think it is fair for anyone to step in and tell someone what their house should look like, as long as it is kept is a decent manner. I don't see anything really wrong with gentrification itself, however, just when it inadvertently kicks people out of their homes or forces a population to relocate. I also don't think that it is effective to say "oh well it happens" because I think we should strive for something better. I think it is a very difficult subject and something that I would to learn more about.