Heads up, movie about independent stores vs. chains on Sundance Ch.

[riverdeep]

Most don't probably get the channel, I didn't until about two months ago until they decided to give it to me for some reason. The movie is "Independent America/Mom and Pop". Very straight-up documentary style but looks good. Never seen it. Will report when it's done. It's already fifteen minutes in.

[riverdeep]

1. And the review...

I was really too distracted while watching this, but I kept feeling like it was a potentially great movie. I just thing the pacing and presentation was way too 'documentarin 101'. There's a place between documentarian 101 and dipshit avande garde wierdo, and these particular film makers haven't found it yet.

As to the substance, though, it was terrific.

The jist:

Starbucks, Border's and, yes, even the evil empire, started off as independents at one time. It is something in the system that causes them to feed voraciously and destructively upon local economy.

While the locals can only take so many hits to their wallet in the local market, the chain can fall back on its globality, and thereby gain the advantage in the long run.

In the long run, is not how people really think, including local 'consumers', and local city council members. That's how they win, they know people don't think in the long run.

What's going to happen when a town in New Jersey is exactly like a town in North Carolina is exactly like a town in Colorado? Something fundamentally human is lost, that's what. We melt with the borg.

As an aside, many of the people interviewed were fascinating, the real strength of the movie, imo.

The female rep from Wally World smiles way too much, I don't trust that in people (see Pat Robertson).

I never really understood how the 'keep Austin weird' movement was just as much about the local townspeople ( especially businesses) saying no to boxes made of ticky tacky, as about artists and cultural outsiders. It just raised my love of Austin even more.