One of the benefits of managing your time and being on vacation mode is that you'd get to relive some couch potato moments. Being an HBO kid ever since cable crept into our household, I am familiar with some movies that get to be repeatedly shown randomly. So, it was at around brunch the other day and I was getting ready to go to Makati. HBO was on and I heard and saw the start up credits of a very familiar movie. I stopped whatever I was doing and confirmed it was DETROIT ROCK CITY. I've watched this in my early years in college and this movie never failed to crack me up. Since I'm a fan of cult films and 80's teenage films like Dazed and Confused, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Heathers, Lucas etc. it was no wonder why I liked this film.
The film's about four teenage boys-rock band wannabees in Cleveland in the time when Disco's slowly dying and Rock was slowly booming. They're major Kiss Band Fanatics and they geared up to watch Kiss' Major concert in, where else, Detroit Michigan, hence the title of the film. But it wasn't that easy. The do-gooder Jeremiah (Jam) played by the crushable Sam Huntington is the only child of a freakish religious-power tripping mom who is vocally and aggressively against the devil's music (Kiss). She accidentally found four Kiss Concert Tickets and burned them in front of the helpless Jam. She then whisked her son to a catholic boarding school as a punishment while his three friends Trip, Lex and Hawk tried to rescue him. It was a roadtrip that ended in misery when they arrived at the busy Detroit, an hour and 45 minutes before the concert, ticket less and Lex's Volvo car stolen.
Lex: My mom's going to ground me for a year. We have to go to the police
Hawk: Man, do you really think that the police in this city, that makes American cars, would care less about a stolen Swedish car.
*GOOD POINT there.
The four of them separated to look for possible sources of tickets and had four individual adventures of their lives. Trip being the always stoned dude had a nerve wracking stand off at some convenience store where he was robbed by a punk ass kid and a quarterback brother, but later on rescued the convenience store from a shotgun robber. Lex, whose mom owns the Volvo, sneaked and was chased backstage only to be thrown off in an isolated junk garage where he was chased by Guard dogs. He soon found out that his car was inside a warehouse in preparation for 'reconstruction' by some mechanic goons. He got the dogs' assistance somehow and managed to rescue the girl hostage and his car. Hawk, out of desperation, danced in a Strip club, to get money to pay the scalper for the tickets. Unfortunate for him, he puked a pitcher-full on stage and lost the competition, but good thing he was the apple of a hot mama's eye played by Shannon Tweed. Jam in the meantime was caught by his Mother in a MATMOK (Mother against the Music of Kiss) rally and forced him to attend confession in a nearby church. He was secretly joined by Beth, his long time crush and classmate and lost his virginity in the confessional booth. After which, he faced his fear and confronted his mother in front of all MATMOK followers. In the end, they met up, still ticket-less and frustrated. Their last hope was to beat each other up to gain the concert authorities' sympathy. It just so happened that while they were appealing, the guys who robbed Trip of his wallet were seen entering the concert premises. Trip, with fast thinking, turned the tables around and accused those guys of robbing them of tickets. The guards, upon seeing Trip's wallet in their possession, gave the tickets to the four teenage die-hard kiss fanatics.
This movie is such a cult film that not everyone could appreciate it. But it draws special attention to some. It's definitely a teen movie with an edge. It shows ingenuity and passion in the eyes and perception of a high school student. It speaks of adventures that normally are not encouraged by the 'norms' of society, yet the characters in one way or another grew from the experience and eventually got what they wanted. Also, One major similar factor of these four teenagers is that they both got an opportunity to kiss a girl in their respective adventures.
The movie also showcases Detroit, the largest city of Michigan, as the "automotive capital" of USA. It is the home of three major American Car makers known as the Big Three: General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. These companies pumped up the American car demand and the strength of its business, globally, was felt more than ever. But with the US economic recession, global oil scarcity and price hike, the once "automotive capital" is facing a meltdown forcing its Big Three's to face profit loss. The US and global tastes in automotive have changed with the constant oil price hikes. The powerful and gas guzzling SUVs are being battled by the "lamb-ish," economical multi-utility vehicles and smart cars promising conservative gas usage. Throw in other factors of consideration such as high unemployment rates, environmental factors and inflation and you've got the unfortunate picture.
According to the NY times report, Ford Motor Company had the biggest falling sales of its pick-ups and SUVs which contributed to the quarterly loss in its 105-year history. According to the study, consumers are moving away from SUVs and trucks, which Ford greatly relied on. If you would remember here in the Philippines Ford Expeditions, Explorers, Honda CRVs in the early 2000 had a mushroom effect, but expect for a second hand Expedition to be sold in a profitable price now, I say pray for a novena. My dad estimated how 300 bucks in this gas guzzler only took him from Sun Valley Pque to Makati central, one way. With these concerns, Ford is now formulating new product plans in focusing on fuel-efficient and smaller cars. "They will convert 3 of its North American plants from truck-based products to small cars". General Motors, according to analysts, will follow suit. The challenges for these once confident car makers are the ability and availability of resources to transform their image to the market based on their new economical products to consumers, and sustaining growth in the process. Their success may affect the whole US economy, especially Detroit. In US, where they think Bigger is always Better, pickups sales are down by 25% and SUVs by 35%. According to experts, a 3 year old SUV is at its worst when you trade it in. The seller wouldn't be able to get the appropriate value for the car. But some couldn't sacrifice the necessity of living over SUVs and profits. Do not be surprised if SUVs are being sold cheaply, and I doubt if some would even bother to buy. See full article here.
It's always nice to look back. Detroit as the power automotive city and a "rock city" fueled industrialism and ingenuity. They pride themselves with a good city and a stable economy. If there's one thing that Detroit and all other states have to prove, it's adaptability.
Pix: http://www.kimfowley.net/images/detroit/detroit_rock_city.jpg
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