Chicago's reputation must really be in the shitter, because I got many of versions of this first letter:
I just finished reading your column today about being the guy on the sofa and I am there also but for a different reason. I never attended plays but I took my daughter and other family members to many of the Broadway in Chicago shows over the years. I also enjoyed dining at Mart Antonis, Francescas, and the Rosebud on Taylor. I no longer look to do this because I can't put my family in danger in the city. I am so upset that the people in charge have allowed this city to become what it has, a cesspool of carjackings, robberies and shootings. I feel wronged that I am unable to enjoy myself with my family and also contribute to the continuation of culture in Chicago. Your reasons for being on the couch are different from mine but we both are guilty of not supporting theatre.
Richard P.
I might be inert, but the idea of being afraid to go into the city never crossed my mind. I tried to answer compassionately:I sympathize, I really do. And I got many letters such as yours. Working as a newspaper reporter, I've been all over the city all the time. In every housing project, when they had them. At night. So I'm mystified that a slight uptick in crime, and a shift in where a few crimes occur, should so terrify so many. I assume it has to be fear-mongering on Fox. I don't mean to minimize it — people fear what they fear, and I don't think there is anything that I could say that would make you think you could risk going to Rosebud on Taylor. But you could, and you'd see that you'd be fine. Ditto for the Cadillac Theater. My son and I handed out sandwiches for the Night Ministry in Englewood, and we were fine. Crime is one threat. Exaggerated, race-based fear is another. Thanks for writing.
Some were easier to react sharply to:
Neil, the REAL REASON no one goes downtown for a play or a nice dinner or even to shop is the CRIME! Who wants to get robbed, beat up, car jacked, shot, killed, by a bunch of thugs. Oh sorry — disenfranchised children. Tell it like it really is. Mary L.
Mary: I was downtown yesterday. Walked from Union Station to Navy Pier. No crime that I saw. I'm sorry you live in terror in — what, Florida? Homer Glen? Maybe the problem is that a lot of racists focus on crime, thinking that doing so hides their sin. It doesn't. Thanks for writing.
Hey Neil,I read your column this morning. You're going to disagree with me and might call me a bigot.
It's ok if you do. Others won't call me a bigot.
The reason I don't go to see plays anymore in Chicago is unless it's African- American or Latino theatre, it's inauthentic. African-American and Latino theatre should be authentic. But they shouldn't have black people or Indian-Pakistanis play Victorians, for example. This is just one bad example. This wasn't the case 18 years ago when I saw lots of literary theatre in Chicago. It's woke diversity and inclusion nonsense today which has ruined the Chicago theatre scene. These post-modernist politics which is what you and your newspaper are about has not only sullied your newspaper but Chicago theater.
Go ahead, call me a bigot. I'll keep supporting your paper.
Have a nice weekend,
Michael
Michael—
I won’t call you a bigot — how could I? I don’t even know you. I will say your “ inauthentic” theory is highly dubious. Alexander Hamilton wasn’t Puerto Rican, true, but “Hamilton” is still worth seeing. Thanks for writing.
I won’t call you a bigot — how could I? I don’t even know you. I will say your “ inauthentic” theory is highly dubious. Alexander Hamilton wasn’t Puerto Rican, true, but “Hamilton” is still worth seeing. Thanks for writing.
NS
He surprised me by replying:
But that's the point of Hamilton. It's the novelty of it. But they do it to everything.
Nothing in the mainstream is authentic anymore. That's why I don't go to literary theatre anymore. It's nonsense.
Thanks for responding.
I wouldn't call the "point" of Hamilton the multicultural cast, which promped my final word:
"Never mistake a private ail for an infected atmosphere." —Thoreau
"Never mistake a private ail for an infected atmosphere." —Thoreau
Not everyone is exercised about the spectre of crime:
I’m surprised you didn’t mention an obvious and primary reason for people staying away from the theater — record inflation. Any extra money people may have had is being used to pay for the huge increases in gas, food, and energy costs. It coincided with Joe Biden taking office. Does it make me a MAGA extremist to point that out? Tom
No, so long as you don't actually support Donald Trump. Gas costs a lot, but not so much that I'll betray my country and everything it represents. I might not have considered the cost because I don't pay for my tickets.
NS
There's more, but you get the idea. Thanks for reading. Have a good weekend.
Don’t these folks who continue to blame Biden for inflation know what we have been through? A major pandemic (which may be redundant), a major threat to our democracy, and a major upheaval of our economy and public education system. Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad if someone didn’t spend nine months denying the whole thing. We are doomed as a nation if millions don’t awaken from the Chump ether.
ReplyDeleteDon't confuse Trump supporters with the facts. Like that gas prices soared all around the world, causing global inflation. Does Biden cause inflation in Europe and Canada?
DeleteGreat answers! I would also have pointed them to Eric Zorn’s Picayune Sentinel post this week. It posts a chart which shows that there were far more robberies in town from, say, 1989 through 1995 than there will be this year. It also shows the same general trend on the north side. It also gives a nice well thought out explanation about why people are more freaked out by the current situation. I myself travel into the city multiple times per week and stay there in the summer. I had no issues and the the City definitely felt more upbeat this summer than last.
ReplyDelete
DeleteI was also going to refer to Mr. Zorn's analysis. Here's a link, for anyone interested -- the third item in the post: https://ericzorn.substack.com/p/chicago-saw-way-more-robberies-in
(While I'm sure Eric would appreciate new subscribers, you can read it by clicking "Continue reading" on the pop-up...)
And for some there are still Covid fears. Hard to let that go when it is still lurking around
ReplyDeleteSo wear a mask. Jeepers!
DeleteStill afraid to go out due to Covid, after nearly 4 years? Maybe time to risk it and enjoy life a bit.
DeleteI'm still afraid of covid and don't feel comfortable in indoor spaces with lots of people I don't know. And yet I'm enjoying my life. It's still one of the top five causes of death in the US and it the deadliest infectious disease affecting people in the US. Do what you want but I'm young enough to want to live and old enough to make my own risk assessment. You do you.
DeleteMy wife and I have subscriptions to the Chicago Symphony, Lyric Opera, Joffrey Ballet, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Over 40+ years we have never had a crime issue. People need to get a grip.
ReplyDeleteRegarding multiethnic casting, I don’t remember anybody getting very exercised about white guys in blackface playing Othello. Does this acceptance only work one way?
Right on!
DeleteI wonder how those suburbanites who use crime as a cover for their bigotry would feel about a Black person who refused to venture outside of the city for fear of being lynched or getting shot by a nervous suburban cop.
ReplyDeleteOh, who am I kidding. Probably the reaction would be something along the lines of "Good, who needs them anyway."
As for the last writer: It would be utterly useless to point out to him that inflation is currently back down close to where it was before the pandemic. People like him hear "inflation is back down" and they think it should mean "PRICES are back down." They think that unless and until the price of everything drops back to where it was in 2019, they're still victims of inflation. Whenever Paul Krugman tries to point this out on Xitter, his timeline is deluged with geniuses saying things like "Oh it is, huh? Then how come I still have to pay $5.99 for cornflakes, answer me that!"
More fools are born every minute. Future Fox News viewers.
DeleteAnd I don't imagine they'd like their wages to go back to 2019 levels.
DeleteThe real crime problem are all of these armed robberies by crews of teens that are running around in stolen Hynudais & Kias, committing at least a half dozen robberies in less than an hour, which was caused by Hyundai by not installing an immobilizer in their ignition systems & then for some reason having a USB port under the steering column. Why the feds haven't mandated a mandatory recall of all of them is flat out baffling!
ReplyDeleteGood grief
ReplyDeleteWhy people buy autos that are so easily stolen is my question?
ReplyDeleteDrive a stick shift, like me. No teen marauder will be able to drive it.
DeleteSome punk carjacked a woman right in front of my house. He got about a block before he bailed and ran off. Not only was the car a stick shift, but what was even more mind-blowing was that the driver was an FBI agent.
DeleteThat little bastard was lucky to have survived. But I imagine he must have gotten the drop on her, and so she gave him the keys, instead of an injection of hot lead.
Great responses Neil.
ReplyDeleteWhat I want to ask people blaming Biden for inflation - first of all, not understanding correlation vs. causation - is this: Is Biden the cause of inflation in Europe and pretty much the rest of the world during the same timeframe? And if so why did we get it under control so much better than other countries, such as the UK? Why doesn't Biden get any credit for the things he did to get it under better control than most countries?
Their reply is the equivalent of Orwell's sheep when presented with complex facts: "FOUR LEGS GOOD, TWO LEGS BAD!"
DeleteHear! Hear! Deni. "Inflation... coincided with Joe Biden taking office." It also coincided with the Cubs, White Sox, Bulls, Bears and Blackhawks under-performing. What's up with that?
DeleteI'm not saying that Biden caused inflation, but the actions of the United States government certainly can cause inflation not just here but worldwide. And the amount of money that the Federal reserve and other entities of our government have pumped into the economy over the last 6-8 years. Certainly could have been the cause of the inflation that we're experiencing here and around the world.
DeleteA big part of the problem is that during the last administration when it was time for quantitative tightening, the administration decided not to take the money back out. Trying to make their time in office look good
I read an interesting take on this phenomena elsewhere. Apparently other kinds of live entertainment like music concerts are booming. While a vocal minority of delicate souls are staying away from theater because of perceptions of crime, crime concerns aren't keeping music patrons at home - which suggests that something else is at work here aside from crime. My pet theory is that theater patrons skew older and the gatekeepers to theater productions now skew younger and view the mission of theater very differently than their older audience. This has caused a dissonance between what ticket buyers want to see and what theaters produce.
ReplyDeleteI think that this dissonance relates to the fact that older folks view the world through a lens of uncertainty formed through life experiences, and young people view the world through a lens of certainty - formed through a life of viewing content on digital platforms. Art created through a lens of certainties is dramatically different from art created through a lens of uncertainty. I like art rooted in uncertainty. I dislike anything rooted in certainty.
of course, I could be dramatically wrong.
One man's opinion.
Hey I'm 70 and go into the city all the time. Theatres need to rethink the subscription mode for funding. It restricts them from exploiting a hit. ( Funnily enough I remember Danny Neuman coming to my dorm for its "Masters Series" touting the joy of subscriptions for the Lyric)
DeleteMy parents regularly attended Lyric Opera and Chicago Symphony Orchestra, plus many theater evens, from before they were married in 1964 until the mid-80s when their circumstances changed time-wise. When things changed for the better for them, my Dad didn’t want to return to Lyric, so I took his place and continued to go with Mom until COVID put a halt to that. And at some point in the early 2000s, they gave up their CSO tickets due to the logistical challenge of getting downtown on a Friday night. Mom and Dad still attend the Elgin Symphony (closer to home), and Mom and I and my wife also attend Goodman Theatre as we’ve done for 20 years. But my parents are both 83, and I can see the day coming when attendance at any of these productions might be too difficult for them.
DeleteAs for me, I’d love to continue to attend theater and opera, but my wife is only marginally interested in theater (probably not enough for season tickets), and not at all in opera. Meanwhile, my wife and I have seen 20+ pop/rock concerts everywhere around Chicago from dive bars to the United Center this year, so maybe there’s something to the idea that my generation is tuning out “high art”; as it is, I know I’m the only one of my Gen-Xer friends who regularly attends any theater.
It seems to me that perhaps the lack of funding for the arts in schools might have had some effect on younger generations not having an appreciation of live theater or classical music. Is the audience for live theater and classical music simply aging out without a sufficient number of younger folks to replace them?
Interesting. You should do letters more often.
ReplyDeleteI know, right? I do run them from time to time (plug "Mailbag" into the search bar). But in general I try to avoid it, because it seems low-hanging fruit. Though today is fun. The comments section today feels very ... dynamic.
DeleteI had neighbors who "passed" as normal when they lived in IL. Since they moved to a Red State, every conversation begins with some version of, "How can you possibly still live there?!" I once pointed out that crime in Chicago was higher when they were my neighbors. This made them even MORE concerned for my safety because I was obviously drinking the mayor's kool-aid, and was thus blinded to my own vulnerability. What frightens me more than crime is how zipcodes alter perceptions.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I stay on the couch now. To see a show we would have to leave our house and risk running into Maga idiots.
ReplyDeleteI like to think the MAGA idiots drink the KKKoolaid about the crime and stay away from the city. Or are they in your neighborhood/community?!!! ;-) SandraOMS
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I no longer go to the city not for fear of crime(although I am sure there is some) but because it has become too complicated to go due to physical issues with our bodies. As an aside, it never bothered me what the ethnicity of a performer was, only how well they did the job.
ReplyDeleteWell, there is that.
ReplyDeleteTom's response basically blaming Biden for high gases and prices on other products
ReplyDeleteis really silly. Yes gas was cheaper under Trump but people weren't going anywhere. I guess Tom does not get supply and demand. Inflation is still a bit high but has come down some what.
So much "fear" - and I agree someone's fear is their own so I won't discount it, but crime has been worse in the past. Yes, if I know there is a protest on the Mag Mile - I'll skip the area. If I want to walk downtown on the weekend - I'm not concerned. Does crime need to be addressed? Yes. Nothing has progressed much from pre-covid days. Enjoy your city - or yes, sit on your couch.
ReplyDelete