Metal-heads, Can We Learn To Give A Sh*t About Detroit?

I’m sure by now most of you have seen the Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown episode that aired on Sunday evening, focusing on Detroit and er, its short-comings. (If not, you can view a collection of clips from the episode here.)  We all know the reasons Detroit is in the position that it is, but rarely is the public given a reason to look at it from another perspective. I’m not sure if Bourdain was able to do that, and I’m not sure if I can either, but I’m giving it a shot in a small series on Brutalitopia.com. Here’s an excerpt from PART 1:

It’s easy for anyone not living here to blurt out harsh statements which are blown flamboyantly out of proportion.  Just remember:  what has become something easy to mock is a million times harder to defend. If the main stream media reported even half of the truth about Detroit, people might want to come and visit for more than just gratuitous post-apocalyptic city tours. And hey, maybe if some of you metal bloggers and radio personalities removed your heads from your assholes you would see that defending Detroit is a lot like defending metal: constantly correcting its bad wrap because of its misrepresentation.

You can read Part 1 in its entirety right here. Next weeks installment will focus on Detroit musicians and my theory as to why art in Detroit is unlike anywhere else. What do you think? Is Orion beneficial to the city? Do you think the metal community can start looking at Detroit in a different light? Post in the comments below!

-AG