Brewed Fresh Daily

Scott Suttell at Crain's Cleveland sent this nugget out:

If Cleveland is so eager to embrace the arts and get a hipper image, why is it that the city�s powers that be are slapping down a local guy with a hit movie and a national cult following in the world of underground comics? The Plain Dealer has a story today that reads like another bad Cleveland joke. It turns out that not everyone is thrilled with the recent success of Harvey Pekar, a Cleveland Heights file clerk whose acclaimed American Splendor comic book has been turned into a fantastically funny and moving film about the drama of ordinary life. The film, which is generating Oscar buzz for its stars and its highly inventive screenplay, was shot almost entirely in Cleveland. It paints the city in less-than-glorious colors, though for my money, Cleveland comes off as a pretty interesting place in American Splendor. It�s not gorgeous, but at least it has a soul. Mr. Pekar last Saturday published a cartoon on the New York Times' opinion page that showed him walking Cleveland's streets and commenting on the evidence of decline. That was too much for our hyper-sensitive Mayor Campbell, who sniffed to the PD, "If people actually came to Cleveland, they'd find out there's a lot more going on than Harvey Pekar seems to know." Dennis Roche, interim president of the Convention & Visitors Bureau, which knows a thing or two about bad publicity, added, "Having someone of his notoriety, an insider, portray his town like that, it's not a good thing. This is not helpful at all." Not sure what�s more troubling here: That our leaders aren�t sharp enough to see that the success of American Splendor might benefit the city in the long run by further establishing Cleveland as a viable place to shoot films, or that when these leaders brag about Cleveland�s artistic community, they mean it only as long as the artists are on board with a city-approved vision. At least Dennis Eckart, CEO of the Greater Cleveland Growth Association, and Chris Carmody, head of the Cleveland Film Commission, understand the value of shooting successful movies here. "Every Martin Scorsese movie doesn't make New York look great, but it adds to the mythology and it employs people," Mr. Carmody told the PD. "I think we have to be big enough to have our stories told."

I'm not really sure why every thing needs to be sanitized. Who goes to the movies and believes that they're real? Last time I checked, the movies at the Megaplex are more outlandish all the time. Mayor Jane and Dennis Roche can stow their condemnation of the opposition. Last time I checked, the First Amendment was still intact. Kudos to Scott Suttell for coming out in favor of a 1.3 billion dollar industry in Northeast Ohio. Just because it ain't manufacturing or financial services doesn't mean you can talk trash about it.