The Landlord does show a hint of gentrification if not much. At 5:09, the lady mentions the “trending urban renewal”. After a few seconds later, Mr.Farcus, a white man who moved into this neighborhood before Elgar, enters the scene. At that scene, Elgar is visiting Mr.Farcus’s house which is going well under reconstruction. Comparing to Elgar’s tenement, Mr.Farcus’s reconstructed house looks brighter and nicer, which indicates the white middle class’s intention to gentrify the old physical landscape. A better condition of house means higher cost, which is possible to force the relatively poorer black residents to move out.
If we say Elgar’s moving to this black neighborhood actually involves the aim of gentrifying this community, we have to agree that his aim ends up failing. He envisions his tenement would become his beautiful home, but eventually he transfers his tenement to Fanny who gives birth to his baby. Elgar embodies the spirit of gentrification because he intends to improve his tenement and dreams to renovate his roof as a relaxing place. However, his vision does not come true after he encounter his tenants.
Also the force in the black community also prevents the gentrification from happening. As seen in the scene where Mr.Farcus’s window is hit by a little voodoo, which is a black religious cult. This suggests that black community members take mischievous actions against the white” invader”. Other than Mr.Farcus, Elgar is also being mistreated. Elgar is chased by several black men when he tries to enter his tenement with his flowers and he also experiences black children’s naughty actions against his car. All these might be the obstacles of gentrifying the old black neighborhood.
