At first, when I read the prompt for this post, I did not think the the film was a narrative about gentrification but upon reading Gentrification of Harlem, my views on the movie TOTALLY changed. In this article, the fact that gentrification includes the displacement of current residents and a loss of their culture was brought to my attention.
Throughout the movie, various residents of the apartment building expressed their distaste for the landlord. Marge called him a rapist, another tenant called him a child molester, and this was just on his first day in his new home. The differences between Elgar and the residents were emphasized throughout the film. Elgar lived with his parents in a luxurious house in an affluent neighborhood and the tenants lived in a rundown apartment building. Elgar constantly dressed in white, and he painted his room white while the tenants wore dark clothing and their apartments were decorated in darker shades. The tenants rarely called Elgar by his name, calling him “landlord” to distance themselves from him. These are but a few ways that the filmmakers told the audience that Elgar was the stereotypical rich white man responsible for the gentrification of this apartment building in Harlem. The events occurring in this specific building clearly act as a model for the process of gentrification in Harlem in general. For example, when Elgar started renovating the apartment complex, the social recluses residing in the basement felt threatened, they left and Elgar moved into their apartment.
The aspect of gentrification involving the loss of black culture with black residents was portrayed in multiple ways. Viewers were introduced to the idea that being black was a state of mind when, for example, Francine complained that her husband did not think she was “black” enough. Viewers later learned that the “black” state of mind could only be understood by black individuals when the professor showed Elgar that he did not belong in his classroom. This understanding that the “black” state of mind is restricted to black individuals was connected to gentrification because as more black people are displaced due to gentrification, as the basement residents were, their culture goes with them.
