Detroit, in the minds of many people, looks like something from the film Gran Torino, in which Clint Eastwood’s retired car worker defiantly manicures his lawn and flies an American flag as the city around him descends into chaos. With its fraying social fabric and the imposition of an emergency manager to cope with its collapsing finances, it would be easy to argue a city that was a global centre of carmaking and musical innovation 50 years ago has passed the point of no return.
在許多人的心目中,底特律就像是電影《老爺車》(Gran Torino)中描述的那種場景——在這部影片中,克林特•伊斯特伍德(Clint Eastwood)飾演的車廠退休工人在他周圍的整個城市陷入混亂之際,頑強地修剪自家的草坪並懸掛美國國旗。隨著底特律的社會結構逐步瓦解,隨著一位危機處理專員被派來處理其日漸崩潰的財政狀況,我們會很容易地認爲,這座50年前曾經是全球汽車製造和音樂創新中心的城市已經無可挽回。