The entire reasoning for everything
that I have blogged up to this point boils down to this very post. This post is
essentially the explosion scene of the very movie that this blog hailed its
name from. In David Fincher’s film Fight Club, the common “everyman” played by
Edward Norton falls victim to his mind-dulling post modern life. He initiates
an organization known as “Project Mayhem” to wreak havoc as a scheme of revenge
against the corporate clutch on the city. The team’s decisive strike would be
the explosion of a piece of corporate art, and ultimately the destruction of
the cities corporate-ridden skyline. The Philadelphian remake of Fight Club
will have its own grand finale destruction scene. The three buildings that will
be featured in the scene each have different historical and cultural
backgrounds and represent the 3 distinct neighborhoods of Philadelphia.
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| Fincher's Fight Club |
When I began to think of a building to represent
North Philadelphia, I considered numerous possibilities. But after a little
more thought I realized I forgot a building that I knew was the obvious choice
for this scene. On the corner of Broad Street and Fairmount Avenue lies one of
Philadelphia’s most recognizable abandoned buildings, The Divine Lorraine. I
personally remember gawking at it as I drove up North Broad Street to visit
Temple for the first time, but its rich history remained unknown to me. “This
broke-down palace first came in to being as the Lorraine Apartments in 1894,
one of Philadelphia’s first high-rise luxury residences. It was designed by
Willis G. Hale, a controversial architect widely criticized for his
unrestrained, high-Victorian style.” (UntappedCities).
). Only 6 years after its construction, the
building shifted from the real-estate business to the hospitality business as a
hotel. For the next 50 years the hotel attracted many of Philadelphia’s new
class of nouveau riche who gained wealth during the industrial revolution. During
this time a belief group headed by Reverend Major Jealous Divine was gaining
followers throughout the North East coast. “It was in 1948 that the Lorraine
and the Divine linked. That’s when the International Peace Mission Movement
bought the hotel for $485,000 — all cash donations from the Reverend’s
followers.” The Reverend provided something that the area, which dealt with
poverty and prejudice, desperately needed. Through his sermons he preached
about inner-strength and gave many opportunities to anyone that walked through
his doors. “By the time he attached his name to the roof-top sign on the building,
the Divine Lorraine had become the first racially-integrated hotel in the
United States. Later, as North Philadelphia shifted from prosperous to
poverty-stricken, Reverend Divine’s building served as a beacon of hope in
the area and his sermons began to promote equality, desegregation, and
anti-lynching legislation.” After the International Peace Mission Movement
relocated its headquarters to a 73-acre estate, the building became abandoned
and currently lies in bedlam. The building itself is “being demolished slowly
via neglect and exposure.” It currently functions as a canvas for graffiti and
a death-trap for ambitious explorers.
Since this building served opposite ends of the wealth-class scale, its destruction would serve as a symbol of the end of a struggle between social classes, uniting the people of the city together.
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| The Divine Lorraine |
Read: Plunge inside Divine Lorraine teaches Temple daredevil a hard lesson
Since this building served opposite ends of the wealth-class scale, its destruction would serve as a symbol of the end of a struggle between social classes, uniting the people of the city together.
The next building to be featured in the
destruction scene is The Comcast Center located at 1701 John F. Kennedy
Boulevard. The tower, designed by Robert A. M. Stern of Liberty Property Trust,
is a 58 story skyscraper completed in 2008 which houses the corporate
headquarters for the Comcast company. Towering over the hat of William Penn’s
statue at City Hall, the tallest building in Philadelphia can most definitely
claim the title of the Gentlemen’s agreement’s biggest offender.
This building will represent the
Center City district of the city in connection with its corporate corruption.
Ever since Comcast has surmised as a giant in the cable and communications
world, it has been marked with criticism and controversy. Between misleading
advertising, lobbying efforts, accidental transmission of pornography, and
network neutrality issues, Comcast cannot seem to keep their name out of the
headlines. But above all, Comcast’s biggest problem is its customer
satisfaction. The company makes the top of nearly every “Worst Company in
America” list across the country. Business Insider reports that “Ever-unpopular
media conglomerate Comcast has been blasted for early withdrawals, faulty
equipment, and unprofessional service technicians” (Yahoo Business). In the American Customer
Satisfaction Index survey in 2004 and 2007, studies found that no company in
America had a worse customer satisfaction rating than Comcast. Given that
Comcast is the biggest company to call Philadelphia its home, it’s a
disappointment that our city is not better represented.
Nothing can precisely capture the culture and
history of South Philly quite like the South Philadelphia Sports Complex can.
Once home to legendary grounds such as John F. Kennedy Stadium, Veterans
Stadium, and the Spectrum, many historic moments of Philadelphia culture
happened within those very confines. Between the 1980 World Series winning
Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium, and the Broad Street Bullies and
Sixer’s championships during the 70’s at the Spectrum, Philadelphian’s finally
had something to take city-pride in. But as every sports fan knows, when
stadiums get old, they get demolished. That is exactly what happened to those
three stadiums, to make room for a new wave of state-of-the-art stadiums.
Citizens Bank Park has witnessed the Phillies win the World Series in ’08 and
Lincoln Financial Field has witnessed many successful seasons of Eagles
football. That leaves one stadium remaining, the Wells Fargo Center. The center
opened in 1996 on 3601 South Broad Street, and was designed by Ellerbe Becket Company.
In its 17 years of existence it has only ever seen 2 teams reach a
championship, both resulting in losses when the 76ers were defeated by the
Lakers in 2001 and the Flyers lost to the Blackhawks in 2010.
The center itself has gone through
a ridiculous amount of name changes by greedy financial institutions. When it
opened in 1996 it was named the CoreStates Center, until 2 years later when it
was changed to the First Union Center. After 5 years under that name, First Union
was bought out and the center was renamed after the buyer, the Wachovia Center.
History repeated itself again 7 years later when Wells Fargo bought out
Wachovia. "Wachovia, which owned the building's naming rights, was bought out by
Wells Fargo Corporation effective Dec. 31, 2008. Wells Fargo now holds the
naming rights at a reported cost of $1.4 million per year until the contract
expires on June 30, 2023" (Philly.com) The naming of stadiums has lost recognition as
greedy banks and other corporate companies try slap their names on as a form of
brand recognition. The Wells Fargo Center simply lacks the history and
legendary stature that its predecessors possessed.
