“has gentrifiers’ guilt got you down?”

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by Prince Of Petworth June 2, 2014 at 1:35 pm 41 Comments

This year’s Capital Fringe festival is from July 10-27th.

View from 607 New York Ave, NW:

Taco Salad Days

They better watch out or they’ll cut themselves on that edge.
mvs

I saw this as I walked to work this morning and was not amused. I’ve been to Fringe events before and I’ll probably go again, but this struck me as very unpleasant.
- Eponymous
  
  Sorry, I’m not seeing it. I don’t think it’s especially funny, but “unpleasant”?
  - Anonymous
    
    gentrifier’s guilt perhaps?
    - mvs
      
      LOL…maybe? “Gentrifiers” is such a loaded term that it’s striking to see it used in an ad. Is it suggesting that I should feel guilt for living in that neighborhood? Is it suggesting that Fringe’s events are for gentrifiers? I’m obviously overthinking it, but as I puzzled over what to make of it, all of the possibilities seemed unpleasant.
      - Anonymous
        
        its just comedy. relax.
- Anon5
  
  I’d call it asinine rather than unpleasant. The idea that anyone in this country should or would feel guilty for purchasing a home in a particular area is repugnant.
- anon
  
  Unpleasant because you are a gentrifier and don’t like to be reminded of it? or unpleasant because you are a gentrify-ee and don’t like the gentrifiers? I think fringe is seeking an audience willing to laugh at their own gentrifier status.
  - Anonymous
    
    people are so uptight.
    - Anonymous
      
      Agreed. Then again, this is DC.
      As a great man once said: “You could shove a lump of coal up his ass and in two weeks you’d have a diamond.” <– describes many "serious" people in DC.
      - Anonymous
        
        Pretty sure there’s plenty ‘o loose anoose to go around as well ;-)
jim_ed

This is getting towards VICEian levels of lacking self-awareness. I hope the novelty of seeing gentrifiers call other gentrifiers gentrifiers never wears off.
- Anonymous
  
  you seem to have the mistaken notion that that are not degrees of gentrification.
- anon
  
  Agreed — the people most critical of gentrifiers tend to be people who are in denial that they themselves are gentrifiers too.
- Anonymous
  
  +1
Neighbor

Sad assumption about the neighbors and neighborhood. That being said, if Capital Fringe has participated in many of the neighborhood events they’ve been invited to (like the Cloakroom, Mandu, Ace, Alba, Silo and others) they would know a bit more about the MVT/MVS demographic.

Yes, there is condos and gentification but there is more to MVS.

PS, Capital Fringe, after your last event, you did a pretty poor job of cleaning up your trash. Several of us from the neighborhood did it for you. Any plans to clean up the street this time?
Frankie James

There is no guilt tied to gentrifying or making any area better for the citizens who chose to live there.

That sign is a strange mess and a bizarre way to advertise a festival. Like one of the comments in the article about St. Thomas Historic Church in DuPont said; cities change.

People come and go. No one person, group, styles, need, service, political party, etc.. stays in control anywhere forever. That is fantasy. Can anyone say Post Office?

Not to mention, how boring if we, as a city and people, don’t move forward versus standing still lost in time.

I personally find it a stupid ad and don’t spend my money at that Festival – but I wish them a good day.

Funny though, I never felt the victim when I could not afford life in the city. It just made me more determined to get there.
- Anonymous
  
  Amen. I agree 100%.
- Kam
  
  You must not truly understand how gentrification works.
- Kevin
  
  Frankie James, I’m not at all surprised that someone like you who sees such complex issues in simple black-and-white also doesn’t attend Fringe Festival events.
- Daniel
  
  Totally agree. My husband love DC but only could afford a small one bedroom in Columbia Heights. We both work, pay our taxes and support the community. I’m sick of hearing about the “traditional DC resident. My family used to live on Georgia Avenue near Walter Reed in the 60’s and were forced out because of violence and fires so I don’t feel bad about DC getting cleaned up and the neighborhood becoming better.
- HaileUnlikely
  
  Being forced out is fundamentally different from not being able to afford to move in.
  - Kam
    
    Thank you HaileUnlikely!
  - LT
    
    WELL SAID.
Anonymous

It’s tongue-in-cheek, folks. A joke. Comedy. And many of the Fringe folks are gentrifiers themselves (I’m sure this irony is not lost on them).
.
I always forget how many butthurt people who can’t laugh at themselves populate the DC professional class (of which I belong).
- Frankie James
  
  Excluding you of course…. you are a good gentrifier???
- jim_ed
  
  Well of course it is, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that its about as lazy, cliche, and trite as a joke can be here in DC. It’s the Andy Borowitz of DC jokes, barely a step above jokes about traffic or congressional gridlock. Maybe people are “butthurt” over it, but I would guess most have the same reaction as John Wall does here –
  http://memecrunch.com/meme/PRZC/john-wall-bruh/image.jpg?w=1024&c=1
  - Anonymous
    
    do you go to fringe festival?
    - jim_ed
      
      I do. I’m not a hardcore fan, but I try to get to at least 1 or 2 shows during fringe fest.
- Anonymous
  
  +1. The fact that it’s got all these commenters pissing in their panties over it means that it’s doing its job! I love it.
Anonymous

Trying too hard to be provocative. This is why I’m so turned off by modern theater.
- Anonymous
  
  then you’re not their audience anyway.
  - Anonymous
    
    You’d think they’d try to reach out to new audiences.
  - Anonymous
    
    Is anyone their audience anymore? Come on Capital Fringe, you can do better. You have become that in which you mock.
    - Anonymous
      
      hows that?
Anonymous

I am more amused by the uptight, rigid comments than by the sign. Lighten up people. Sure, it’s not that original or funny, but that could describe most things in life (unfortunately).
Kam

There seems to be a total lack of understanding about how gentrification works on this post. People are so quick to defend their position and their status that a lot is being missed.
- Anonymous
  
  By all means fill us in then. Maybe people don’t have a total lack of understanding, maybe they just see it differently than you.
Anonymous

Let’s play a game. How many illegal billboards can that part of town accommodate? How many illegal billboards will DC government tolerate? How many are put up on Douglas Jemal properties? (Players, Check the “special signs” list from 2012, first.)
Anonymous

Not particularly, but thanks for asking!
Jack

Funny that some post about having no issues with gentrification happening. I supposed you are not a minority, an old non-minority family or somebody who doesn’t fit the profile of these millenials or long time residents. Maybe you’ve never had people look at you with suspicion, disdain, indifference, arrogance. I’m not saying you act like this, but some people do. And the long-timers or even pre-gentrifiers feel it. Its not the same. Not as many friendly, open, “Hello stranger!”-type people that make a community. Look around you and see how many acknowledge you. Not saying all the new residents are (and also not saying that prior residents area super sweet and friendly), but it is a marked change. Anyway, welcome all you new people that get what a community and a neighborhood is about!! :)

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