Fish Kill Flea (2007)

Sub-Genres - Sociology  |   Release Date - Mar 10, 2007 (USA - Unknown)  |   Run Time - 50 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Nathan Southern

Directors Brian Cassidy, Aaron Hillis and Jennifer Loeber co-helm the 50-minute documentary Fish Kill Flea. The work paints a portrait of the Dutchess shopping mall in the upstate burg of Fishkill, New York - a center that lived, breathed and thrived in the early '70s. In time, however, the same process of commercialization befell Dutchess that plagued similar facilities: as larger retail chains, franchises and mega-malls overtook the country, driving out smaller, individualized centers and stores, Dutchess died an ugly death, and was utterly abandoned by the masses, closing shop in the early '90s. A decade later, merchants had transformed the derelict facility into a ragtag flea market, populated and frequented by eccentric, blue-collar American consumers - not merely a symbol of the fundamental desecration of the American dream (though it can be viewed as such) but a highly individualized "community," with a limited life-span: at the time of production, the building was slated for demolition and scheduled to be replaced by a new branch of a massive retail chain - the third in the area. In crafting this film, the directors ask key questions about which commercial landmarks demand preservation, and raise ethical issues concerning the "process of cannibalization" that continues to reshape America's consumer culture.

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Keywords

business, community, eccentric, flea-market, landmark, mall, subculture