Unlike, say, the Chicago of Chicago, Ike Holter’s Chicago is vividly recognizable. The specifics that define the arc of his Chicago Cycle are as familiar as that unpatched pothole that taunts you daily or the creep of gentrification through Pilsen. Throughout the cycle, Holter has examined various aspects of the city, ranging from neighborhood crime to the Kafka-esque bureaucracy of the Chicago Public Schools to everyday superheroes.
Esposito is motivated to run when she sees the longtime residents and businesses in her neighborhood being forced out by gentrification. The Big Bad in the drama is the suit from the Applewood development corporation (Jerome Beck). We all know this guy. He uses words like “revitalization” when he buys up schools that shouldn’t have been shuttered in the first place in order to turn them into multimillion dollar condos. He forces out family-owned auto-body shops and brings in artisanal beard-oil boutiques.
Flaws and all, Rightlynd is a wild ride from an important voice. The fires it takes on—gentrification and the wholesale erasure of entire communities—should have everybody up in arms. And, with real-life aldermanic and mayoral elections coming up in February, audiences will want to make sure they’re registered to vote. v
