Willie Brown, the charismatic former mayor of San Francisco, has penned a column for the San Francisco Chronicle in which he expressed his fervent wish that the city would be destroyed. “This weekend moviegoing America will watch Godzilla stomp the daylights out of San Francisco,” Brown wrote. “I wish it would happen more often.”
Brown was not referring to the actual destruction of the city, as nearly happened in the devastating 1906 earthquake, but the virtual destruction of the city in Hollywood films and entertainment. He lamented the fact that few films are shot in California, let alone the Bay Area, owing to global competition in the film industry.
“It wasn’t that long ago that we were Hollywood north, with so many movies, TV series and commercials being filmed here that neighborhoods were complaining much the way they now complain about techies,” Brown laments.
“Apparently you can shoot a movie just about anywhere these days, so all the lights, cameras and action are going to Detroit, New Orleans, Vancouver or even Romania.
“And with them go all the accompanying catering jobs and the like that come with every movie shoot.”
Brown did not explore other reasons for film’s departure, including high taxes and onerous union rules.
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