Widows

I saw the film Widows over the weekend and enjoyed it mainly for the backstory involving Chicago corruption. (The widows were good also and a shout out to Viola Davis's canine companion, Olivia, the Westie that stole every scene she was in, but I digress.) Although I'm not a native of the Chicago area, I've lived here for five years now after leaving Brooklyn and I've grown to understand more and more how the Chicago machine works. There's corruption and then there's Chicago-style corruption. There are too many people vying for power in this city. The whole story line in Widows that involved the white alderman going against a black candidate for control of a ward was good stuff to watch on screen and had more than a ring of truth to it. I remember during the primaries when I got a text from some Democratic organization asking if I'd support JB Pritzker for governor. I promptly texted back that I wouldn't because JB was part of the "machine" along with Rahm, Blago, and others. Not surprisingly, I didn't get a text back. I didn't vote for JB in the primary, but he ended up being the Democratic nominee anyway. (Enough already with the millionaire candidates.)