Heroin Town

Older Comments on Heroin Town

• Posted 03/14/11 by Jason
  I grew up in Willimantic and still live here to this day. When I saw the title "Heroin Town" ...My heart sank with dread and I was prepared to watch ANOTHER story about how Willimantic was the armpit of the world ...ready to see ANOTHER story about the infamous Hotel Hooker ...I write this in 2011 and the Hotel has been vacant for many years now ...looking even more sorry than it did in 2003 ...The Hotel ALWAYS had a stigma about it ever since I was little ...Just the name itself The "Hotel Hooker" to most residents brought visions of Prostitutes and Junkies passed out in its darkened alleys and stories were weaved about its poor inhabitants ...My Mother always told me to walk on the other side of the street from it so I wouldn't be tempted (or perhaps influenced) to breach its old doors ...NO ONE here was ever proud of this place that sits literally in the middle of our dying Main Street ...It stained us all ...My family and even I cheered when we heard that it was going to be shut down ... I'm writing this to say that this film actually made me proud to have come from here ...It challenged all the prejedices and set beliefs I had about the place and ultimately ...about this town I have at times loathed and have been ashamed about...I applaud the filmmaker for making a FAIR and BALANCED piece about something we have been ashamed about for years ...The film showed heart and courage and I'm proud of the finished work ...Good Film can change and challenge people and this did so in spades. My only wish is that I stumbled across it years ago and that more townspeople had seen it ...I know I will encourage anyone I can to give it a chance.