All language subtitles for Rat.Film.2016.1080p.WEBRip.x265-RARBG2_English

(classical music playing)

(distant thudding and voices)

NARRATOR: Acknowledgement
of a creation myth.

Before the world became
the world, it was an egg.

Inside the egg was dark.

The rat nibbled the egg
and let the light in.

And the world began.

(scuffling sounds)

The adult Norway rat
can jump 32 inches high.

Baltimore city trash cans
are 34 inches high.

(abstract electronic sounds)

(electronic music plays)

Presentation of a video game.

A satellite map of Baltimore
is loaded into the program.

A 3-D terrain is created.

The user assumes the role
of a floating point

within the game.

A null object.

Explanation of an experiment.

Scientists place food
at the end of a maze.

A glass barrier is placed

so the food can
be seen but not reached.

A rat runs the maze,
and is disappointed.

The rat sleeps,

and the scientists record
its brain wave activity.

The scientists find
the same firing patterns

of the neurons activated by

the unreachable food are also
activated in its sleep.

The rat is dreaming
of reaching the food.

The rat is dreaming
of a desirable future.

A baby rat
won't open its eyes

until it's two weeks old.

Does the blind rat dream?

(electronic sounds)

(ping pong game being played)

(voices talking)

(electronic music playing)

EDMUND:
Watch what I did.

You hear what I said?

Please call me.

That's what I do.

My name is Edmund,
but you ain't gonna get me.

You gonna get
the switchboard,

but it's gonna be me,

because this
is my neighborhood.

This is my neighborhood,
I'm telling you.

It's gonna be
a small thing

to lay them down
for y'all, what.

It ain't never been
a rat problem in Baltimore.

Always been a people problem.

And that ain't gonna change
until you educate the people.

This right here is Diatrac.

I think it's one
of the favorite poisons
for the guys,

because it's
a no choice poison.

Most of the time,
we kill exactly

what we trying to kill.

We inject the poison
right into the hole with them,

and it coats the whole lining
of the hole.

So, they gonna bump
into it and hit it.

And as they say,
"Wow, okay, look at me.
I'm dirty now.

Let me groom."

And we get them.
They don't have a choice.

No choice, that's what I meant
when I said no choice.

No, let me stop.
No, um...

I work for the Baltimore
city rat roto program.

Basically what we do is...

we come out,
we assess...

what people believe
to be rat problems.

We project
what we can do and possibly

how we can help them.

And then we try
to correct the problem.

Basically, basically.

NARRATOR: 1911, Baltimore city
enacts a resolution.

Quote, "An ordinance
for preserving peace,

preventing conflict
and ill feeling

between the white
and colored races
in Baltimore city."

The law prohibits
blacks from moving

into majority
white neighborhoods,

and whites
from moving into majority
black neighborhoods.

It is a desperate attempt
by the government

to halt the rapid integration
of the city.

It is the nation's
first legislation
of its kind.

Six years later,
a Supreme Court

decision rules
residential segregation
ordinances

unconstitutional,
and the legislation
is struck down.

Segregation moves
to the private sector.

Upscale white neighborhoods
maintain racial homogeneity

by forming covenants
that require new homeowners

to sign contracts
barring the sale of homes

to black
or minority homeowners.

A map, deliberately frozen.

Its boundaries strain
with the pressures

of the growing city.

(discordant music plays)

Okay,
now can you see my hands?

Okay, we'll do like this.

This beer
that I got right here.

This beer that I got.

Yeah. This-- this--
and this is a 25-ounce can,

Natty Daddy.
Natty Boh.

Let's put
two of them together.

No exaggeration.

Put two
of these cans together, right?

Okay. Well, let's stay one
and half of these cans.

Okay, that's just a body
from the head to the ass.

The tail.

The tail reminds
me of, like, an iguana.

(laughs)
Yes, and so slow,

you know, just an old-timer
that's been around.

Yeah, got little
knicks and shit

where it's been up
(stutters) in the cars.

where they start
the engines up and a fan belt
hit them.

The fan hits them
and knick them and shit.

Yeah, been around.
Soldiers.

That's how-- yeah,
that's how big I've seen them.

NARRATOR: A confidential
Rockefeller Foundation report

names a gaping vulnerability

in America's World War II
defense effort.

Quote, "There is
fear that the enemy

might resort
to germ warfare,

using rats to spread
bubonic plague throughout
city centers."

War is declared
on the Norway rat.

Traditional rat poison
used a compound

derived
from the red squill plant.

However,
red squill only grew

on the Greek shores
of the Mediterranean.

A territory locked off
by Axis German control.

Americans were left
without a rat poison.

Enter Dr. Curt Richter,
a prominent scientist

at Johns Hopkins University
in Baltimore.

Richter's work
primarily focused

on the biological roots
of behavior.

Particularly with
his favorite test subject,

the rat.

During an experiment
on the inheritance properties

of taste response
to phenylthiourea,

Richter made
a surprising discovery.

The compound was tested
on a group of lab rats.

In the morning,
they were all dead.

A new candidate
for rat poison

had been found.

There are two key factors
when considering

a new rat poison.

One, the poison must
be attractive to rats.

Two, it must only kill rats.

As large enough doses
in humans

merely induced vomiting,

Richter argued that it was
safe for widespread use.

Because
the proprietary formula
remained

a closely guarded secret,

government safety inspections
were never conducted.

In 1942, with funding
from both the city

and
the Rockefeller Foundation,

a field trial was initiated

in the primarily
black neighborhood,

surrounding
Johns Hopkins Hospital.

An area frequently used
for public health studies.

Within days,
hundreds of dead rats
lined the streets.

These photos,
gathered by

the Baltimore
Citizens Planning
and Housing Commission,

were taken to document
the deteriorating conditions

of the city's slum districts.

There were used as evidence

in targeting
high-impact areas

for Baltimore's
rodent control project,

the first government
pest program in the nation.

At its helm,
Dr. Curt P. Richter.

ALL:
One, two, three, four.

* Rats

* I hate those
slimy little fuckers *

* I want to beat them
with a bat *

* Rats

* They're useless *

* Rats

* I want to beat them
with a baseball bat *

* But I don't have
one right now *

* And there's no rats here
we gotta wait till dark *

* And then we go
get some rats *

* And beat them
on the fucking head *
* Come out at night

* Beat them out
of the trash cans *

* Right over
their fucking little
greasy heads *

* Rats

* I hate them

* I want to hit them
with a baseball bat *

* Really bad

* I hate those little
slimy motherfuckers *

Two, three, four.

That was the best
I ever heard.

That was the best
I ever heard.

Yeah, baby,
shall we do it?

(beeping noise)

NARRATOR: Quote, "If someone
were to give me

the power
to create an animal

most useful for all types
of studies on problems

concerned with human welfare,

I could not possibly improve
on the Norway rat."

Dr. Curt P. Richter.

Qualifications
for an ideal model.

The Norway rat's
dietary needs

are very nearly
the same as a human.

It is a stable
and predictable creature.

Its small size make
it perfect for handling

in all types
of surgical procedures.

The short life span,
typically two to three years

in a laboratory environment,

make it an ideal candidate
for studies

concerning growth,
development, and aging.

Additionally, the rat's
cultural position as a pest

make it less sympathetic
of an experimental subject

than other animals, such as
dogs, cats, and monkeys.

Hole here,
hole over there.

And a hole--
see it right in here?

All them holes right here,
coming from out of this cement.

That's where the rats
coming from.

EDMUND: I ain't do nothing.
WOMAN: I ain't
saying nothing...

Relax. Relax.
(stutters) I'm just tired.

I mean, I can't even bring--
I can't even come out here
and hang out clothes.

I didn't do it. Calm.

And we-- we not
the only one--

I'm not the only one
who has rats.

They have rats.
See the yard?

See the yard?

The one on the corner
has rats.
EDMUND: I love them.

Well, you keep on
loving them.
They put food on my table.

They put shit on your--
you mean a muskrat?

Huh?
Oh, you mean killing them?

Yeah.
They food on your table.

I love them.
But it don't put
food on my table

to have rats coming--
I got children.

I can't have--
I can't come out with
these children, you know?

So otherwise than that,

I got to get
this shit together.

I mean, they even died off
and then ate the portions
and shit.

Last year,
I kept on putting down--

putting it with peanut butter.

And they wasn't eating it.

And I said,
"You know what?

I'mma-- I will slick
the damn rat this time."

So what I did, I will slick
to them that time.

Last year, what I did--
I did the same thing,

I put the barbeque sauce,
mixed it in with
the rat poison

and put it right on the hole.

That's what in there now,
that why they eating it.

Here's what happened, baby,
here's what happened
in a nutshell.

WOMAN:
What?

You was going
with the peanut butter
for quite a while.

WOMAN: No, I only went--
They figured it out.

Listen to what I'm saying.
They figured it out.

They said, "Every time we mess
with this peanut butter stuff,

we in trouble."

So, now that you
tried something different,

I got it now.
That's right, that's right.
It don't matter

what you mix with it...
That is right.

...if it's poison,
you must make it attractive.

That's right,
and that's what I did.
Or else they're not

going to eat it.
I put that
barbeque sauce on there,

made it attractive,
and got them.

Ask them d-Con people.
I really did.

D-Con ain't doing shit.

It's been on the market
for a thousand years.
Call me.

Call me, I'm the d-Con woman.

EDMUND:
It been on the market
for a billion years.

Them guys can eat that stuff
and just keep going.

I'm telling you.
Finish having a wonderful day.

I'm gonna try and do that.
Please do.

WOMAN:
Yep, yep, yep, gonna get rid
of them rats.

WOMAN: Got to get rid
of them rats.
Yes, ma'am.

WOMAN:
Got to get rid of them rats.

EDMUND: The pleasure
was all mine.
WOMAN: Thank you.

All right.

Lot of times,
we trying to get in,

and get out,
anyway we can.

So, now when I put down
on my paperwork

that I was here
for 25 minutes,

my boss will be telling me,
"Really?"

Really. Really.

EDMUND:
Sometimes, people slip
through the cracks.

I think that's what that was.

And then cracks.

(electronic sounds)

(playing instrument)

(playing stops)

(clock ticking)

NARRATOR: The laboratory
changes the rat.

Among traits noted
by Dr. Richter

in domesticated versus wild
Norway rat populations,

a shrinking of adrenals,

smaller organs,
such as the liver,

the heart,
and the brain.

Aversion
to physical activity,

submissiveness to restraint.

Richter believed
his findings

had a wider impact
than just the lab.

In a paper titled,
"Rats, Man,

and the Welfare State,"

Richter argued
that the modern comforts

of living afforded by
technological progress

and social welfare programs

had led to a crippling
of man's abilities.

War had been declared
on the rat once again.

Critics were
quick to point out

the eugenic implications
of Dr. Richter's work.

A rebuttal letter published
in the American Psychologist,

quote, "As I recall,

two other gentlemen
named Hitler and Stalin

agreed upon a somewhat
similar philosophy.

Richter, like
the aforementioned gentlemen,

misses the whole point
of civilization.

The merit of science
lies in the fact

that where it
can not modify

the individual to meet
the environment,

it offers hope of modifying

the environment
to meet the individual."

(engine rumbling)

Check this one out, yeah.

(laughs)

All right, so,
this is what I use for

rat hunting
in the backyard here.

Um, this is, uh, my customized
zebrawood handle.

It's a, uh, single shot,
.177 caliber pellet rifle.

It does about
800 feet per second.

And, um, it's pretty fun
when I'm feeling sporty.

You only get one shot, so...
usually if you miss,

they run away
and then you have
to, you know, reload it.

And they're gone, so.

And I got a "Property
of the rat czar" on this one.

And then this is one
of the original rifles

that I-- I used this
as a kid, basically.

Um, used to shoot rabbits
for sport in Pennsylvania.

And, um, these are
good old Pumpmaster 760s

that you can just buy
at Walmart for $22, I think.

And, um,
they-- they work pretty well.

Um, this one
I put a laser sight on.

So, it's, um,
wherever that laser is,

is where the pellet goes,

and, um, I can basically
do head shots with this one.

They're-- they're
pretty-- pretty great.
There's one right--

there's one right now.

(sighs and laughs)

We're gonna get
something tonight, boys.

This is a version of this,
that I just--

here we go, we're gonna use
the blowgun.

Where'd he go?

This is a blowgun.

It shoots six-inch
prod-hit tips.

And it'll go
right through him.
No suffering.

Now, this is, uh,
this is what they look like.

They're, uh, basically, uh...

the same thing
that you would do with a deer.

We're gonna get him.

Ooh.

If we wait right here,
he's gonna pop his head out.

(inhales)

(fence clattering)

He'll be back.

(rat squeaking)

Here, here.

(repeated thudding sound)

(mixed conversation)

Okay, well, basically...

basically a live pinkie.

Most-- all of mine eat frozen
thawed pinkies anyways,

but when I'm at a show,
I don't like putting

the frozen thawed in there
because it gets hot,

and it goes bad quickly.

So, this is what I feed
the snakes when I'm at a show.

And most of the time,
I use tweezers.

I go through...
I normally get 300

live pinkies
and fuzzies a week.

And I then go through another
200 larger mice a week.

The way I look at it,
the same creator
created them.

MAN:
What?

MAN #2:
Zoom in.

(train whistling)

All right, man,
so we're going to go to

the local convenience store,

uh, to get some peanut butter,
you know, or either some,
you know, some raw meat.

Uh, just so
they're attracted to smell.

For some odd reason,
they love peanut butter.

So, let's see
what they got.

All right.

(hums)

What's going on, buddy?
How are you?

You guys have lunch meat?

MAN: Lunch meat?
MAN #2: Yeah,
like turkey breast?

We have turkey breast.

Turkey breast?
Turkey breast is great.

Uh, peanut butter. Good.

Extra crunchy.

We're going to get
a quarter pound

of turkey breast, man.

Yes, sir.

Yeah, I guess turkey has
a stronger odor to it,

or, you know, oil-based.

Kind of like chicken.

And, um, peanut butter
just gives it that extra...

I guess that pasty taste.

Something that's going
to stick their bones, I guess.

All right, good luck again.
All right, man.

Thank you.
All right, let's go.
Take it easy.

(rap music playing)

It's probably fucking
one of them cop shows

or something, man.

So, let's probably ride around
the back this way.

Yeah. See if we can find
a rat this way.

Look at this--
look at this shit.

Look at this.
Trash, mess, heat, warmth.

Ooh, look at this,
hell yeah, look at this,
look at this, look at this,

this is perfect.

Look at the rats right there.

There's a rat there.
There's a rat over there.

Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.

Want to see
if we can park here?

It's car packed.

Yeah, we're just going
to pull right here.

They running all back
through there, man.

Look, look,
this is perfect.

This is perfect,
there's one right here.

Like, literally right here.
You see it?

MAN: Shit.
MAN #2: There's one here.

There's a few back there.

Like, there's one round
here on the side.

Running across.

Yes, man, let's, uh,
let's bait up.

Let's bait up.

All right, so,
what we're gonna do...

Right now, I got--
I have a double hook.

So, basically,
I get two chances.

So, same thing
if you was fishing for spot,

perch, bass.

You know, anything
of that sort, you know.

Normally, the bigger the bait,
the bigger the fish.

So, I'm basically
weaving the meat.

Uh, and then, I'm gonna take
some of this peanut butter.

Gonna open
that thing like that.

And if we could, we're just
gonna-- we're gonna dip
to peanut chunks.

Might dip your finger in it.

Um, we kind of see
if we can kick it up.

Oh, that's--
that's a slugger.
That's a Louisville slugger.

MAN: Get one on the hook
and take one out.
MAN #2: So... (laughs)

So, as soon as
we get them, gone.

All right, so basically,
at this point now,

we're gonna just cast out.

Kind of on the right side.
Uh, one...

Uh, there we go.
We're still connected.

And basically,
we're gonna sit and wait.

Just got to be patient,
you got to be real patient.

Got to kind of, like,
keep your cool.

Yes, here they come.

Once again, you gotta keep
your line tight.

EDMUND: That's where
you're gonna find a rat.

In the places where...
most uneducated people are.

The ones who have the least,
the least resources.

The people who have no dreams,
no aspirations.

Just surviving.

That's basically where
you're gonna find them guys.

That's it in a nutshell.

Them guys are sharp, though.

I like them 'cause
they got one mission.

Ain't gonna see no rats

educated nowhere or trying
to move to Beverly Hills or...
(chuckles)

They do what they do,
wherever they at.

How did this happen?

So, I gotta go
all the way back up.

604, Canning.
How did this happen?

How did this happen?
How did this happen?

How did this happen?
Let me see.

What am I doing wrong?
What am I doing wrong here?

All right,
let's turn this around.

(classical music playing)

NARRATOR:
1951, a confidential

Rockefeller Foundation report
lists the weaknesses

of Curt Richter's
poisoning program.

"Killing procedures
merely make room

for more rats to grow up.

And actually
increase the yield

of rat flesh
per acre, per year."

Quote, "Killing them proved
an almost endless, tedious,

high repetitive,
and expensive job."

Enter Dr. David E. Davis,

a colleague of Dr. Richter's
at Johns Hopkins
in Baltimore.

If Dr. Richter's work tried
to bring nature into the lab,

Davis tried to bring
the lab into nature.

Davis' fieldwork
meticulously mapped

the distribution of rats
in the urban environment,

charting their movements
across yards, fences,
and alleyways.

Organism and environment
were impossible to separate.

All elements
in a given system

had to be studied
in conversation with itself.

This ecological approach

expanded the focus
of rodent control

into the human environment
that supported them.

Human factors
such as trash pickup,

the prevalence
of vacant housing,

access to water, and adequacy
of sewage systems

became objects of study

for their effects
on rat populations.

By controlling
these human factors,

Davis found, rat populations
could be curbed

and eventually eliminated
or stabilized

at a sustainable level.

A link.
Control the environment,
control the rats.

Davis' findings
shifted policy

and funding
from poisoning programs

to bringing city blocks
up to newly instated
housing codes.

Dr. Davis, a quote,

"The beauty
of this ecological method
of control

is that improves the housing
and living conditions

of the human population

in addition to reducing
the rat population."

A defunded Dr. Curt Richter

vehemently opposed
any ecological approach,

calling Davis' methods
purely defensive.

Killing rats, he argued,

required
an offensive solution.

(electronic music playing)

I don't know where she is.

In here. Hello?

(muffled speaking)
MAN: Yeah.

(muffled speaking)

She's under the sofa
or inside the sofa.

(muffled speaking)

Hey! Yeah,
she's looking at you.

(laughing) Hey.

WOMAN: Hey.
Come on, gal.

(kissing noise)
Hey.

Hey.

(rat squeaks)

Okay, okay, let's go.

Back to the cage.

Okay, so where were we?

Ah, ratproofing the room.
So, yeah, this is our playroom.

Where our rats
get their free-range time.

Usually I give them
at least an hour,
hour and a half

a day, as much as I can,
as much as time allows.

WOMAN: You're very generous.
MAN: Yes, I'm generous.

Um, I guarded off the entrances

to the--
uh, to this living room

with that two boxes,
one here and one here

so they cannot escape,

either upstairs
or to the garage.

And, uh, then there were
a couple of issues

with, uh, electric cords.

Um, this TV stand has to be--

um, I had to use
some Coroplast,

which is a durable

sort of plastic supposed to be
impervious to rat's teeth.

Turns out not.

They pick on it bit by bit

and they can chew through it,
eventually.

Uh, so, I-- I bought
some new panels and, uh,

installed double in places.

Um, and, uh, still,
I have to watch them

when they are free-ranging.

I have to make sure

they don't jump on it because
they can jump very high.

Um, one other thing
is the cable here
for this lamp.

Um, not much I could do here,
just tape it

a little bit higher
so it doesn't draw

their attention
and-- and they don't
try to chew on it.

Um, so that's it,
every-- every other door
is locked.

They have-- there are no holes
in the walls.

I inspected everything.

Um, supposed to be
safe for them.

(television playing
cheering crowd)

(muffled speaking
on television)

(television
playing advertisement)

BRUCE:
My name is Bruce Goldfarb,

and I'm
the executive assistant

to the chief medical examiner

for the state of Maryland
in Baltimore city.

This is the room that holds

the nutshell studies
of unexplained death.

Which are, uh,
miniature dioramas

that are used
to train police officers

in crime scene investigation.

BRUCE:
They were made
the 1930s and 40s

by a rich socialite
by the name

of Frances Glessner Lee,
who lived in Chicago,

and had a long
and abiding interest
in forensic medicine.

She was extremely bright,
well-read.

Traveled Europe,
introduced as a debutante

and, uh, was expected to live
the life of a socialite
and get married.

And, um, I don't think that
was quite her interest.

She had other interests.

She is, you know,
the mother of CSI.

Each one of these costs
what it costs to build
a real house.

And they were built by

authentic
construction methods

and they took as long
as it took to build
a real house.

There's a worn spot in front
of the toilet.

And there's a worn spot
in front of the door.

And there's schmutz coming up

the wall
from the heating vent,

and-- and, you know,
she-- she spent enough time
in this bathroom,

or a bathroom like it,

to know (stutters)
that there would be a--

I'm sure Frances never
in her life

ever used a toilet
like that.

Um, and, uh, you know,
it's-- she approaches this

with such empathy,

uh, for these people
in their lives.

These are people who
don't ordinarily have

their lives depicted in art.

'Cause it's not only
these death scenes,

but also
it's a-- it's a snapshot

into these people's lives.

It's a moment in time frozen.

You know, a lot of people,
when they look at these,

it's a sort of an innate,
automatic thing
to solve them.

People want a solution.

They want answers, they want
to know what happened.

These are not meant
to be solved.

They're not puzzles.
They're not who-dun-its.

Some of these,
I won't say what number,

are staged
and that's part of what

you're supposed
to get out of it, is there's

an inconsistency between

the information that
you're being told,

that's on the-- on the front
and what

is visible in the diorama.

Oh, there are solutions.

Her solutions.
Frances had them
written down.

Her answers,
and they're her answers,

and as far as I'm concerned,
those are good enough.

But, uh, there could be
other answers.

They're literally kept
under lock and key

and not even the chief
has seen those solutions.

I've seen the folder,
I have not seen the papers.

It's a manila folder.

(laughs)

Pretty ordinary.
It really is just
a manila folder.

(clock ticking)

(loud wailing noise)

(muffled speaking)

WOMAN: Really?
MAN: Because of this.

EDMUND:
I had gerbils, I had rats,
I had frogs.

I had, what, guinea pigs.

I had cats.
I had dogs.

I always wanted-- uh, to me,
that's how you get
close to God.

That's how you
get close to God.

Get you a pet.

You pay attention
to his works.

I'm telling you,
it make you get closer.

You sort of understand.

Who else but a supreme being

could put together
something like that?

What was that address
I was just at?

Fifteen? Damn, 1518, right?

That's what I'm doing first,
just looking for signs.

Uh, any type of activity
of them being here.

And, I'm not seeing
any of that right now.

You know, a lot
of the times doing this,
the people say,

(clears throat)
"Well, how did you look
and see anything?

You just walked
right past it."

I say, "Miss.
I've been doing it for a bit.

And I know what
I'm looking for."

Very seldom does it change.

(grunts)

EDMUND:
After a while,
I guess you get so versed

you really--
you pretty much know where
everything is at anyway.

Go to a community,
the same people

make the same complaints.

You know where the rats are.

Some days be
better than others.

(dog barking)

Rat Roto.
Baltimore city.

(dogs barking)

Rat Roto.
Baltimore city.

Hello?

Hello, there.

When I first
started this job,

I think there was 25 of us.

And it was just rolling.
We wasn't planned.

We were rolling.

We were trying
to make a difference.

And a lot of days,
you just feel, like,

"Wow, we could be
doing so much more."

I-- I mean...
I don't think this is

one of them topics
that a lot of people

want to talk about.

It's just not.

It's not one of them--

not everyone want to talk
about no rats.

Hush, hush, please.

Everybody wants
to make everything

sugar-coated and soft.

And-- and not deal with
the reality of the things.

No, we don't want
to talk about it.

Yeah, have a good one, baby.
It was good seeing you again.

I'm not going to make
no excuses for it.

Um... it's mean.

Life is mean.
It's mean.

It's not designed to be easy.
It's what it is.

It's going to throw you
a lot of curveballs,

and throw you some sliders
every now and then.

And you just have
to deal with it.

(stutters)
You know.

You're dealt a hand
and you got to play it out.

There ain't no saying,
"Hold it, wait, time-out.

I want to change
some things first."

And then start again.
There ain't none of that.

You just deal
with what you have.

You deal with it.
Deal with it.

NARRATOR:
An alternate view option

provides the ability
to overlay

real photographs under
the three-dimensional models.

An algorithm obscures
recognizable facial features.

Sometimes,
an inanimate object
is mistaken for a face.

The game does not care
if it is human.

Only that it matches
the accepted pattern

of the human face.

Two men wait for the bus
on the corner of 25th Street.

A mother stoops
to tie the shoes

of her daughter
off Monument Street.

A grandmother
in her Sunday's best
climbs the stairs

so slowly that she remains
on the same step

for all three frames
that she is visible.

With the real
photographs activated,

the game becomes impossible
to continuously navigate.

There are glitches everywhere
within the game.

Fractures that reveal
more than the program
was ever meant to.

Sometimes, hiding in a tree,
beneath a car,

or inside of a building,

the solar system
bursts into view.

Object and perspective
intersect.

The same gaping hole
within every object
is revealed.

A user tries to push deeper
in moments like these,

but the game pushes back.

1933. Following
the stock market crash,

the Homeowners
Loan Corporation is created.

Among its stated purposes,

the creation
of a residential security map

identifying areas
of high financial risk

for government-backed loans.

Fourteen mapmakers,
all white,

all men, lead up
the effort in Baltimore.

Their work is
kept secret for decades.

Factors considered
for residential security,

quote, "Intensity of the sale
and rental demand,

percentage of home ownership,
age and type of building,

economic stability
of the area,

social status
of the population,

racial homogeneity
and restrictions

for protecting homogeneity."

May 1st, 1937.
Establishment of a map.

Neighborhoods are arranged
into four graded areas.

Grade A, or green.
Grade B, or blue.

Grade C, or yellow.
Grade D, or red.

Green, quote,
"In nearly all instances,

they are the new,
well-planned sections
of the city.

They are homogeneous,

in demand
as residential locations

in good times or bad."

Blue, quote,

"They are like
a 1935 automobile,

still good, but not what
the people are buying today

who can afford a new one."

Yellow, quote,
"Age, obsolescence,

and change of style,

expiring restrictions,
or lack of them,

infiltration
of a lower-grade population,

poor maintenance of homes.

Generally, these have reached
the transition period."

Red, quote,
"Detrimental influences

in a pronounced degree.

undesirable population
or an infiltration of it."

These primarily black
and mixed neighborhoods

gained a new,
ominous nickname, redlined.

Based on geography,
residents in redlined areas

were denied loans
that would have allowed them

to move into more
affluent neighborhoods.

Business ventures
that might bring revenue

to the neighborhood
were considered

too risky by banks
to invest in.

Redlined areas,
mapped as such, stayed red.

The city continued
to integrate.

The market responded,
house prices plummeted.

Industry
and industry jobs left

and would continue to leave.

A great migration
to the suburbs began,

aided by a slew
of government loans

and tax incentives
for first-time homeowners.

Loans and incentives
that were only made available

to the predominately
white families,

living in the right color
of the map.

(rain falling)

Isn't it nice to think
that when it rains,

the whole city gets wet?

(door closes)
(both smacking lips)

How are you doing?
Good, and you?

WOMAN:
Great.

Uh, right now,
we're at Scarpetta House.

This is our training facility

for our
forensic investigators.

It's basically like
a studio apartment.

We have a bedroom, kitchen,
living room, bathroom.

And, uh, we use this
to, uh, stage using manikins,

stage death scenes
to train our investigators.

And occasionally other groups

that come in
from the outside.

This is the bedroom.
We have, uh, bed, crib.

Um, and we can set up
different scenarios
depending on

what we're doing.

You know, we can do shootings,
stabbings, um...

We have a grill,

we can simulate
a carbon monoxide poisoning.

Um, there are prop weapons

and we have prop drugs
hidden around, so...

when our investigators
come in,

uh, you can check the windows,

you can look through
the garbage can.

They can look
through the cabinets.

And just as you would
in a real scene,

and look for anything
that might be--

may or may not
be meaningful.

Um, well--
(stutters) we did
a, uh, a Jonestown kind of

mass suicide thing
a year or so ago.

And we had... we had--
I can show you photos,

but we had, um, pretty much
wall-to-wall bodies.

Yeah, there are
people all over.

In the bedroom.

And they all drank kool-aid.
There's the kool-aid cup.

These are actually--
these girls

and the ones in the bed,

those are the daughters
of people who work here.

Um, there's one
of our forensic investigators.

And the red is to simulate

a, um, little avidity,
settling from the blood.

And they had
to chew Alka-Seltzer

to get the foaming
at the mouth

which tastes really nasty,
and that's what she's doing.

She's chomping
on this Alka-Seltzer.

(imitates chewing)

It does not taste good.
So, um, that's what they do.

NARRATOR:
December 2nd, 1957.

John B. Calhoun,
a former research assistant

on Dr. Davis'
rodent ecology project,

writes a letter
to Mr. Eugene Casey,

of Gaithersburg, Maryland,
asking permission
to use a barn

on his property
for an upcoming experiment.

Quote, "It has been
with great anticipation

that I have followed
the remodeling

of your barn
near Gaithersburg.

By it, you are
making possible certain

much needed
scientific studies

that no one to date
has had the opportunity
to initiate."

Experiments began
the following year

at the newly
renovated Casey barn.

The project was funded by

the National
Institute of Mental Health.

Their aim, to study
the effects of crowding

on the development
of social pathology.

Thirty-two rats were placed
in the main room of the barn.

Sealed by
a 140-square-foot enclosure

divided into four quadrants.

The simulated environment
provided unlimited food,

shelter, and protection
from predation

for its rat inhabitants.

The only limiting factor
was space.

The rat population
was observed for a period
of 16 months.

After a period
of initial growth,

the population stabilized
at around 80 individuals.

Soon after,
however, it was nearing
total collapse.

A class of dominant
male rats emerged.

sealing themselves off
with eight to ten females

in high-rise apartments
above the city.

Below, subordinate males
went berserk,

attacking females, juveniles,
and less active males.

Mothers ceased providing
adequate shelter

for their young,

often leaving them to die
in poorly built nests.

Population growth
came to a halt

as asexual,
cannibalistic rats

preyed
on their abandoned young.

Calhoun called
these cumulative effects

the behavioral sink.

The goal, ultimately,

wasn't to learn how to create
these effects in man,

but how to better
design physical space

so that behavioral sinks
in man could be avoided.

In photos, Calhoun gazes out
over his universe

like a gnostic god visiting

a creation he has
long since left behind.

But he is not there
to save the rats,

just to observe.

His only concern is how
to do better next time.

Today, the Casey barn
has been repurposed

as a community rental space.

Their website advertises
potential uses

such as wedding receptions,
family reunions,

bar and bat mitzvahs,

birthday parties,

and business meetings.

There is a full-service
nursery school

and day care
in the basement.

We'll go to one
of my favorite alleys.

They're usually there.

Always has many rats.

Ignorant son of a bitch.

Look, he just took it off

and just walked
over here and slayed him.

It sucks-- it sucks
when you can see...

See, you can't see
the fish steal your bait.

Okay, when it's in the water.

But you can see a rat take
your bait right off the hook.

So, that sucks even worse.
You know?

So, you just got
to be patient,

you got to be real patient.

Got to kind of, like,
keep your cool.

Because here they come.

Once again, you got to keep
your line tight.

We see trash everywhere.

The perfect area for...

rats buffet.

I got it,
I got it, I got it.

(whispers)
Yes.

(muffled speaking)

MAN: (laughs)
You going to walk
the fuck home.

That shit going to be
all over you.

Yeah, this guy did not
struggle at all.

See, that's a head shot.
Had no idea what was coming.

Right in the head.

No suffering.

EDMUND:
I don't know.

Life is funny.
It's funny.

You got to be funny 'cause
if you take it too serious,

you'll wind up someplace

where you really
don't want to be.

Sometimes, it's sad
and sometimes it's funny.

I don't know.

I have no idea
what I was supposed

to do most
of the time.

Not all the time.

I won't have no regrets
about none of that.

None of that.

And I think that's
the only thing you can do.

MAN:
Do rats go to heaven?

(stutters)
I don't believe
there's a heaven.

I really don't.

I believe that it's crazy
to live a lifetime

and have all that information

and then just
cease to exist.

I think
the spirit part might...

go somewhere
in some type of collective.

But I don't think
you just live a lifetime

and have
all that information
and just expire

and that's the end.

I don't believe that.

As far as
a heaven and hell, I...

No, I'm not gonna get
spooky with all that

God this and that.

Now, I'm not gonna do that
to myself.

No, I'm not. No.

I don't even believe
in really good and bad.

It's just some people
who had some stuff happen,

that make them make decisions

contrary to how I believe
or how I feel.

And, then,
so they act out in ways.

They just do stuff.

It's some more stuff piled up
on some more stuff, and...

I'm not going
there with myself.

I'm just not, not me.

MAN: Hey.
LADY: Honestly,
I know that guy.

LADY: Thank you. Take care.
MAN: Thank you so much. Yeah.

EDMUND: Young lady,
please call me.

Just dial the 311.
This is my neighborhood.

This is the area I do.

So, every time I come,

I'm going to go above
and beyond and try

to cut this myself.

LADY:
Thank you.

EDMUND: Honest, I'm not just
making my mouth say that.

Please call.
Please call.

And you gonna be laughing.

You're going to be laughing
'cause they going to be gone.

LADY: You can get me
to the point where
I can throw you

a bushel of flowers...
EDMUND: (laughs)

EDMUND: You're gonna see.
LADY: You'll be the one
that's laughing.

No, you gonna be so happy
'cause you gonna be able

to enjoy your yard. Watch.

That's all I want.
That's all I want.
Watch.

But thank you very much.
Yes, ma'am.

Just keep doing
what you're doing.
Yes, ma'am.

We appreciate it.

Yes, ma'am, I got you.
My heroes.

I got you.

Thank you.
Yes, ma'am.

That's the best part
of the job, right there.

When you run into
that one person who say,

"Man, thank you."
Just thank you.

Ain't a whole lot
of conversation.

Thank you.
We running out of time.

NARRATOR: A map of arrests
in Baltimore city
during 2015.

And graded for density.

Transparent areas
indicate regions

with
the highest concentration
of arrests.

The same map,
layered over the 1937

residential security map
of Baltimore city limits.

Red, yellow,
and diagonally shaded areas

indicate those neighborhoods

deemed
the highest financial risk

by the Home Owner's
Loan Corporation

nearly 80 years ago.

A 2015 survey map
of vacant homes.

And graded for density.

Transparent areas
indicate regions with

the highest concentration
of vacant homes.

And the same map,

layered over the 1937
residential security map.

A map
of Baltimore neighborhoods
below the poverty line,

layered over.

A map
of Baltimore neighborhoods

where the unemployment rate
is double

or greater
than the national average.

Layered over.

A map showing neighborhoods
where average

life expectancy
is one standard deviation

or more below the average
for the entire city.

And layered over.

New maps.

Old maps.

Same maps.

(plane overhead)

NARRATOR:
It is July 4th in Baltimore.

And the entire population
has gathered on a hillside

to watch the complete
and final demolition
of the city.

It has been decided
to start again.

A press conference
was held earlier in the day

to announce the decision.

The news has been received
better than expected.

Past indiscretions
had been recognized.

Plans are in place
not to repeat mistakes.

The mayor has announced
her resignation.

Open submissions have begun

for the next
American creation myth.

Streets will be redrawn.

Private property
will be raffled
at every corner store.

An elite rat task force
will be created.

There will be trash pickup
every day.

Streets will glisten.

The city will be renamed.

New Baltimore,
it will be called.

Before the world
became the world,
it was an egg.

Inside the egg was dark.

The rat nibbled the egg
and let the light in.

And the world began.

* Buses on strike
gonna raise a fare *

* So they can help
pollute the air *

* But that's what makes
the world go 'round *

* The up and down

* The up and down

* Carousel

* That's what makes
the world go 'round *

* The up and down

* Carousel

* Changing pe...

* The up and down

* Carousel

(hard rock playing)