http://eattheblinds.blogspot.com
Just prior to George W. Bush announcing his candidacy for president, he relocated to a town of 705 people named Crawford, Texas. Why, exactly, would an Ivy League, Skull and Bones, multi-millionaire oil man relocate to a one horse town still reeling from its drought ravaged past? The answer to this question is the starting point of Crawford, a new documentary available on Hulu.com.
Over the next 75 minutes we get familiar with a cross-section of Crawford's residents and witness the effect the arrival of Bush has on each of their lives. Director David Modigliani uses Crawford as a microcosm to represent the great divide emblematic of present day USA, a country bitterly divided by those on the right and those on the left. Modigliani tries very hard to stay in the middle of the road, but his efforts are thwarted by those on the right who glibly play their part as defined by their stereotype. These are people intolerant of others, judgmental, willfully ignorant, and openly religious, blind followers of Bush and all too ready to regurgitate his clichéd rhetoric. These aren't bad people and they're never presented in a way that would make you hate them, but their overall lack of self-awareness and self- righteous zeal to promote their world view makes them very hard to empathize with.
The few people in Crawford who we make a real connection to are those who defy the small town stereotype, those who dare to be different in the face of a very tight knit, conservative community. It is through the eyes of Crawford's liberals that we get a glimpse into what it really means to be exposed, vulnerable, curious and concerned with what's wrong with the world. These few people aren't set in their ways, they aren't bullies and they're not preaching. Ironically these few who aren't religious are the ones living the religious example "There but for the grace of God go I." In the end, Crawford doesn't editorialize, nor does it force you to pick sides; it simply shows people as they are and it lets us decide who we'd rather break bread with. You would think the decision is a no-brainer, but you can never underestimate the power of those with no brains.
