American Winter

America currently inhabits a sad, sad state, but it could be worse, right? That's what we tell ourselves, and it very well could be. But the fact of that matter is that, as of now, it's looking pretty damn bad. The 2008 economic crisis in America will likely be compared to the somber days of The Great Depression, and the unemployment numbers and political meltdowns of recent time will likely etch themselves in there no problem.

The staggering amount of people on unemployment begs a documentarian analysis, and American Winter provides the best one I've seen yet. High on reality, low on statistics, and often emotional, this is 2013's best documentary thus far. It is the third I've seen detailing the poor's struggle in an increasingly complex world, next to Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare and this year's limited/VOD release A Place at the Table. Needless to say that American Winter sores past the goodness of both films into gratifying greatness.

We focus on eight families living in the Portland, Oregon area. The commonality between all these homes is that they are all in desperate need of financial help, and at least one immediate family member is out of work and actively looking for a substitute. While no story is sadder than the next, viewers may find the story of John's story particularly crushing. He is a father of a young boy with down syndrome, who has been out of work for three years and lives on a five-acre ranch he maintains to the best of his ability in order to provide for his kid. Some may find themselves getting teary-eyed when we see Jeannette's predicament. Her husband died an unexpected death not long ago, and her and her eleven-year-old son have been attempting to coddle the wounds, but to no avail. They must resort to living in a public shelter and getting by on a very limited food supply. There is a heart-wrenching scene when Jeannette and her son arrive to a pay-what-you-can Panera store that just closed about an hour ago. The trip to get there was long and unforgiving, and we watch as Jeannette sobs, worrying for her son, who is lying when he says he doesn't need a hot meal in an attempt to make her feel a bit better and not so overwhelmed.

Then there TJ and Tara, a couple with two children who are attempting to keep their head above water when only she works. He was laid off from a well-paying job, and when he finds a new one, faces racial discrimination in attempt to better himself and get by according to plan. When the two sit down on the couch, trying to concoct ways for them to get money, Tara suggests that one of them panhandle. TJ states, "I'm not holding a frickin' sign - yet." American Winter deals poverty to a privileged person better than any documentary I have yet to see. It illustrates so finely and so honestly how life can go from comfort to calamity in no time, and its surrounding moral is its subjects never thought they'd be in a position where they'd need to collect unemployment. If there's another thing I learned, it's that even throwing all your money into a solid education is no longer a guarantee for success. We see a woman who studied medicine in college and can only go on to make minimum as a medical assistant. She must resort to things like donating plasma and "scrapping" junky appliances just to keep her head above water. As I look at my average GPA, my current resume, and anticipate upcoming ACT results along with fulfilling a goal of obtaining a college degree, I question where I'll even be if I get all of that. It's a frightening reality when success can't even be determined by educational drive; it's beginning to become a world driven on luck and good fortune.

If there's another thing I learned it's that the American Dream is dying a slow and painful death. That was the first note I jotted down within five minutes of seeing this film; I didn't need to see anymore of the picture to know that and foresaw the reality. One couple ominously states that when they consider their own personal dreams, they say, "forget the dreams, how do we make it to tomorrow? That's the dream." There's one other scene I'd love to mention, concerning a family whose electricity and water has been turned off for days, leaving everyone without option, nourishment, and in total misery. When the couple finally get financial aid and a payment program from the electric company, they come home and turn the lights on, which quickly leads to shocking and heartfelt emotion. It's amazing how flicking a switch could cause so much happiness and incandescent joy to a family, but the scene proves that you don't know what you have until it's gone.

American Winter is an honest documentary, all too short, but extremely lasting in impact. It has not left my head for five minutes, even hours upon viewing it. It informs that, while there are no doubt people on unemployment who are able-bodied enough to work and exploiting a deeply flawed system, there are a very large number that need the system and need it badly and that's something we simply can't forget. I read an article via Reddit that stated if you have ten dollars in your pocket and no debt at all, you are better off than 75% of Americans. How long before that amount of money lessens and that percentage increases? NOTE: American Winter premiered on HBO in March and will air throughout the remainder of the month and into April on the network in addition. This is your second must-see film event of the year behind Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers. Clear your schedules.

Directed by: Joe and Harry Gantz.

American Winter (2013)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Another very good documentary from HBO takes a look at eight families living in Portland, OR who are suffering from being unemployed. The documentary crew spends time with the families as we see them struggle to pay their bills and many are forced from their homes and into homeless shelters. We get interviews with the adults as well as their children but also social workers who talk about the desperate times that so many Americans are in right now. As someone who works with people being on their bills, I thought this film did a pretty good job at showing how easy it is for someone to go from living comfortable to being poor in the matter of months. I guess some people can't fully understand how quick it happens unless they've been through it but this film does a good job at showing just how desperate these times can be. All eight families have different stories to tell but they're all basically wrapped around not being able to pay your bills after losing a job. Some of these people have been out of work for over two years and it's easy to see why the savings just don't last very long. Directors Harry and Joe Gantz really do a nice job at giving the viewer an idea of why these situations can turn so bad but they also question why more isn't being done. There's a lot of political talk about how the poor are taxed more and how companies are making record profits yet lower class families aren't seeing any benefits. I must admit that I find it shocking that this country can send so much money to other countries yet so many here are living below poverty. American WINTER is certainly an eye-opener and one just hopes that they're never in this situation.

My family is going through the misery and stress that the 8 families followed in the movie are/we're going through. They say exactly what I say, every day: "We worked hard..played by the rules..how did this happen?" The best answer came from a not-financially struggling gentleman well-versed in middle-class financial destruction. He observed that for the middle class in this country, "One strike and you're out". I did not take comfort watching these 8 families suffer. I took comfort that they expressed my thoughts and feelings. I felt less alone, that my feelings of pain and misery were valid, and that I wasn't crazy. The movie takes place in Portland, OR during the winter. It was bleak, cold, wet, and overcast. It mirrored the families' misery perfectly. At the end, they showed what happened to each family. I was happy to see that most of them were either back on their feet or making progress to get there. I was sad that the other families were still struggling. The middle class is definitely one strike and you're out. Layoffs, illnesses, accidents, including work-related ones, divorce, unexpected pregnancies, etc. can happen to anyone at any time. The families in "American Winter" believed in The American Dream and worked hard to make it happen for them. They thought, like I thought, that being solidly middle class protected us from depending on this country's shrinking social services safety net. And from food stamps, food pantries, homeless shelters, foreclosure, eviction, car repo, going w/o electricity, heat, and water from falling behind, going w/o health and car insurance, donating plasma as a source of regular income. And from moving back in with your parents. Or living out of a friend's unheated garage w/no electricity or running water. The worst worst part was the effect on the children in these families. They were depressed, angry, frightened, and ashamed. One 12 year old blamed herself for her family's situation, because she became ill and there were medical bills. They ate and showered at friends' houses. Or went to friends' houses to escape the constant stress from hearing their parents fight from constant stress. You don't have to be middle class and in financial crisis for "American Winter" to resonate with you. One strike and you're out.

A vivid recording of the trauma that so many more people have experienced since things started getting nasty in the 80's.

I liked the commentary from social service workers interspersed with the slice-of-life scenes. Even the venture-capitalist could see that Republican policies were tearing the *real* economy apart. The documentary illustrated painfully how peoples' lives can be torn apart by the vicissitudes of the business world. My eyes were welling with tears all through it.

Canada has followed a parallel although not so brutal path of reducing real wages and benefits and shredding the social safety net. Cold comfort to imagine that we do not have quite such a harsh social landscape as does the USA.