The River: A Documentary Film

Chronic homelessness, drug addiction, it effects almost all of our lives, we all know someone effected by this crazy drug epidemic-loneliness epidemic.. it's a film which shows us the complexity of ineffectual government (where politicians pat themselves on the back over never coming up with ingenuity as far as solutions...being mired in the "problem" of curing mental disease and addiction with the same non-solutions that existed a decade ago). This film does a brilliant, subtle, job of not telling us the solution, but asking US to help design the solution. We are asked to see the humanity of the addict or mentally-ill homeless person, a person who have experienced trauma we never could imagine...but what is so so beautifully done, is the capacity to weave the question for the viewer: who are we? What's our POINT in doing all this? Are we a "civilized society," when we examine the have and have nots and the criminalizing of misfortune or those who struggle? Are we all inter-connected and if so, are any of us free if all of us aren't free? Free to be healthy, loved, secure, to feel "home." For me, there is a richness to this movie, the more you turn it over in your hands. The Director starts and ends the movie with the Native American man, and just THINK about the implications of that on a deeper level, a level that may even be subconscious in the Directors perspective. The Natives did not "own" land historically, not always, in the way we currently are fighting over the river encampment and bull dozing the camp and creating space for the next apartment complex...like, here, this man has maybe had his land or culture taken from his people and the genocide which has occurred and that historical trauma plays out in his addiction, his story, his homelessness, and we, as a culture, avoid historic responsibility in the modern day, we harass him to move on from the river, become self-reliant, we judge him, as if we were never part of what got him here. And the movie says to me, even perhaps unconsciously, like, try to see the bigger picture, the circle of life, the judgement of those who may have CAUSED some of these hardships or the trauma which caused the deficits, which brought these people low, our responsibility for one another, it's larger then this community of Aberdeen. It's our families, it's our communities (or lack of them), it's our cultural evolutionary crisis, to see our unavoidable interconnectedness.

So why does a city with 16,000 residents have 1,000 homeless? Policy Makers! Anyone else wonder where the 1,000 homeless came from? I haven't done a survey, but my guess they weren't all born and raised in Aberdeen, WA. Do some research on sanctuary cities, and you will see that Washington state has several. And what is a sanctuary city? This depends on who's definition you to subscribe to. Policy Makers if you really want to fix the homeless problem, start with providing the tools to understand why they are in the situation they are in, and stop enabling them. Many homeless people will tell you they truly know why they are there, but don't want to change. Some are mentally ill or have an addiction who need treatment, and others have felony conictions who can't find work. This isn't going to be popular with the agnostic, atheist, or some policy makers, but God provided us with a book called the Bible, and his son Jesus as an example on how to live. We all fall short of perfection and sin, but God is merciful ,graceous, and foregiving. He also holds us accountable for our actions, something the policy makers don't do much of anymore. If you are homeless, look to the Bible and Jesus not the government to help you. Hold yourself accountable, if you need help with addiction ask for it, stop blaming others for the situation you are in, and be courageous and strong. Remember when we separate ourselves from God (sin) we only have ourselves to blame. It won't be easy getting off the streets (river), but you can succeed with the help of Jesus, and with your faithfulness to him. If you truly submit your life to the Lord Jesus he will help you, and if he doesn't help you right away, go ahead and complain to him, but be prepared to hear why. You are loved you by Jesus, and he is waiting to work with you to get you off the streets.

I appreciate the effort and intentions of the filmmakers of this documentary but as someone who works in a homeless shelter and is always looking for films to show my clients, I wouldn't show this one. The film is a "snapshot" of all the players involved in a homeless encampment in Washington State, the clients, the politicians, the police, and the helping agencies. No "conclusions" are revealed about what to do the clients and overall the film lacks any "point or direction" that I could decipher. Early on a lady at the Town Council meeting says what I think is the most important statement in the film-that "beds are available in shelters for clients so they don't have to stay at the encampment-but they go empty" and she gets shouted down by others at the meeting. My "message " to anyone watching this film is-that "we" (society) are doing enough for the homeless and what's needed is better boundaries around what is acceptable from folks living on the streets.