Movies

‘Two American Families’ is the saga of working class struggle and survival

BBG News

As a dedicated cinephile with a deep appreciation for documentaries that delve into the complexities of human existence, I find “Two American Families: 1991-2024″ to be an unforgettable and poignant exploration of the realities faced by working-class families in Milwaukee over several decades. The series, produced by PBS, offers a powerful critique of societal structures that perpetuate inequality and keeps the poor poor while enriching the wealthy.

Television can be seen as a mirror reflecting our society, but it’s not always an accurate one. Sometimes it distorts the truth or adds unnecessary exaggerations for entertainment. It requires great skill and resources for TV to portray real life authentically, without the influence of scriptwriters or production teams. For such unfiltered representations, you should look towards public broadcasting.

Over a span of 34 years, “Two American Families: 1991-2024,” airing Tuesday on PBS’s “Frontline” and streamable on the PBS app and website, follows two Milwaukee families – the Neumanns, who are white, and the Stanleys, who are Black – as they deal with the consequences of their main breadwinners losing manufacturing union jobs.

Initially intended as a solo documentary with the title “Minimum Wages: The New Economy,” it eventually evolved into a tale showcasing what remained unchanged and the impact of this constancy on its featured individuals.

Tom Casciato and Kathleen Hughes serve as the film’s directors, featuring Bill Moyers as both narrator and interviewer. This production shares similarities to Michael Apted’s touching “Up” series from Britain, which commenced in 1964 with “Seven Up!” and continued by revisiting a group of 7-year-olds every seven years until its conclusion in 2019 with “63 Up.”

The exploration of that particular series initially focused on how socio-economic background influences children’s futures. However, it evolved into a deeper examination of the varied journeys of individuals, encompassing their social and emotional experiences. These elements intertwine throughout the narrative, both in its beginning and progression.

Television rarely depicts the experiences of the working class, particularly those struggling to make ends meet with outstanding bills and unattainable luxuries. Shows like “Roseanne” (before its controversy), “The Middle,” “Good Times,” and certain characters in “Friday Night Lights” are exceptions. It’s more intriguing for viewers to see wealthy individuals argue over excess money rather than a family trying to keep their home – unless that home is a mansion. Food scarcity appears dramatic only in post-apocalyptic contexts; we generally prefer watching stories about the rich instead of those detailing everyday struggles to stay afloat.

The novel “Two American Families” doesn’t explicitly state its political stance, but it subtly criticizes a system that perpetuates poverty while enriching the wealthy. The antagonists in this narrative are high-interest loans, predatory banks, outsourcing jobs, an unforgiving healthcare system, and the demise of labor unions (which is now beginning to recover). Presidents from Bill Clinton onward have made promises of a better future, yet the Neumanns and Stanleys see little improvement or even worsening conditions.

I can relate to the growing sense of anger and frustration many people are experiencing right now. With rising costs and stagnant incomes, it feels like we’re treading water and getting nowhere. So many of us are struggling to make ends meet each month, and it’s disheartening to see that progress seems elusive.

Although the Stanleys encounter the extra challenge of racial bias — with Jackie, a real estate agent, struggling to sell homes in wealthier, predominantly white areas — their lives share similarities. They are both regular churchgoers and parents to numerous children. Both families grapple with the growing danger in their neighborhoods. Employment opportunities are scarce, leaving them scouring the classifieds for jobs that offer a decent wage. Living from paycheck to paycheck, they shuffle bills and rack up credit card debt. “It’s like robbing Peter to pay Paul,” Jackie explains, “and I’m robbing Peter so frequently that Peter is just standing there, empty-handed.”

In simpler terms, this passage describes how the documentary presents a compressed version of people’s lives spanning over three decades, not only during filming sessions. The stop-motion technique underscores the notion of stagnation and decay. Surroundings degrade, health issues emerge. Jackie acknowledges preparing for aging, but not for falling ill.

Despite facing hardships, our characters persevere and carry on. The Stanley couple, with their unwavering bond, embody a strong marriage; the Neumanns, leading separate lives due to contrasting work schedules, gradually drift apart as time passes. Yet, they both stay devoted to their adult children, who in turn have families of their own and face new aspirations and hurdles. Not every family continues to reside in Milwaukee.

Most importantly, the show challenges the belief, cherished by some affluent policymakers, that a family can thrive solely on one income. Ladders of opportunity have their limits.

As a movie reviewer, I’d rephrase it like this: “Personally, I believe we’re deceiving ourselves when we assume success is solely down to hard work. I’m someone who had to fight tooth and nail to stay in college, and now I run an economic development agency in Charlotte, North Carolina. But let me tell you, it wasn’t just about grinding it out day after day. Sometimes, luck played a role, or knowing the right people, or even where you grew up – your ZIP Code. These factors can get blurred within our society and mistakenly linked to ‘You work really hard, you will be successful.’ But trust me, there’s a much more complex equation at play here.”

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2024-07-26 14:22

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