Saturday Morning Documentary: Street Fight

It’s been a while since I’ve seen this film (ie. last year) but I do remember how I felt about it pretty well.  In 2002 in the town of Newark in New Jersey, Cory Booker runs for mayor, hoping to unseat the longtime mayor Sharpe James.  You’re probably thinking, “So what?  Why should this be notable?  Mayoral elections happen all the time.”   Director Marshall Curry calls it “Street Fight” — as the fight for mayor is taken to the streets of Newark where both parties try to win over individual citizens.

Things are not as they seem, however.  While the film is primarily focused on Cory Booker and his campaign, he does try to film James’ campaign as well, only to get denied time and time again, sometimes meeting violence.  Sharpe James, as the film shows, is manipulative, arrogant, and his supporters seem to be out of control at times.  And since no one seems to be challenging James’ authority or the outrageous stunts he pulls, the street fight escalates, right up until the last vote is counted.

I would rank Street Fight with Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, in terms of how pissed off it leaves audiences feeling (or at least, me).  Despite the amateur look of the film, there is a reason why this was nominated for an Oscar: showing the corruption and true face of American politics.

Street Fight

Saturday Morning Documentary: Freeheld

Laurel and Stacie

At first, I thought watching a documentary short would be cheating for my documentary mornings on the weekend, but now that I think about it, it’s not the length that counts, it’s the fact that it is a documentary — a film that shows real life.  I was randomly scouring the pages on imdb like I do sometimes, aimlessly clicking on link after link of things.  I think I started off with Christopher Nolan’s Inception since it’s coming out this weekend, then clicked on Ellen Page, then clicked on one of her upcoming movies, titled Freeheld.  The synopsis was intriguing enough, about a lesbian couple trying to obtain pension benefits when before one of them dies from lung cancer.  As I scrolled down the page, I noticed it was a remake of a 2007 film of the same name, and instinctively thinking, “Oh god.  Another crappy remake”, I clicked on the original title.  What surprised me what that 1) the original is a 38 minute documentary short and 2) it won an Oscar.  More intrigued than ever and being very interested in social issues like this, I decided to Freeheld my film for this morning.

“You have denied Lieutenant Hester a pension she worked hard for.  A pension, that like every other officer who worked, derserves.  And you’re denying those benefits to her partner because her partner is not a man.”

The Freeholders

This is the opening line of the film, spoken by George Farrugia, part of the Gay Officers Action League (I didn’t know there was such a thing but I’m not really surprised).  Laurel Hester, a former Lieutenant of Ocean County, New Jersey, is dying from lung cancer.  She wants to pass on pension benefits to her partner, Stacie Andree but of course, there’s a problem — the county won’t allow it, that it only applies to hetersexual couples.  The film chronicles Laurel and Stacie’s fight for justice not only for themselves and their situation, but for same-sex couples in the county and in New Jersey.  What surprised me was how many people supported Hester and Andree.  Perhaps I’m merely pessimistic when it comes to gay rights and issues and assume that there must be opposition ALWAYS but I was pleasantly surprised.  The only people that were holding back were the Freeholders, the county officials who determine whether or not the benefits can be passed on; they are the people who can change the life for the couple.  As Hester’s health worsens, time slowly runs out for the couple to get permission from the Freeholders, who are hesitant to allow them the pension benefits.  Although the reasons behind their denial are only speculative (someone in the film suggests why they’re reluctant to say yes, but I won’t spoil it), they can’t ignore the voices of people in the room, powerfully chanting,”You have the power!  You have the power!”

There are few documentaries (and films, for that matter) that really resonate with me and make me cry.  But this little film does that.  It made me think of what would happen if I were in Laurel and Stacie’s situation, and made me very, very glad to be living here in Canada.  There are some powerful words spoken in the film, like this one by Joan Hervey, of the Garden State Equality: “Please don’t let her die.  Don’t let her die remembering you saying ‘No.  No, you’re not good enough; your 25 years of service was not good enough.  The criminals you put away, the lives you saved was not worth our time.'”

Thank you to Laurel Hester for such a compelling and moving story, and to Cynthia Wade for directing and making this film available to people.  It really touched me, and I’m willing to bet it did with plenty of other people.  Perhaps Laurel herself sums everything she goes through in the film thebest: “We’re just average people that have a home and a couple dogs and pay our taxes.  And we just wanted everything to be… equal.”

Supporters of Laurel and Stacie