Video Analysis: Waging A Living

Waging a living Waging a living is based on four people’s lives on achieving the American Dream and leaving the poor to become a better person financially and overall. The four people in the video are Jean R, Jerry L, Mary V, and Barbara B. All four have interesting stories and many hardships to overcome. The two most interesting moments that struck me in the video were about Jerry. Jerry was homeless at one point and lives paycheck to paycheck. I could not imagine my life depending on my next paycheck or the next time I was going to get paid from my job. Jerry’s story hit me because he was rock bottom, and by working as a security guard at the hotel he was able to get off the streets and live in a small apartment. He always had a positive attitude and never missed a day of work. Although Jerry had to live pay check to pay check, he
made the best out of it and never missed work, no matter how bad the situation. There are many symbols throughout the video.
The two symbols that stood out the most were living spaces and sickness. The living spaces of the families in the video were all extremely crammed and small. Since every family had multiple kids, it made these living conditions seem even worse. Barbara and Jean stood out because they were taking care of various kids and also other family members. The small living conditions symbolized how much they struggled but always did the best they could to support their family. Sickness is another symbol throughout the movie that kept coming up. Barbara and her son were sick in the movie as well as Jean and her daughter, Bridgette, who had cancer. Sickness can be considered as a symbol because being sick did not stop Bridgette or anyone in the movie in living and being strong. Bridgette has cancer and was not supposed to live past the year, but she was strong, and with the help of her mother she lived many more years than the doctors said she would. Therefore, it showed how life can be challenging, but with support and a family who cares, people can move forward from a bad sickness and tough
life. If I could interview anyone from the movie it would be Mary. I would interview Mary because she accumulated a large amount of debt. I would interview her to see how she is doing now and if she was able to get out of the debt. She found a partner towards the end so I would ask her how they are doing and how much more he has helped her. Mary was living the normal middle class life like she said. She would donate a lot, but then her life turned for the worse. Therefore I would see how going from middle class and dealing with a divorce lead to with being in debt and having a new boyfriend. A main cause for poverty in the U.S. is individual explanation. This is because many people drop out of school, get pregnant, and do it to themselves. The families had many kids and put themself in the situation to support a larger family when they weren’t capable of doing so. If people in the U.S. made the decision to make a stable life for themselves because making a family, there may be less children coming from poor families. If I were in charge of implementing a plan to help the working poor families in America it would be to help them as much as the government could with living and food stamps. A decent place to live and food are essential to life, and if people are working as hard as they can but cannot supply these essentials for their families, then they should receive more money and help. It is not fair for people who are working to not receive help just because they make a little more than minimum wage, while trying to support a family.