This fifteen minute video was shot in South Memphis. It captures the life of man named Chris Dean who's lived in the area for most of his life. When he was two, he had what seems to have been open heart surgery when he died and came back to life. The cameramen in this video roamed the streets of Memphis for eight weeks to get a glimpse of the poverty-stricken areas of the city. It's an incredible video.
http://vimeo.com/48312847
This video is really well done. It's interesting to me that one 15 minute video can evoke such emotion. So much of the video presents the feeling of hopelessness within cyclical patterns of urban life - of poverty, poor treatment, and violence in portions of the city's environment. However, there is a glimmer of beauty and hope found in the incredible talent of the young boy singing. There is such significant potential in each human to succeed, but more often than we all wish there are impossible obstacles and a lack of encouraging surroundings which prevent people from being able to break out of this cycle.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to live in Memphis - especially when most of your time is spent on campus - and not experience the Memphis portrayed in this video. I think it's really important for more people to share their musings on Memphis daily life. Perhaps more people recognizing the hardships of the city will help ignite action to minimize the negative effects. Thanks Paul for posting this video!
I watched this video over the summer with a group of faculty and students. There was a long debate that followed, and claims were made that this video is an example of "poverty porn." Poverty porn describes the fetish of poverty through artsy endeavors such as this high definition, well-produced video. The art is essentially capitalizing on poverty.
ReplyDeleteMy question is, would this video be as powerful if the main character was a white male? Or, do we find it powerful and captivating because it fits our stereotypes of who is urban and poor and must overcome hardships?
I found this video to be incredibly moving. To be honest, I think this video would be powerful no matter the skin color of the main character. Yes, he is an African American who comes from an impoverished urban area and who has overcome unimaginable hardships. And yes, this video was well-produced and "artsy". Does that do anything to detract from the overall message that people gleaned from it? I don't personally believe so. It provided a window into the effects of poverty within Memphis, which is something that I have never experienced and probably would never experience without a video such as this. As stated above, it is easy to live in a privileged area of Memphis (i.e. Rhodes College) and fail to realize the suffering that is occurring just outside the gates. Any effort to enlighten the public about such suffering is a good think in my book, regardless of how it is produced.
ReplyDeleteAlso, by reading this brief synopsis of the video…
ReplyDelete"Chris Dean’s heart stopped when he was two. He died but he came back. When Chris was five, his father was murdered, riddled by more than 20 bullets in a gang shootout. At age 18, Chris gained national attention when he introduced President Barack Obama at his high school graduation. Chris is an observer and philosopher who has always had a few things to say about life from his vantage point in South Memphis."
… it is impossible to determine whether or not the subject is black or white. And yet, I think we are all sympathetic to the plights of this man (heart troubles, a father who was murdered, etc.) regardless of his race.