In case you are wondering
Posted by: Liz | From: March 30, 2004
In case you are wondering how I'm planning on getting through my first model-free Tuesday night, I will tell you right now it won't be with "Rock Me Baby" and a "Rock Me Baby" repeat. Instead, I will be tuning into part two of the PBS documentary, "New Americans" and recommend you do the same. It follows the stories of several different people from different countries all immigrating to America. It's one of those documentaries that shows you a lot of things in such a clear, open way that you grasp a million concepts at once with interviews and some simple editing. Some moments that stick out:Dodgers players brought from the Dominican Republic who were signed for $5,000 versus the $100,000 a fellow white, US-born player was signed for. "We Dominicans are more valuable, but are helpless because of our poverty."
A Nigerian family being welcomed to the US with a pamphlet that shows them, among other things, how to use a credit card. For a big treat, they all get McDonald's and everyone's excited to taste their first hamburger. "I feel just like Eddie Murphy in 'Coming to America.'" Taking a bite of burger, "It's different. I don't have the words to describe it yet, but soon I will be able to talk about the top the bottom, and all the things in the middle." There are lots of subsequent shots of the immigrant families eating at the golden arches.
Really, it's beautifully done. Do. What. Liz. Says. Watch. Documentary.
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