The Dark Days documentary paints a more realistic picture of the American Dream. The people who live underground are obviously living in a struggle whether it be as a result of drug use, hard times, or other circumstances. These people’s underground living conditions are symbolic of their disadvantage in pursuing the American Dream. They live below the streets that the members of society chasing the American Dream populate every day. Many of the people who have achieved success through the American Dream have done so due to financial stability from a young age, a good education, and other opportunities. People who are born into an unstable family, poor economic conditions, or receive a poor education are going to have a lesser chance of attaining the American Dream. The people living underground represent the struggle of those trying to attain the American Dream, as they are placed below all members of society, both symbolically and literally.
I find your statement, “The people living underground represent the struggle of those trying to attain the American Dream, as they are placed below all members of society, both symbolically and literally,” insightful as you recognize the symbolism of the people who are literally stuck in a system of poverty in which they are forced to live below those who have more success. The cycle they are stuck in is beyond challenging to break as they have made a community of almost home-like structures for themselves. They are trapped below everyone else. Often, as you expressed, these people come from disadvantageous backgrounds, and they therefore cannot break out of this cycle.
The people in this movie share very similar struggles and disadvantages with those that grow up in poor neighborhoods in America. Inner city minority children that grow up in a single parent household are born with disadvantage that could possibly cripple their whole lives. They are also trapped in a cycle that sometimes regardless of how hard they work, they will never get out of.
I agree with your statement and its high levels of symbolism, overall this film is an incredible insight into a very difficult and dangerous lifestyle that some Americans are forced to live out until they can break out of the systematically oppressive condition. Poverty in America is often much more then mist realize and this example is perfect for describing one of the many ways in which citizens can fall upon hard times and untraditional communities like these can be created. Furthermore, this documentary is at times unpleasant to watch which I think is extremely effective for the viewer to feel for a short time frame how the struggles of these individuals have a place in the American reality and to remind us of how fortunate we all really are.
This blog post connects really well with our in-class discussion on the American Dream. In researching some of the background information on this documentary, I found out that the production and release of the film was delayed for a while because of the lack of funding that they needed in order to complete it. This information is a testament to how everyone involved in the making of the documentary really were not accomplishing the American Dream, not that it was necessarily what they were trying to do. The final statement you make in this blog post is very interesting and makes a really good connection between the physical struggle these people are facing and the underlying topics being documented in the film.