TIME AND TIDE

Now that we have Joe Biden as our President-elect, maybe finally our leader can address certain issues that have been neglected by the current administration. I recently saw two documentaries about two big issues that are country is facing.

Garrett Bradley’s ‘Time’ addresses systematic racism. It centers upon the story of Fox Rich, a woman whose husband has been incarcerated. It shows her plight in raising her six sons because of an error in judgement. As a young couple in desperation, she and her husband robbed a credit union, and they got caught. She accepted a plea deal and served three and a half years in prison, while her husband did not, and was judged to serve sixty years without parole. She highlight the systemic racism for black and brown people – white counterparts would probably get a slap in the wrist for a similar crime.   The film is told from black and white videos that Fox has recorded over the years. This is a most touching film, and will open your eyes to the fact that behind these crimes and prisoners are human beings.

And human beings are affected by other issues, and one of the biggest ones is climate change. On the forefront of this is Greta Thunberg. This fifteen-year-old made waves with her September 2019 United Nations speech where she addressed this issue in front of world leaders, and her voice and message reverberated everywhere. This film gives us a lingering glimpse of the young person here, starting from when she started a strike in the Swedish Parliament House as her name gets more widely known. It shows her meeting French President Macron and the Pope. It shows the movement that she started, and how young people are inspired to engage int his issue because of her. It made me cringe how right wingers have demonized her – she is such a confident unapologetic figure that in some ways she is an easy target. I bet you will get out of the film admiring her more than you already have.