I just heard about this exciting series on today's democracy now.
Then I see that the series began airing on September 30.
Carl Jarvis
***
When TV icon Norman Lear looks into the camera and says, “I can’t
fucking believe it,” with a level of conviction so clearly obvious,
people will no doubt
be compelled to listen to what he has to say.
Lear’s statement is part of his work on the series America Divided, an
eight-story, five-part documentary that presents interwoven narratives
about inequality
in education, housing, healthcare, labor, criminal justice and the
political system.
Executive produced by Lear, television creator Shonda Rhimes and
musician Common, the series features that trio, along with
high-profile correspondents
Rosario Dawson, America Ferrera, Zach Galifianakis, Amy Poehler, Peter
Sarsgaard and Jesse Williams.
“Each of these individuals delve into a topic, addressing it in a
journalistic fashion, to explore the complexities of these issues, all
of which highlight
disparities in social class,” says Solly Granatstien, who along with
Lucian Read, and Richard Rowley, created the series.
A nine-time Emmy-winning producer. Granatstein has worked at ABC News,
NBC News and CBS’ 60 Minutes. Rowley’s credits include the 2013
Oscar-nominated
documentary Dirty Wars while Read, with Granatstein, produced the
docuseries, Years of Living Dangerously, which addressed the threat of
climate change.
Granatstein admits that the idea of ‘celebrity correspondents’ was not
appealing to the team at first, saying, “We were sort of skeptical
about doing that,
because it seemed sort of ‘gimmicky’ in a way, but we quickly realized
there’s a whole skill set that someone who spends time working in
front of the camera
brings. They have this ability to connect and an empathy that’s ever
present. And, they’re great at drawing people out and helping tell
real stories.”
Each of the correspondents had a very real connection to the issue
that they were working on, explains Rowley. “Zach (Galifianakis) is
from North Carolina
and he wanted very much to talk about the politic divide in that area.
Peter (Sarsgaard) said, ‘I come from working class people who’ve
struggled with
addition so I want to tell that story,’ and Jesse (Williams) was a
teacher so he wanted to report on educational issues. None of this was
random. There
was a real reason and purpose for each of them to work on exposing a
particular issue.”
Along with Galifianakis, Saarsgard, and Williams, Common looks at
disparities in the criminal justice system in his hometown of Chicago,
Rosario Dawson
travels to Flint, Michigan, to probe that city’s water crisis, America
Ferrera, whose family emigrated from Honduras, travels to Texas’ Rio
Grande Valley
to report on the plight of Central American refugees, and Amy Poehler
ventures into the world of immigrant women who are domestic workers.
Read says that the producers worked closely with each participant to
create a truthful narrative. “We gave them a journalistic edge with
the tools they
needed and they set about doing the work, telling the real stories of
people facing these issues. Each of them went on a journey and the
result is something
very impactful, for them certainly, but we think for everyone that
sees this as well. ”
The project, in the works for more than two years, was timed to air
right in the middle of the run-up to the 2016 Presidential election,
in the hope that
issues from the series might help shape campaign dialogue.
Granatstein explains, saying, “The series doesn’t engage with the
candidates directly but these are concerns that will be affected by
who we put in office,
so airing this at a time, when political decisions are being made by
citizens, was very important to us.”
Lear, who’s made a career of bringing social commentary to the masses
via entertainment with his award-winning television series — All in
the Family, Maude,
The Jeffersons, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, and Good Times —
admitted that working on a project like America Divided was much
different than he
initially anticipated it would be. “I wasn’t really prepared for all
of the things that I’d feel, that I felt, while I was doing this, and
some if it really
just hurt me to my core.”
He explained that as a child of the depression he grew up watching his
family struggle with their living situation on a daily basis. “The
whole area of
housing has been of great interest to me all my life, so my piece of
this was to look at the current status of housing in our society. It
was shocking,
but it shouldn’t have been because we all know what’s happening – how
much inequality there is out there, in race and class. It’s just
terrible.”
In a particularly searing segment, Lear goes ‘undercover’ as a
prospective renter to show how landlords discriminate against
African-Americans. This was
just one of the atrocities he unearthed in his expose of the housing industry.
He relates a little more of his experience, saying, “There was a woman
with three kids whose rent had been escalated to a high level because
the owners
just want her out. I also met a family with a young child who had
breathing problems and we learned that the landlord was doing this
shady work to keep
dust in the air so as to make the family want to get out. I have to
say it again; it’s just terrible. Really, really terrible.”
A close relative motivated Sarsgaard’s to participate in the project,
he says. “I have someone in my family who continually battles an
addiction — that’s
how it is when you have an addiction, it’s an ongoing thing – so I
wanted to understand the circumstances about how this happens and what
the future looks
like with regard to this issue.”
Sarsgaard admits that he found the lack of hope one of the toughest
things to understand, but that it’s prevalent now in society. “I saw a
lot of young
people just in the grip of a life that they don’t see getting any
better and that’s just so….” His head drops and he sighs as he
continues with, “…it’s
not just sad, it’s almost crushing in a way to see that and know that
this is how they really feel. How do we change that?”
Clearly agreeing with this thought, Lear says, “It’s distressing to
think that right now in America so many people feel that they just
don’t have a chance.
Any chance.”
Lear points to another of the reasons that he agreed to join this
effort; because he believes that America Divided is providing the
audience with knowledge
that’s extremely important. “Before you can take action, you need
information. Our government, and the success of our way of life, is
dependent on informed
citizens, so this is an opportunity to really show people what’s going
on right now in our country and to help them decide how to take
action.”
Echoing this sentiment, Sarsgaard adds, “There are issues that
mainstream media covers but the ones that we’re covering don’t seem to
be ‘sexy’ enough
to get the attention they need. I can pretty much guarantee that
everyone is going to be affected in some way by watching this. You may
think that maybe
this one issue doesn’t affect you, but you’ll see soon enough that
it’s really all connected, we’re really all connected, so we need to
understand each
other and work together.”
In choosing these particular topics, Rowley says, “We really feel that
we tried to keep our ears to the ground and listen the cry of the
people, and that’s
what the series is all about, answering that cry.”
Granatstein points out what he, and his co-producers, feel is the real
message of the series, empathetically saying, “Everyone involved in
this thinks
that inequality is the greatest crisis facing our country right now
and I’m pretty sure that the majority of the population will agree
with that. This
is a series that tackles that subject, and all its implications, in a
nuanced, but complex, way, with an emotional depth that’s unlike
really anything
that’s been seen on television up to this point.”
Adding to this, Sarsgaard says, “If you look at it as a whole, this is
a huge storm, and right now we’re really just holding a single
umbrella, but you
have to start somewhere, and that’s what this series is all about.
Let’s get things started, get people talking, create awareness, spur
people into action,
and make sure somehow, some way, we generate a shift in attitude and practice.”
Lear then jumped into proclaim, “Now that’s what a television series should do!”
And Lear is a guy who should absolutely fucking know.
‘America Divided’ premieres Friday, September 30, at 9pm et on Epix.
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