Film Review Of Sidewalk By Mitchell Duneier

Sidewalk is a documentary based on the extraordinary book written by Mitchell Duneier in 1999. In this film, we were able to see life through the eyes of book vendors and street peddlers on the streets of New York. We were taken to the congested urban areas where street vendors occupy almost every free area, trying to earn a living. By analyzing the backgrounds of certain vendors, we are able to see how and why they got to this point in their lives. Throughout the film, the audience starts to understand the hardships and real life problems these vendors face. The author of the film shows the audience what it is really like on the streets of New York. Also, he lets us into the background of their lives. Most vendors got their occupations due

DuBois. DuBois thought the problem of the 20th century was the color line, put simply, blacks vs. whites. Almost every single vendor that was interviewed in this film was African American. This represents the views by DuBois that blacks were seen as second-class citizens. Also, we learned that some of these vendors were forced into the business due to a criminal record, leading to them being able to get most jobs in society. Even without a criminal record, some African Americans still have a hard time finding jobs in society. In studies of race, Pager proved that African Americans who did not have a criminal record were less likely to get a job than a white person with a criminal record. This further proves DuBois’s point that blacks are seen as lower than whites. These black vendors were treated harshly, like they were beneath the other citizens. But in France, the Christmas tree sellers were white and treated with respect. That is not a coincidence. The white vendors were trusted with the keys to people’s homes. This shows race as a stratification; non-white races were inferior in the past and are in the present as

The theory of Functionalism was presented, showing how everyone in society has a role or a function. This film showed how these street vendors were almost necessary in the environment and held a significant role. They were often used as directories by tourists since they knew the neighborhoods extremely well. Also, since they would sell anything to make money, they sold useful items to people walking the streets. If there was a parade going on, they would sell crates to audience members so they could see and actually enjoy the performance. Then they would sell the crates to stores to put food into. If there was something going on in the city that led to extreme odor, vendors would sell surgical masks to people walking so they didn’t have to endure the smell as they ventured through the city. In one specific story, a woman let her son walk to school alone because that’s what he wanted to do, so of course she would just walk a couple blocks behind. The homeless man down the street would always tell her the exact time he walked by as a way to ensure her of her son’s safety. The woman called the man her “guardian angel”. The vendors served a purpose in the streets of New