Race To Nowhere

522 Words2 Pages

As schools and professional jobs get more competitive, workload is undeniably getting more stressful. The issue is acknowledged, but rarely talked about beyond a cliche “life isn’t fair.” Vicki Ables, director of the documentary film Race to Nowhere commentates on this through first person testimonials and anecdotes, the cinematography and overall set-up of the film. Arguably one of the most important factors in producing a film with such controversial arguments is who the film is going to be targeted at. Ables makes a very clear attempt at diversifying the testimonials presented; using different types of people from different backgrounds who all still manage to get to the same conclusion. One girl mentioned in the film reveals that she had been so stressed out about school that she developed an eating disorder and had to be expelled due to being a “distraction to her peers”. Another boy, who was African American, was shown to be working extremely hard in school due to the pressure of being the only one in his family able to get them above the poverty line. The many anecdotes and similar accounts of stressing out over school are an attempt to show the audience that it doesn’t matter what the backgrounds of the students are, they all have the same general concept about …show more content…

Ables uses a tactic throughout the majority of the documentary that sticks out like a sore thumb once it’s noticed. A ton of information is being dumped on the audience at once, and at first, it’s an excellent way to make them feel sympathetic and understand how badly the United States school education system throws off the lives of its victims. However, after the initial shock subsides, the routine grows redundant. It simply feels as if certain phrases are being repeated over and over. Ables works so hard to prove her point through the interviews and sad anecdotes that she perhaps goes too

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