Street Fight
Mar. 17th, 2006 10:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stdesjardinsTonight I went to Street Fight, a documentary about the 2002 Newark mayoral election. Sharpe Jones, the incumbent, is an exemplar of pretty much everything that's rotten in politics, running a campaign of lies and smears, using the police as his own private muscle, retaliating against businesses that support his opponent, Cory Booker. There's an astonishing sequence where the filmmaker is talking to Sharpe's press secretary about how much trouble he's had filming the candidate, and the guy just can't stop apologizing for how crazy and paranoid his boss is. There's even a break-in at one of Cory's offices, and two books full of campaign data are stolen.
What's depressing is the stupid reasons Sharpe's supporters give for voting for him. It's clear that if you lie relentlessly enough about your opponent, most people just won't bother finding out the truth. There's one community meeting where a woman said she'd heard Cory Booker didn't really live in a poor neighborhood, and it was clear she didn't believe him when he said he did, even when he offered to take everyone over to his apartment right now and show them his mess.
What's slightly less depressing is that, even though Booker lost the 2002 election (46% to Sharpe's 53%), it seems he's poised to win this year--in part, perhaps, to the documentary, which aired on PBS. The filmmaker compared Sharpe to Marion Barry: he's a charismatic, likeable figure, and most people understand that he's a rogue, but get defensive when he's challenged by outsiders. If we can have more journalism like this, which cares more about telling the truth than about being blandly even-handed, then perhaps we can have some real change.
The movie is available on DVD from the filmmaker. I recommend it.
What's depressing is the stupid reasons Sharpe's supporters give for voting for him. It's clear that if you lie relentlessly enough about your opponent, most people just won't bother finding out the truth. There's one community meeting where a woman said she'd heard Cory Booker didn't really live in a poor neighborhood, and it was clear she didn't believe him when he said he did, even when he offered to take everyone over to his apartment right now and show them his mess.
What's slightly less depressing is that, even though Booker lost the 2002 election (46% to Sharpe's 53%), it seems he's poised to win this year--in part, perhaps, to the documentary, which aired on PBS. The filmmaker compared Sharpe to Marion Barry: he's a charismatic, likeable figure, and most people understand that he's a rogue, but get defensive when he's challenged by outsiders. If we can have more journalism like this, which cares more about telling the truth than about being blandly even-handed, then perhaps we can have some real change.
The movie is available on DVD from the filmmaker. I recommend it.
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Date: 2006-03-18 11:28 pm (UTC)