My family is going through the misery and stress that the 8 families followed in the movie are/we're going through. They say exactly what I say, every day:
"We worked hard..played by the rules..how did this happen?"
The best answer came from a not-financially struggling
gentleman well-versed in middle-class financial destruction. He observed that for the middle class in this country, "One strike and you're out".
I did not take comfort watching these 8 families suffer. I took comfort that they expressed my thoughts and feelings. I felt less alone, that my feelings of pain and misery were valid, and that I wasn't crazy.
The movie takes place in Portland, OR during the winter. It was bleak, cold, wet, and overcast. It mirrored the families' misery perfectly.
At the end, they showed what happened to each family. I was happy to see that most of them were either back on their feet or making progress to get there. I was sad that the other families were still struggling.
The middle class is definitely one strike and you're out. Layoffs, illnesses, accidents, including work-related ones, divorce, unexpected pregnancies, etc. can happen to anyone at any time.
The families in "American Winter" believed in The American Dream and worked hard to make it happen for them. They thought, like I thought, that being solidly middle class protected us from depending on this country's shrinking social services safety net. And from
food stamps, food pantries, homeless shelters, foreclosure, eviction, car repo, going w/o electricity, heat, and water from falling behind, going w/o health and car insurance, donating plasma as a source of regular income. And from moving back in with your parents. Or living out of a friend's unheated garage w/no electricity or running water.
The worst worst part was the effect on the children in these families. They were depressed, angry, frightened, and ashamed. One 12 year old blamed herself for her family's situation, because she became ill and there were medical bills. They ate and showered at friends' houses. Or went to friends' houses to escape the constant stress from hearing their parents fight from constant stress.
You don't have to be middle class and in financial crisis for "American Winter" to resonate with you.
One strike and you're out.