AS GOES JANESVILLE – The Review

You might recall the major conflict in Wisconsin last year over governor Scott Walker’s attack on the collective bargaining rights of state employees. In response, there were mass protests, a recall election, and a heating up of the debate over how best to improve America’s economic fortunes. Documentarian Brad Lichtenstein and his crew were in Wisconsin for years before any of this went down, focusing on the small town of Janesville.

Janesville is emblematic of America as a whole in this recession, as much of the town’s welfare depended on the GM plant that closed in 2008. Since then, the formerly employed have struggled to stay afloat, while those in government and business try to find ways to create jobs. The tensions in this situation came to a head with the 2010 elections and Walker’s rise to power, and As Goes Janesville chronicles the fight between Walker and the people through this one town’s eyes.

The movie focuses on five main characters. Gayle Listenbee, Cynthia Deegan, and Angie Hodges are all former auto workers who now must find new ways to stay afloat. They are what the political debates are all about. Angie and Gayle transfer to another plant located four hours away, and can only see their families on weekends. Cynthia discovers a lump in her breast and realizes that she can’t afford the needed medical treatment on her current funds. Two other characters represent the opposite ideological approaches to helping the lower class. Mary Wilmer is a bank president who is resolved to bring outside business back to Janesville. She allies herself with Republican policymakers and believes in “teaching people to fish” rather than government aid. Tim Cullen is a Democratic state senator given the hopeless task of trying to convince GM to come back to Janesville. He believes that without safeguards for the middle class, there can be no hope for the future.

Watching these people try to keep things together over the course of several years is so compelling that it’s almost a letdown when the election, protests, and recall election come into play. At that stage, Janesville somewhat becomes left behind, as the film focuses on the larger political situation in the state. And yet the early part of the movie still accomplishes what it’s meant to, which is to establish what the stakes are in this conflict. Still, with the exception of Tim, who has a direct role in the events, the other Janesville characters become little more than Greek chorus in this section of the film.

The doc avoids taking sides, although by their very nature, the conservatives come off as worse. While Mary’s intentions are pure, she is in bad company. One of her contemporaries is positively gleeful that the new economic situation means that he can pay his workers less. In confidence, Scott Walker reveals what an utter toad he is, openly admitting that his bill to defang unions is purposefully tied in with measures to balance the state budget, as a strategy of “divide and conquer.” And of course, the political machinations that follow, such as the prank call that shows Walker is nothing more than a puppet of the Koch brothers, don’t help his case either.

As Goes Janesville is a terrific look at the struggle between business and humanistic concerns that exists today in our country. As depicted in this film, Janesville is an evocative stand-in for America itself, drifting in uncertainty as warring ideologies try to decide its fate. Many people are weary of politics nowadays, which is completely understandable, but this documentary demonstrates that politics are still vital, because there are very human consequences intrinsic to them.

As Goes Janesville will premiere on Independent Lens on PBS, at 10:00 PM on October 8th.