Dreamland

Phenomenology emphasizes that the researcher should look to other mediums to learn more about the phenomenon of interest. This means books, poetry, music, movies, paintings, etc. All of these things hellp to illuminate and inform your own personal research.

There are a few movies that I think portray rural poverty and adolescent development very well. I am adding Dreamland to my list. This movie is set in a trailer park in the desert. The girl is spending the summer after her senior year working at a convienence store, taking care of her agrophobic/alcoholic father, she is hanging out with her best friend who has MS and no health coverage, and she is trying to decide if she can get out of there. The movie is right on, I think. And it really captures that idea of not being able to leave. She says "They need me. What am I supposed to do just abandon them?"

Friday Night Lights (the movie) is another one that really captures that idea of the small town and its close knit ties. The heartbreaking part of this movie is that the parents keep telling their children that high school is as good as life gets, and after that there is nothing worth living for.

The third movie I think is worth watching is Country Boys. It is a PBS documentary that follows two high school boys through the years at an alternative school in Apalachia. It is hours and hours long, but the two boys are so real and you see all aspects of their lives and how difficult it is to live in rural poverty.