Close to Home
During the early years of the current recession documentary filmmaker Ofra Bikel brought her cameras and recording equipment to Deborah Hair Design, a salon on the Upper East Side that caters to a relatively affluent population. In this Frontline special she shows how the recession has affected Deborah, the salon owner, as well as the clientele—who are now going longer between appointments and foregoing their regular services in an effort to stretch their budgets.

Questions to Consider:

1. Use each of the three major sociological perspectives—functionalist, conflict, interactionist—to analyze the situations depicted in the film.
2. In what ways do the stories here draw attention to the interconnectedness of society? Did you identify any economic “ripple effects”?
3. Hairstylists and other beauty professionals often say that their salon chairs are similar to confession booths, that their clients often reveal things about themselves and their lives while receiving a treatment that they would not reveal in another setting. Do you have any ideas about why this anecdotal observation might be true?

The State With The Hungriest Americans
Brief segment that focuses on the extreme poverty in West Virginia.

Questions to Consider:

1. What is food insecurity?
2. Are you surprised at the level of poverty depicted in this segment?
3. Do you believe that people in other countries would be shocked that this level of poverty exists in the United States.

Bill Moyers- Expose on the Business of Poverty
Poverty has become big business in the United States as a number of corporations have found ways to fill the “need” many poor people have for credit/financing. This investigative report describes predatory lending practices that specifically target poor people.

Questions to Consider:

1. How do poor people represent “a massive pool of wealth”?
2. What strategies do car sales agents at J.D. Byrider use? What is “opportunity pricing”?
3. Businesses that make money off of those who are economically marginal have always been around. How have the businesses changed in recent years?
4. What is a “self-pay patient”?
5. Some have said that companies like J.D. Byrider and Complete Care Inter are just “filling a need” and that they must charge high interest rates in order to off-set the risks entailed in lending to poor people. Do you think this is true? Explain your position.

West Virginia, Still Home
This short video from the New York Times profiles economically depressed McDowell County, W. Virginia. The area offers few economic opportunities and so its young people are moving away. It depicts an unfortunate cycle that is difficult to halt, much less reverse.

Questions to Consider:

1. What is “brain drain”?
2. How would you explain the problems McDowell is facing?
3. Do you think it is possible for the concerted efforts of determined individuals—like those presented in the video—to influence macro- and micro-level economic forces?
4. What do you think a sociologist would recommend to the residents of McDowell who would like to see their community reinvigorated?

Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream
This documentary draws attention to the fact that economic inequality, the gap between the richest and poorest Americans, has increased in recent years and explores some of the reasons behind this. It can be best summarized with that cynical variation on the Golden Rule: The one with the gold makes the rules. The documentarians describe how money enables one to make the rules by which everyone will abide and formulate those rules so that they work in their favor, effectively “rigging” the game.

Questions to Consider:

1. Were you surprised by the economic disparities shown? Why or why not?
2. The documentarians seem to believe that the current “system” is unfair. Do you agree? Explain your position.
3. How would a functionalist view the realities presented in this film? A conflict theorist? Which perspective do you find most useful for understanding the phenomena described?