Documentary shows spirit dominating strength
Political documentaries are very rarely inspiring. Almost always, they are about what’s wrong with our world. Occasionally, they will offer a solution or a call to action, but more generally the films highlight a particular point of view on an issue, tell stories of those affected by them, and offer a sobering look at something serious and dangerous.
It’s not often fun viewing—there’s no question that the world sucks, the country is headed into a constitutional crisis, and there’s not much the average person to can do about it. That is, until the average person does something.
Knock Down the House is a documentary about four average women. Women who were unhappy with the status quo, who dare challenge the establishment, who stood against the world and said, “No, you move.” The result is something powerful, something essential, something valid.
As disaffecting as the news can be, there are people who will stand against it. Who refuse to be silenced. Knock Down the House is a David vs. Goliath story, and it shows that Goliath is likely to win three out of four times. But that fourth time is a knockout. And it makes everything that came before worth it.
There are four stories in Knock Down the House, although there were far more voices not included in the film. Four women—Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Amy Vilela, Cori Bush, and Paula Jean Swearengin—dared to enter the Democratic primaries of the 2018 election as part of the Blue Wave inspired by the election of Donald Trump.
These races had long been dominated by incumbent candidates. In the case of Ocasio-Cortez, her opponent Joe Crowley had not had a primary challenger in fourteen years. Cori Bush was running against Lacy Clay, who essentially inherited the position from his father Bill Clay in 2001, ensuring that the same district had been represented by a Clay for fifty years. Paula Jean Swearengin pitted herself against incumbent Blue Dog Democrat and U.S. Senate swing vote Joe Manchin.
These were not easy seats to challenge or to win. And yet these women took a chance. It’s not a secret that most were unsuccessful. Amy Vilela only won nine percent of the vote in her Nevada district. Paula Jean Swearengin pulled in thirty percent. Cori Bush got a respectable thirty-nine percent.
But there’s always one and it was the most unlikely of them all. Joe Crowley controlled the Democratic Party in the Bronx and Queens. He was the fourth most powerful Democrat in the House of Representatives. And yet, when the votes were tallied, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated him by winning fifty-seven percent of the vote.
The documentary primarily focuses on Ocasio-Cortez, likely because of the four she was the winner. I have no doubt there was plenty of footage of each of the candidates, but Ocasio-Cortez shook the Democratic establishment and made a target for the Republican Party. She has essentially replaced Hillary Clinton as the conservative boogeyman.
The documentary shows a different story, however. It shows her working class roots (Ocasio-Cortez was a bartender before and during the election), her family, her living conditions.
She is likely one of the only Congress members whose apartment looks like yours. She is not a rich white man in a suit; she doesn’t speak like a politician. She is an ordinary person who has been put in an extraordinary situation, and by all measures, appears to be rising to the occasion.
But the film isn’t just about Ocasio-Cortez and her unlikely win. It’s about groups like Justice Democrats and Brand New Congress who are out in the country searching for more candidates like her. As Ocasio-Cortez wisely puts it, for one person to get through “one hundred have to try.”
There are others who made it—Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar are two more. If things continue as they are, there will be more that come through in 2020. Despite the horror show that is the current administration, there is hope.
The film is inspiring, of course, although I doubt it will appeal to both sides of the aisle. There aren’t many conservatives that are going applaud a film about a democratic socialist winning an election, no matter how scrappy and relatable she may be.
Instead, they’re more likely to see women and people of color successfully challenging the establishment as a sign of the apocalypse.
But it’s not the end of the world. Hopefully, it’s just the end of some.