A crucial Presidential race is at the forefront of everyone’s mind at the moment and there seems no better time to release a documentary that attempts to celebrate and embrace, as well as get to the very heart of, what it means to be truly democratic and a force for change.
Inspired by a book by Mark Gerzon (credited as a Consulting Producer here) THE REUNITED STATES is the tale of how a former political strategist and his family, in the guise of an initiative called Undivided Nation, travelled over the fifty states of America in an RV to get to the bottom of the main issues and topics that are dividing the Continental USA – to perhaps get a sense that the Constitution needs to be rewritten and rethought to create the very thing that bonds all people and all races in the manner that a truly democratic and patriotic nation needs to be to survive and thrive in a future that in recent years has become increasingly divided because of key figures at the heart of the political maelstrom.
There is also the tale of an Independent Senator for Kansas, Greg Orman, whose own efforts to attempt to hook within Congress and perhaps become a pendulum for change between Democrats and Republicans to enforce major change in Washington, are seen as futile because of how the system of American Government and infrastructure is currently designed.
Also featured here is the mother of Heather Heyer, a woman killed during a protest when a car ploughed into her – and her on-going campaign to get justice for her death. The mother also reflects on the issue of whether if the victim wasn’t white and of a diverse background there would be more publicity for it, compared to the many who do fall by the wayside in the country.
There are no easy answers and actions that are at the heart of the progress that needs to be made in the coming months and years – and the immediacy of what is happening in the current US Election will probably have even more bearing on how these issues outlined in THE REUNITED STATES are addressed.
Classic American symbolism and values are always going to remain constant and determined to remain ‘true America’, but it is clear that the bridge-builders featured in this documentary have at least started to make headway for the ‘Millennial Generation’ who will have to carry the can once those at the heart of the political arena in Washington DC have shuffled off the mortal coil.
Some will certainly be keen to see that the Constitution of the USA be rewritten and reworked to embrace change on all fronts, whilst others want it to remain as a status quo and as the participants remind us here, it is as much about embracing those who oppose as well as attempting to compromise and change those key beliefs that are dividing communities as well as a nation, themes that ultimately are part of a bigger global initiative.
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