Economic Film Analysis

Movie Selected:

Inequality for All

Rating (1 to 10):

Movie Reviewer (You):

Drew To

Your Review: (Base the review on how effective the content told the story and what you thought about it.

Robert Reich takes his audience on a journey through income inequality, but not in a normal way of
boring statistics, graphs, and numbers. We are taken through a story revolved around the history, the
policies, and most importantly the people impacted by income inequality, and Reich integrates this
story directly with his life. There is an immense amount of impact that the information has when you
Reich stacks upon his layer of graphs and numbers with a real life story. As an audience we see the
sides of the extremes of income inequality: the sinking middle class and also the overly wealthy CEO.
He conveys a sense of unfairness in the current system. Having a millionaire say that there is no
possible way he could spend money like the middle class, and the fact that he is in no way making jobs
or paying taxes the middle class is extremely effective. It compares to the accounts of the families
working paycheck to paycheck. The human aspect of the story is so convincing and persuasive. Reich
breaks down the barriers between people to show that this isnt a partisan issue it is a people issue.
The way Reich seamlessly shifts from history of the 1970s and Reagans administration to the dotcom
boom and then to the middle class various coping measures for income inequality is amazing. He
pinpoints the logic and cause of income inequality in the past to back up his claims. But, Reich does not
stop there. The audience sees Reich through the ages, and he vulnerably exposes himself for the
audience to see. The way he tackles this problem is astonishing and passionate, and he doesnt stop at
Secretary of Labor but continues as a professor to teach his love. However, he finds a wall blocking him
from achieving the goals in human capital and government spending to really solve this problem. The
facts dont lie and Reich makes it clear that the problem is becoming worse and worse as it compounds
on itself. The money goes straight to the top, and these people have so much capital and wealth that
they are influential in politics that its almost corrupting. The picture Reich paints is jaded and dark
among the rigged game of politics due to increasing costs of campaigns, and the increasing amount of
social unrest from those that feel cheated. The truth is democracy is slowly dying. Yet, Reich doesnt
treat this issue cynically. He ends on a light note: anyone can work to fix income inequality in their own
small way. The message Reich conveys is clear. He compels the audience to solve the problem after
learning about everything on the subject. The inclusion of people makes the story relevant and
persuasive, and people will advocate and rise up to solve the problem. Reich is amazing and effective,
and I believe that everyone should get a chance to experience Reichs story.