“Democracy in America” is the autopsy of a nation divided on everything
“Democracy in America” is the perfect event for those who want to keep up with history, which will see Donald J. Trump become the 47th President of the United States today. Never before has the country been divided, fragmented, crossed by political and racial hatred and Giovanni Troilo’s documentary, broadcast over three evenings on Sky, offers us the opportunity to take a look into a Texan microcosm representative of this situation. Certainly a work of great relevance and power.
“Democracy in America” - the plot
Giovanni Troilo for “Democracy in America” dedicated himself for a long time to exploring the political, social and cultural scenario of a small community in East Texas: Gregg County. A painstaking, meticulous job, distant from Washington and the great centers of power that have usually always been at center stage, even in documentaries. Certainly these latest elections were the grand finale of one of the most complicated historical periods in the history of the United States, which began with the unpredictable victory of Donald Trump against Hillary Clinton, continued with the unexpected debacle against Joe Biden, the assault on the Capitol, until we get to these latest, very strange elections. The incumbent president Biden withdrawing from the campaign already begun in favor of Kamala Harris, polls and forecasts which as usual are then denied or in any case largely downsized by reality. Giovanni Troilo’s documentary, however, is far from the clamor of the big stage, he is more interested in talking to us about the varied and varied real humanity, he does it in a county in eastern Texas, he follows the electoral campaign of the two opposing candidates.
On the one hand we have Marlena Cooper, the first African-American Democratic candidate in decades, pitted against Jay Dean, the outgoing Republican candidate, the expression of a white, religious, conservative electorate. “Democracy in America” however is not simply following in their footsteps, but looking at their voters, at the many stories they contain, at that humanity that seeks a point of reference, a reason for recovery. “Democracy in America” therefore inevitably becomes the outline of a snapshot of a country that was no longer so divided since the Civil War. Not exactly a precedent that encourages us to be calm, to look with optimism at future internal developments. The documentary becomes a sort of autopsy of a living body, that of the largest democracy in the world, (or supposed to be such) of the contradictions, fragility and violence that dominates it. A violence that is in the words, in the weapons that everyone carries or uses, in a State where the spirit of the Frontier is still very present. A thousand faces, a thousand faces, who line up and decide who wins and who loses, often based on sensation, out of habit or because they truly believe it.
A journey into the different souls of a divided country
Giovanni Troilo’s direction in “Democracy in America” is always that right step back, he never forgets to stay at the right distance, he limits himself to observing, he does not express any moral or merit judgment, he does not take any position, he lets it be spectator to draw their own conclusions, whatever they may be. The most extraordinary thing is how a reality emerges where things are still done as they used to be, door to door, shaking hands, seeking the support of the various churches, making telephone calls, participating in collective rites of the respective communities that appear separate by something much stronger and clearer than the color of the skin. “Democracy in America” uses that microcosm as a magnifying glass to plumb the soul of a country in which religiosity plays a central, fundamental role in the electoral campaign and beyond. Something disturbing, especially if we consider the fact that here, in Europe, things are much more nuanced and underground. “Democracy in America” starts from early voting, enlightens us about generalized abstention, about the complicated and exclusionary US electoral system, in the midst of a humanity that is very different from that which through social media or television shapes the image of the country abroad village.
Voters cling to their candidates, but big differences obviously emerge. Trump voters embrace a total cult of personality, they gather around a leader who for them is like the messiah, the promise of a better future and this above all includes religious groups, pro-life associations that would like to cancel abortion. His is the America of those who love weapons, absolute individual freedom, traditional or presumed traditional values. The Democratic candidate becomes the mirror of a party that has lost its grip among the lower classes, there is a feeling of defeat that follows Cooper for all three episodes. Few times have we seen a documentary so current, so perfect in making us understand how and why Donald Trump will become the 47th president of the United States of America today. Like it or not, the strength of his ideas or non-ideas is undeniable, as is his identity, the one that groups around him an electorate that regrets the times of the superpower, that does not realize that it is living in a gigantic illusion. It’s all about what will happen when they realize it. But in the meantime the wind of the tycoon’s return to the White House is blowing from Gregg.
Rating: 8.5