And, more broadly, an examination of how pathology typically leads to even more pathology -- presented here in the context of how kids raised with incomplete and unsatisfied childhoods end up raising their own kids with the same or similar problems, leading to a snowball effect of pathologies that plague our society in innumerable ways. This is the key takeaway, despite the filmmaker likely not intending it to be: that childcare is extremely important (obviously), and the chain reaction caused by inadequate childcare may very well end up being eventual cause for America's collapse.
As our nation's population has grown during Ms. Greenfield's lifetime; as time has progressed; as our economic system has found new aspects of life to commodify and squeeze into our GDP growth figures, the pathologies of our culture have ballooned in tandem with our economic "success." We may very well have passed the point of no return towards our societal collapse, as this film suggests. At the very least, we are precipitously close to it.
Though I would like to say that this film is a must-watch, for its observations and lessons are so important for our nation's future, I think that such a recommendation is actually futile. As the professional critic reviews exemplify, for some folks (dare I say the majority of the US), this film will fall on deaf ears. We are so deep into our system of delusional desires and vacuous goals that we require great shock to awake to the truth. For this, there is no substitute for lived experience. Hence, as the reviews make evident, those who have experienced something that made them realize the truth of this film FOR THEMSELVES have rated it highly, while others have dismissed it as meandering and inconclusive. In other words, this film reaffirms the conclusions drawn by those who have already learned these same lessons for themselves, while baffling and even aggravating those who just can't/don't understand. We find ourselves in an unfolding catastrophe
that is too alluring and complex for most of us to be able to perceive clearly -- let alone do anything about.
In any case, thank you Ms. Greenfield for your effort in making this film, and in particular, your own introspection on how you (and your family) were in a way consumed by the pathologies of our society. This was powerful storytelling, beautifully filmed and narrated. 10/10
