Part of the documentary we watched in class on April 23rd, 2012.
This documentary address the tragic story that took place in Los Angeles, California 5 or so years ago. In this film the director, Scott Hamilton Kennedy paints a clear picture of how many people lives are around these community gardens located in Los Angeles. He follows a few individuals on their journey of their day to day life cultivating the earth, to the time when they read the sign posted that they will be evacuated. The owner of the lot decided he wanted to sell the property to someone who wanted to construct warehouses in its place. In the part we viewed in class, we were shown the process that the workers of the land went through to argue their need in keeping the gardens. Their lives and the lives of their families depended on it. But unfortunately, we live in a world where people look to their own needs more than to the needs of others. The owner of the land saw a better opportunity so he went for it and in some sense not really caring who's life was affected by his choice.
The arguments made in this documentary, are mainly value claims being made about the residents living and working that prosperous land. I myself can speak Spanish fairly fluently and have spent close to four years living in South America. The way they present this culture, in the little bit that I have seen, is correct. So that built credibility for me while I was watching. But this approach plays on your emotions in a strong way. Which was in some sense the purpose of this documentary. The author and producer want you to feel sorry for these people, who have now been taken away from their land for no reason. The land where their gardens once lived and produced fruit is now a dirt field.
-Anna Srock
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