Film Review Of Sidewalk By Mitchell Duneier

Sidewalk is a documentary based on the extraordinary book written by Mitchell Duneier in 1999. In this film, we were able to see life through the eyes of book vendors and street peddlers on the streets of New York. We were taken to the congested urban areas where street vendors occupy almost every free area, trying to earn a living. By analyzing the backgrounds of certain vendors, we are able to see how and why they got to this point in their lives. Throughout the film, the audience starts to understand the hardships and real life problems these vendors face.
The author of the film shows the audience what it is really like on the streets of New York. Also, he lets us into the background of their lives. Most vendors got their occupations due

to not finishing their educations. Specifically we learned about a man who stopped going to school in the 7th grade because his mother had passed away. He didn’t have anyone to support him and not enough money to sustain his life. That was when he turned to selling books on the street. It provided a way to make an income that didn’t require a high school or college education, didn’t require part of the income to go to taxes, and could be done right on the side of the street every day. Others who began selling books, magazines, and poetry were forced to due to job loss. Some had previously worked for construction companies, owned arcades, or worked at a video store, but lost their jobs due to hard economic times in the country. Along with the loss of their job and income, they more than likely lost their living quarters as well. With no job, no money, and no place to live, they were forced to resort to living and fending for themselves on the street.
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The street vendors in New York were treated horribly. They are looked down upon by everyone else in society. They are strictly viewed as people who don’t pay rent, don’t pay taxes, and just block the street. However, in France, street vendors are treated drastically different. We specifically got to see life through the viewpoint of a family in France who sold Christmas trees on the street. Instead of being viewed as “in the way”, they were accepted into society. The family, just like most of the vendors in New York, didn’t have a place to shower or anything and didn’t have much money for food. However, people on the street would “adopt” them. By this I mean that people would offer them keys to their apartments or houses for them to shower and use other facilities. They were giving this family access to their homes when they weren’t even there, they trusted them that much. This relationship is severely different than the way the New York vendors were treated.
This documentary expressed the views presented by W.E.B.

DuBois. DuBois thought the problem of the 20th century was the color line, put simply, blacks vs. whites. Almost every single vendor that was interviewed in this film was African American. This represents the views by DuBois that blacks were seen as second-class citizens. Also, we learned that some of these vendors were forced into the business due to a criminal record, leading to them being able to get most jobs in society. Even without a criminal record, some African Americans still have a hard time finding jobs in society. In studies of race, Pager proved that African Americans who did not have a criminal record were less likely to get a job than a white person with a criminal record. This further proves DuBois’s point that blacks are seen as lower than whites. These black vendors were treated harshly, like they were beneath the other citizens. But in France, the Christmas tree sellers were white and treated with respect. That is not a coincidence. The white vendors were trusted with the keys to people’s homes. This shows race as a stratification; non-white races were inferior in the past and are in the present as

well.
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The theories of Durkheim were also present in this film.

The theory of Functionalism was presented, showing how everyone in society has a role or a function. This film showed how these street vendors were almost necessary in the environment and held a significant role. They were often used as directories by tourists since they knew the neighborhoods extremely well. Also, since they would sell anything to make money, they sold useful items to people walking the streets. If there was a parade going on, they would sell crates to audience members so they could see and actually enjoy the performance. Then they would sell the crates to stores to put food into. If there was something going on in the city that led to extreme odor, vendors would sell surgical masks to people walking so they didn’t have to endure the smell as they ventured through the city. In one specific story, a woman let her son walk to school alone because that’s what he wanted to do, so of course she would just walk a couple blocks behind. The homeless man down the street would always tell her the exact time he walked by as a way to ensure her of her son’s safety. The woman called the man her “guardian angel”. The vendors served a purpose in the streets of New

York.
Finally, the theories presented by Karl Marx are present in the film Sidewalk. Marx believed society was separated into two classes, the bourgeoisie and the proletariats. The bourgeoisie represented the have’s while the proletariats symbolized the have-not’s. In the film, the street vendors were the proletariats while the people walking through the city were considered the bourgeoisie. Also, he believed that people were connected by power and money, in fact, it is what controls our society. This was proved true in the film since the street vendors were seen as lower than everyone else because they did not have a stable income, thus they had less money. Because society defines people on their occupation and income, the value and worth of the street vendors often goes unnoticed.
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From this documentary, the audience learns about the everyday hardships faced by street vendors and book sellers. Some have been forced into this occupation due to job loss and family problems. Others had a criminal record, preventing them from getting a job in society again. From this, the audience should learn the roles these people play in society and that we should be doing more to help them. If people in France can trust their homeless people, why can’t we trust ours in New York? Also, programs to help convicts return to society with jobs should be made. We should be promoting people to get jobs that benefit society instead of just looking down on them. This film should be used as a way to teach people about racial issues, the cycle of poverty, and discrimination.