Sociology: Two American Families Documentary

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Torres 1 Torres 1 Marlon Torres Professor: Dunn Sociology: 201 31 July 2017 Marlon Torres Professor: Dunn Sociology: 201 31 July 2017 Two American Families Documentary In the PBS documentary Two American Families, shows the lives of two American families, the Neumanns and the Stanleys overcoming the downhill, changing American economy at the beginning of the 1990s. The documentary shows the lives of two middle class American families that have done everything possible to succeed in life and teach their children about hard work and recognition. Intermittently, the film goes until the year 2012, capturing the struggling lives of both families. However, during the changing economy and as inequality keept growing, the struggles begin to take a toll on both families …show more content…

For instance, in the early 1990s, a lot of the Milwaukee factories started to move overseas, and both head men of the family, the Stanleys and Neumanns, lost their jobs. They ended up taking lower paying jobs and Tony Neumann’s wife, ended up working as well. The documentary takes us to the early 2000s where we can still see both couples still struggling. Claude Stanley, the head of the Stanley family, started his own business and became a minister. By 2012, Claude Stanley developed an unexpected illness that led him to pay high amounts of medical bills and his business failed at the same time. His wife, Jackie Stanley, became a realtor but was not successful either. Tony Neumann, the head of the Neumann family, after he lost his job, took a lower paying job working in a factory overnight. Because of the overnight shift, Tony Neumann hardly saw his wife and three children making it hard for the family to come together and share bonding moments. Tony’s wife, Terry Neumann, worked three jobs, a security guard, forklift operator and as a home healthcare attendant also making it hard on the family on seeing each

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