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Before spreading to the rest of the country, the suburban dream was born in Levittown, Long Island after World War II. What began as an eight thousand dollar housing market evolved into today’s four hundred thousand dollar home. But with a dwindling economy and the average term of unemployment longer than ever before, homeowners struggle to make their mortgage payments.
The reason I decided to do it was because the story needed to be told. People in the U.S. are suffering. They’re hungry, and they’re in many ways worse off than my husband and myself. And that awareness has to be brought to mind.
There might be some people who’ll say, ‘They had a good run, I’m not going to feel sorry for them.’ But it goes to the core of the essential question that we as Americans face now. If we can’t provide that promise that Long Island has always held, that promise of shared prosperity — if all of that is going to disappear, what have we got?
>"Hard Times: Lost on Long Island" directed by Marc Levin
>"Hard Times: Lost on Long Island" follows a group of Long Island residents as they courageously describe the effect that their long time unemployed status has had on their families, finances, and ultimately their American dream.
>Rafer Guzman:
Partway through the documentary "Hard Times: Lost on Long Island," director Marc Levin captures some fairly surreal moments in which Suffolk County sheriffs forcibly evict people from their homes.
What's odd is not the action, which is sadly familiar, but the settings: pretty trees, green lawns, clean, wide streets. The message is clear: The recession isn't hitting only the poor but the average, even well-off, American.