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Like Raymon, I now have a much more humanistic opinion on the homeless after watching “Dark Days.” I was conditioned to espouse a self-made work ethic by my parents. They felt that work ethic enabled them to presently live on a stable income. I held onto this belief until I reached high school and I was immersed in the multitude of extrinsic disparities that keep many people around the world from attaining their fullest potential. And, I believe that this furthered this initial change of belief.
There were many caricatures throughout the documentary that led to this change. I felt that camaraderie between Tommy and Brian summed up the dynamics between all the characters: they face the obstacles of homelessness together. They are all enervated to a certain extent by their overbearing homelessness so they can only maintain a sustainable life by working together. Although they engage in activities that are looked down upon (Dee’s crack abuse), they experience the same emotions that we go through. For me, this redeeming characteristic shifted my view of the homeless from being nonentities to being humans with potential to experience the same experiences had they not been oppressed by extrinsic circumstances.
Altogether, this documentary allowed me to reflect on a belief that I previously held and strengthened my resolve to decrease disparity.
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For me, Dark Days, brought humanity to the homeless. Not to say the the homeless aren’t human but I was sure treating them as less of a human than I. When I see a homeless person on the subway, I use to look down upon them, thinking that they are lazy. However, Dark Days showed me that the homeless are in now way lazy as it is a struggle just to survive. Furthermore, Dark Days made me empathetic to the homeless. The tearful stories that were told by the various characters showed me that these people were generally good; they just made some mistakes, usually drug related, that left them in such abhorrent conditions. They know that they’ve hit rock-bottom, but that caused them to reassess their lives and not make the same mistakes that got them down in the subway tunnels in the first place. Ultimately, when I saw the people of Dark Day in regular housing, they strangely seemed more human to me. However, they haven’t lost their humanity down in the tunnels nor have they gained it when they moved into housing; it was always with them. Only my perceptions of their humanity have changed.
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The one thing that interested me the most about “Dark Days,” was that it seemed people needed to create a community to survive anywhere. We are social beings and work better together as a group. I felt that the people living in the subways created their own little family based on a loose link, which was the fact that they were all homeless and now living in this dark place. Although, they are all fighting for their own individual survival, I believe that they could not survive without each other. When there were times of need, they relied on each other to lend them a place to stay for the night or perhaps a scarp of food to eat. This need for human interaction could be seen as sort of an instinct that we all share, that anywhere we go, we could find people who are in a similar situation and could create a community based on it.
I am glad I saw this video because it made me realize, also, how blessed and lucky I was that I do not have to go through such trials just to get breakfast to last me a few hours. -
“Dark Days” by Marc Singer captures the struggles, hope, and innovation of the homeless people who live alongside the tracks of the Amtrak rail system in New York City. The film highlights the humane qualities of the homeless that most people tend not to associate with them. The homeless show personal responsibility by cleaning their homes and taking care of their pets. This personal responsibility is the driving force of most humans: it is our personal responsibility that gives us pride in the things that we do; it is our personal responsibility that has molded us into the people who we are today; and it is our personal responsibility that gives us hope for a better future.
Marc Singer has made the viewers connect on an emotional level with the tunnel inhabitants that makes you forget that the characters are homeless and sympathize with them. This appeal is brought out when Dee discusses the loss of her sons; and when Ralph discusses the torture that his daughter experienced and that he was not in a position to offer her any assistance. This really highlights that all humans are alike, no matter what social class, financial situation, or health status; we all have something that we care/d about and have someone that care/d about us.
“Dark Days” is very inspirational since it shows you that no matter your circumstances, as long as you have a dream and the determination to make it come true, your dream will be accomplished. It epitomizes Leon J. Suenes’ quote, “happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.”
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I do not know if anyone picked up on it, but I felt that the most interesting condition facing these people were the decisions they had to make. They all had to decide if they wanted to live there or live on the streets. Most of them had to decide if they would spend their time and money on drugs or on their homes. I even found it interesting when one of the men decided he would get dogs even though they ate his food and such.
To me, these decisions were the key to humanizing such a distant type of people to the audience. By putting such a strong emphasis on the decisions, the director basically created a series of intertwined novels in the respect that novels focus on the path of an individual and how his decisions define the world around him. By defining the actions of the world in the tunnel, the audience can better reflect on their world. The one thing I left the movie with is that I was much more grateful for what I had. -
One thing I’ve thought about a lot was how the homeless live on, and how they got into their condition. Dark Days gave me a better idea of the possible answers. From what I remember, things at home were not going well. Sometimes it was their fault or not. Either way, home was not a solution. Even though I can’t help but think this is what happens when you don’t do something about turning your life the right way up, it is saddening to see their struggles. I admire how they were still living on. I would probably have died somehow…
It was disheartening to see that some used their money to buy drugs. It just made their stories more tragic, in that they couldn’t let go of something that was ruining their lives. It was definitely great to see in the end though that they got a second chance. I just hope that they actually followed through.
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I wish I could comment on this documentary, especially because I found it extremely interesting, but I was sadly not in class this day 🙁
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Ask to borrow the DVD or check it out on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh4s78Db5OQ) and (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95zANyhFKWI). Absences are never an excuse for missing an assignment.
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Dark Days was definitely eye opening as everyone else has already stated. I don’t think I would have ever even thought of the possibility that there would be people living underground in the subway tracks. Living in the city we’re surrounded by so many people, however often times the massive amounts of people around us fade into the background and become merely objects. When this happens it becomes difficult to look past our own worries and troubles and sympathize with the hardships of others.
I feel that documentaries like Dark Days, help us to see the humanity in others. We are able to see the pain and hardships other have to endure. One of the things that stood out to me the most was that how these people were able to survive in such horrible conditions. While a mostly depressing film, it was interesting and somewhat remarkable to see how strong the will to survive in people is.
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“If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.” ~Charles Darwin
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I have been riding the subway on my own ever since 9th grade;however, I never thought to look past the darkness and through the eerie light cast by distanced blue lanterns until I watched this documentary. The thought of creating a home where there is no sunlight and there is no running water is much to shocking for a person who grew up among the 38000 homeless men, women and children in NYC.
What is most disconcerting is my own ability, or necessity, to feel apathy when walking past a homeless person in the city. My mind knows I can not give to every person, and so I keep walking without allowing myself the chance of realizing this man as an actual human being in need. The apathy leads to a false assumption that someone else will take care of the situation, someone more capable and wealthy. This, in fact, is rarely the case, causing over 38000 to sleep homeless every night. It is up to me, more so as a voter than as a personal donator to individual homeless people, to make sure someone (the government) is taking care of these people in need. By establishing more soup kitchens and shelters for those who show up hungry and alone, the government can raise awareness of this issue and spread knowledge to the public that homeless people are people too.
I thought Dark Days was an extremely well put together documentary that served its purpose of raising policy awareness perfectly.
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“Society comprises two classes: those who have more food than appetite, and those who have more appetite than food.” ~Sébastien-Roch Nicholas de Chamfort, Maximes
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It was a very pleasant surprise that Dark Days changed the lives of the homeless people that were featured in this documentary. The purpose of the documentary was to bring a ‘dark’ problem to light to help find a solution, and in doing that, the problem was solved. I wasn’t aware that homelessness in the subway stations was this bad nor did I think that a person would be brave enough to explore the situation by living underground with the homeless. Marc Singer created a documentary that changed the lives of these people and this story really touched my heart.
Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand into the light. – Norman B. Rice (Former Mayor of Seattle, Washington)
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Fine advice, Mr. Rice.
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The feeling of sympathy would be an understatement for the impact this film had on me. The cast of Dark Days were the pinnacle of what it was to have bad fortune. Having made bad decisions in the past, this group of the homeless was denied a second chance by society. Even after being shut out by society, this group of the homeless displayed a will to survive superior to the common man. They built civilizations in the underground railroad tracks of Amtrak; literally building homes and owning televisions, beds, and even pets. The fact that these people were able to do so much makes a person wonder, how could this group of the homeless, who were so able, not be adequate to society? Besides for their will to survive and their talents, these people also witnessed far more problems than the common man. One of the characters has to live with knowing that his daughter was raped and is now missing an arm and a leg.
This group of the homeless were a paramount example of what it means to be determined. This film was a big wake up call for everyone including me, it changed my view of the homeless drastically. I used to believe that these were people who gave up on life and were lazy, but I now know that they must be granted a second chance. We claim a second chance is an innate right for all people, why should it be any different for the homeless? Though I can’t change the fortune of the homeless entirely, I find myself funding the musicians of the NYC subway now more than ever.
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If I start placing a can on my desk, will I garner a few coins?
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Dark Days was probably the most depressing, yet eye-opening film I’ve ever seen. It showed me that NYC homeless is not a joke, it’s not something to be left behind. It is something serious and in need of the right change.
This reminded me of an episode of Oprah I watched in school last year about different types of homelessness in the economic recession. One example was of the Sacremento tent city. Check it out here: http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20090218_tows_lisa-ling
Dark Days will forever stick with me and serve as a reminder of my good fortune and that no day should go by where I don’t try to help someone in need.
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Anonymous on Good Fortune: “God, grant me the Senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference.”
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Thank you professor Judell, I can never go into the subway now without the image of mole-people dwelling in the tunnels into which I am about to step foot. So that may be a slight exaggeration, and somewhat rude too, but they are a rather unique group of people. It seems they have created their own functioning society underground. The chores and activities they partake in underground are astoundingly parallel that of an everyday American. They cook, clean, attend to pets, etc. The means by which they compensate for the lack of utilities is also surprising. Some of it is also repulsive, so I will not delve any further into this aspect of Dark Days, but let me just leave you with two words: “Shit Seat”. What was more surprising than the living conditions was that these were everyday people, just like you and I. They just happened to face a lot of bad luck in life. In fact when they were given the opportunity to return to living in real homes, you can’t even tell that these people were once hobos. This was definitely new to me. In my eyes hobos were like a different species. They had lower level intelligence, and their bodies released a natural deterrent which made them smell so terrible. And if they were placed into corporate society they would just squirm and eventually disintegrate. Okay, that too is an exaggeration, but I thought they were hopeless. I have a new found respect for hobos now.
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Don’t get so much respect for them that you start emulating their lifestyle.
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Dark Days opened my eyes to the poverty located in the heart of New York City. Sure, we have all seen homeless people begging for loose change on the subway lines, but Dark Days shows what poverty is really like. I have seen poverty in foreign countries and it is not pretty. However, poverty is not shown in the United States because the citizens rather boast the good life than reveal deprived living conditions. The great aspect of this documentary is that the director films the homeless people directly and illustrates their way of life. This proves that even “The Great U.S. of A” is capable of having many flaws and poverty is one of the biggest – which may sound hard to believe.
I believe the director’s aim was to leave the audience thinking how lucky their lives are compared to those in the documentary. Even though you are warm and cozy in your house there are others all over the country struggling to survive, day in and day out. In addition, the importance of possessing a home or even an apartment is significantly amplified. The people in the film are desperate to own their own place and when they finally do, it is as if they have found heaven. Furthermore, homeless people are no different from the rest of us. They are compassionate and loving, in fact they all lived together as a family in the section near the Amtrack.
By successfully showing the hardships faced by the people, the director invokes a plethora of emotions. Imagining life where we search garbage to make money, sometimes eat rotten and disgusting food, showering with cold water, and urinating at the same place as everyone else, should bring shivers down all of our spines. The director, Marc Singer did a brilliant job portraying the life of the poverty and the constant struggle of finding a place one can rightfully call home. In general, Dark Days is a moving documentary worthy of receiving great praise.
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Martin Luther King, Jr.: “It is a tragic mix-up when the United States spends $500,000 for every enemy soldier killed, and only $53 annually on the victims of poverty.”
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The documentary reminded me of a Christian faith-based missions trip that I participated in the summer of 2008. As a missionary team, about twenty students in my high school’s Christian organization went to Kensington, Philadelphia, and on one of the days we visited a park for the homeless. I had a first-hand experience of interacting with many many homeless people- sharing food, conversing with them about their lives, and praying for them.
Then I began to see how so many seemingly hopeless and desolate people were actually filled with so much hope, gratitude for what people take for granted, and a strong vision for their future. They had a spirit that we didn’t have and wow, they were such ordinary people. The stereotypical image of homeless people that I had vanished. We always see the homeless as outcasts or simply, different people. We view them with a certain attitude or detachment. I feel that the documentary rather portrayed them as different people but it definitely stirred its viewers and increased awareness, which leads to action…. muckraker in this sense. I am happy that a governmental action was taken
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Always supplement generalizations with something concrete. Was there one person who stood out for you? If so, let the reader visualize him or her.
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What surprised me about this film was the extent to which these homeless people had to go in order to live somewhere rent-free. It gave me the feeling that no one would be willing to help anyone unless they were financially compensated. It makes me sick that people are forced to pay large sums of rent money just for being able to live in a space that they still don’t own. I think it’s wrong that the government and corporations owns every tangible piece of land, and people that are broke aren’t allowed claim their own space. I was taught in school that human beings are born with natural laws, which basically give them rights to life, liberty, and property. So why then can’t homeless people live on land that is so called “public” space. Those in the film had no other option but to live where it’s pitch dark and no one else (accept Amtrak) would care to disturb them. Forgive me for being philosophical, but this is why I think there’s such a major homeless crisis going on. Homeless people are necessarily “evil” and are commonly victims of financial misfortunes. I view them as normal people who can’t live normal lives just because they don’t have money to pay rent.
The film got me thinking about my experiences at my parent’s home country, Bangladesh, which I had visited a few times when I was younger. This is a third world country, so poverty is much more common. However, since poverty affects so many people, Everyone seems to help each other and live mutually, just like the homeless people in the film. For example, my relatives who live there fortunately own large houses and take in homeless people that are willing work for them by either helping out around the house or running errands. In return they get live-
sorry…continued here:
In return those workers basically get to live in the house and are paid, though very little. Random beggars asking for money or food usually get more help than homeless here in New York. Even though those of the lower class in Bangladesh are generally treated as inferior, they are allowed to live on the land freely and seem to have much easier lives than those of homeless here.
I think the problem with society here in terms of economic social structure is that our society is designed for those who are of lower middle class and above. It’s not compatible for homeless people, and so it is as if they are outcasts. I’m absolutely not suggesting communism but I feel that people who don’t have any income deserve special treatment and should be provided for so they can be accepted into the social norm. This is basically my inspiration from the film. I was happy that the homeless people at the end were given apartments and received significant aid. This is an example of how I feel it should be, although the homeless people had to wait for years before anyone helped them. -
When I wrote “Homeless people are necessarily ‘evil'” I meant *aren’t*. Sorry for any confusion.
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Cosmoni and Asmoni (A poem from Bangladesh)
Cosmoni:
the sun burns the road
like a wild fire. But Cosmoni,
white dressed, with pink feet,
lives in an enchanted place.
As she walks in the evening
all the stars twinkle;
when she laughs, the flowers smile
and all the birds sing while she dances.
Tell her, please, to play sometimes,
with little Asmoni.Asmoni:
in a small hut,
more a place for birds, than a home,
she lives in poverty.
She waits for some drop of morning mist
and there is no food to feed her hunger.
Poverty has extinguished
the light of her smile.
Malaria has taken over her body;
she trembles with high fevers
And there is no money for medicines.
And sweet songs, and jokes, and dances
Asmoni does not know.Cosmoni and Asmoni: two different worlds .
But if you could help one girl,
who would you help?
—Jasimuddin -
What really struck me first when watching Dark Days was the fact that I was going to be riding an Amtrak train that following weekend–my first time doing so and my first time back home. As I travelled through the tunnels, exiting that underground monstrosity that is Pennsylvania Station, I thought about these people who had lived down there, in the darkness. The fact that I could not even see out my window then made me wonder again how a whole community developed in this blackness. This, and the film that had inspired my thoughts, provoked in me thought and sympathy for this at times invisible group of people.
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When I was younger, I use to give money to the homeless in the streets because I pitied them (and also because my mom told me to). When I started getting older, I became disgusted with them, especially the ones who sleep in subways, hogging all the seats and staining it with a foul odor that no one wants to walk into school or work with. I stopped giving them money then because I realized how poor I was and how much I needed it to get through architecture school. I am still somewhat repulsive toward them because they make me so uncomfortable when they’re floating around the subway stations at midnight like crazy drunkards.
After watching Dark Days, I became somewhat sympathetic toward the homeless. Following the video, I was extremely sympathetic, but my old perceptions came back to me as I experienced more of them every day when I leave school late. Nonetheless, I was shocked at what I saw. First, I never knew that the homeless took shelter underground. I’m curious as to how they even discovered such places to begin with. I was abhored by the conditions they lived in. Although I saw such shelters as dumps, the homeless saw it otherwise. They saw it as a home – a place they call their own and a place they find safety and comfort in. What I was especially amazed with is how they furnished their shelters with beds and other necessities. I was surprised that a homeless person even had such items.
I never knew that the homeless were similar to ordinary men and women. They have a home like we do, even though it’s not as “glamorous” as ours. They work to earn money by selling commodities they find in the streets or recycling bottles. They care about cleanliness – shocking. I always saw the homeless as dirty people, but the people portrayed in Dark Days were so obsessive about cleanliness. And finally, they have a family like we do. Many of the homeless portrayed in the video left their old living conditions because of neglect, abuse, or self-endangerment (i.e. drugs, alcohol, etc.) They ended up in the underground shelters. They are just like ordinary people struggling to make ends meet. They have dreams too, but society’s not giving them that chance to make it. I pitied them because of their conditions.
Since the video… I don’t think I’ve really changed that much. For me, it was really a one-moment thing because you have no idea how many bums I come across every night on my way home from school. It’s petrifying.
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When I first came to the Unites States, I had a notion that it would be a great place free from all the “sadness” that was present in Mumbai, India. Since everyone there thought of the U.S. to be a great place to live in which had all the opportunities, my cousins told me not to settle for less than what you can achieve. Landing here, I saw that after all the notion of the American Dream still ponders but there are only a handful of those who attain it. Seeing the home where my dad took us, I was unhappy because it was not so appealing to my mind. Starting to travel in the neighborhood for the first few days, I realized whatever I perceived was completely inaccurate. “Is this a better place to live in than back home?” came to my thoughts.
Growing up, I became aware of the reasons why U.S.A has been thought of as the “perfect place” even when it is the same as any other on the globe. Dark Days reveals the truth about NYC. Not to disregard the glory of this famous city or in fact any other amazing city to be in, they all have deficiencies. Personally, I love this city and all the good it has to offer the world. However we cannot forget about the “bad” it already has existing.
As the documentary shows a viewer the mishaps and the unfortunate events happening to people living on the streets, there are many more such individuals with families in the third world countries. I have seen the slum areas of Mumbai and the lifestyle poor people live in; the slums in India are worse. Their homes are all outside, made with metal scrap in which water pours through, with about fifteen people living in an area of twenty feet by twenty feet. There is no drainage system and the residents work in small industries such as clothing or pottery. Similar to the residents in the underground tunnels near the tracks owned by the LIRR, slum inhabitants live illegally receiving some electricity from the railway system and the government.
Creating problems for the government to decide finally about what to do with these folks, they do not provide much for the economic growth of the city. The same way those who live on the streets live without paying (taxes) what the legal residents compensate to live here. Wanting to have a better life in a major city, without having to work for it, makes these people go off to live on the streets in darkness and shadow. Thus slums take away the posture of a metropolis on our planet. For this particular reason I express grief for the “legal” population living in the urban area. New York City has not received a bad impression from the street dwellers. I hope in the future it does not turn into a place where about forty percent of the populace live under open sky, especially in economic times of today or the great depression.
On a side note: The release of Slumdog Millionaire, not even after the termination of three months to the date of the Mumbai attacks, has brought the misfortunes of Mumbai into the world. Can anyone answer the question what the people of Bombay would have about just telling the world about such poverty looked down by the West? Not many. Plenty might not even know the questions this film raised in the major city of India. Well think about if this documentary was spread to all the small corners of the world, where people look towards us as a great nation. What would happen to New York, the city we all call home, and our country?
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You might just become the 21st Century’s Saint Francis of Assisi: “Grant me the treasure of sublime poverty: permit the distinctive sign of our order to be that it does not possess anything of its own beneath the sun, for the glory of your name, and that it have no other patrimony than begging.”
Well wrought prose and thought as always.
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Dark Days was creepy and disgusting and yet it was a powerful thought-provoking film. Even before watching the film I had always wondered how people were able to go underground and do graffiti around the train tracks. After watching the documentary, I realized the horrible living conditions and the life threatening danger these people put themselves under to build their “homes” in order to survive in the harsh streets of New York. The film changed my perspective entirely on homeless people, shelters, and the authorities.
By giving the homeless people a real home, the authorities inspired them to develop a new living style and actually work for a living. I remember the man in the end with a big smile on his face saying that he was never “going back to that again”, he was “going to work for a living and keep this home”. I never believed even for an instant that the Amtrak would listen to the homeless people’s demands but this film showed me the power of the media and the ways in can be used to reveal the side of the unfortunate and give them a voice.
Now, whenever I am on the 1 train heading towards City College, I am distinctly aware of a whole another world underground. When I see the graffiti, I try to look for cots or clothes or rags that might give me a hint about a possible settlement.
With the economy in tatters, there is a huge possibility of people living underground struggling to survive, I hope the government can create more low affordable-apartment to give these people a chance to live a new life.
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Your humanity can be applauded. A fine retrospective of your feelings on first seeing the documentary.
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Watching this documentary film reminded me of an interesting perspective on life that I have been contemplating for a while. From the point of view of the stable citizen, we are the homeowners, the sheltered beings. However, I feel that there is a fundamental irony here. In my opinion, our perception of the homeless vagrant is based solely on our visual abilities, not on our intuitive ones. We see the bum on the street as the destitute, miserable loner. The homeless people that participated in the film certainly had there setbacks, but they benefited from a freedom that we cannot fully understand. Take away a man’s property and friends and his only dependence becomes on himself. This was evident in the African-American man who got up every morning and collected various items. He himself said that although life was difficult, he was making the best of his existence. And in that environment, he was one of the best clothed and sheltered individuals. People see rock bottom as a low point; I see it as a luxury. While this might sound crazy, it makes a great deal of sense to me. Hitting a low point allows you to reassess your existence and rise up once more, or possibly for the first time. Being able to say to yourself, “Hey, I was troubled and on my own, but I bettered my world” is a fantastic thing to recognize. Us citizens, in an apathetic and entitlement-driven society, can take a page out of the homeless’ book. Just like the people in Dark Days, we too can find that essence within us that drives us to survive. Far too many of us have become dependent on others, and have thereby lost a sense of who we are.
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You’re the 21st Century’s answer to St. Francis of Assisi: “Grant me the treasure of sublime poverty: permit the distinctive sign of our order to be that it does not possess anything of its own beneath the sun, for the glory of your name, and that it have no other patrimony than begging. “
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