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Malindi Fickle’s “By the People” is a very
stern and instructional look at the voting process. Faulty and flawed as
it may be, it’s still a topic that warrants delving into, and she takes
an almost unbiased look at the process and its technical workings. From
attempting to render a disabled man’s absentee vote valid, to inspecting
boxes of ballots. One thing is for certain the voting process is
possibly one of the more confusing exercises in democracy in this modern
age. Fickle attempts to explore the hardships of its volunteers and the
sheer work it takes to sort votes, and gain the resources, while also
refreshing the public’s faith in the voting process and the work it
takes to maintain democracy. “By the People” is hardly a documentary
about exposing conspiracies, or stirring controversy, yet insists on
providing the technical aspects for the audience, behind the scenes.
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From the beginning, Fickle makes her cause
awfully clear. “By the People” is patriotic without being
ridiculous, and it’s a praising of the democratic system
without ever being sappy. The simple message is that it takes a
lot of work to uphold the benefits of democracy. People
young and old, disabled and abled, are given the power to
vote for their elected officials.
The irony of this being the 2004
election where Bush was re-elected, not withstanding, “By
the People” is a Frank and awfully engrossing documentary
based solely around watching people do what they have to, to
get the job done. |
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Fickle follows meetings, exploring the
humongous lines of varieties of people coming to vote, and primarily
revolves around County Clerk Doris Anne Sadler, who does her best to
make everyone happy in spite of always coming up short handed in the
resources department. And Fickle also admits the process of voting tends
to be utterly confusing, as is exemplified in the scene where Sadler
attempts to explain the voting system to a reporter. I was surprised at
how utterly objective Fickle is with a film ripe for propagandist
preaching on either side of the political party. It’s an educational and
utterly informative peek into the strength it takes to unite these
elements to elect an official. Even if it’s George W. Bush. I'm a bad,
bad liberal.
Some part of me was surely disappointed by
“By The People,” mainly because it never really takes the approach
beyond face value. There’s no delving into the deeper issues behind
voting, the faulty voting machines, miscounting of votes, the suspicious
quarters of these voting bases that could hardly count any votes, and
the ultimate fact that minority votes are often ignored during our major
elections. “By The People” is pretty much a straightforward assessment.
This is voting, clear and simple. There’s no deeper issues involved, no
attempts to stir up controversy, thus it will fail to have any real
relevance beyond class rooms in the years to come. Perhaps I’m selling
it short, and that’s not fair, I admit, but I’m usually more interested
in the “truths” behind voting, rather than the voting process.
In spite of being a pretty safe approach to the voting system, "By The
People" is a surprisingly powerful and utterly engrossing look at the
work it takes to ensure proper voting conditions and accurate tallies.
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