Jaimie Reynolds – The Gray Area

Directed by: Kelsie Moore (2020)

Length: 17:00

Link to watch the film: https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2020/02/21/the-gray-area/

Poverty; Documentary; Socioeconomic Status; Family; Lifestyle

The film, The Gray Area, directed by Kelsie Moore, is an intimate and personal look into the life of a family that falls perfectly into a rather unexamined category of the socioeconomic class scale. They are neither extremely impoverished nor immensely poor, a classification of status the film describes as “The Gray Area.” Throughout the film, the themes of family, social standing, and determination present themselves many times. The family in the documentary consists of a couple, Cory and Skip, and their young son, Seren, who live in St. George, Utah. Due to a lack of a stable job or a steady income, the family lives together in a small camper van, in the barren desert near the city. The film chronicles the daily life of the family as they navigate the inevitable struggles of living in claustrophobic quarters and their determination to rise above the negative prejudice that comes along with hardship.

As the film begins, it depicts Cory, the mother of the family, doing laundry at a local laundromat. She goes on to describe a type of socioeconomic status, known as “The Gray Area”, saying that it involves individuals who are “not completely destitute, and not completely rich.” Cory acknowledges that many families face this reality, however, it is rarely discussed because of the fact that it is not well addressed by society. Many individuals label themselves as fitting into “The Gray Area”, and it is very common in all types of communities. Cory has a Ph.D. in biology; however, her career was unsuccessful and she has worked a range of jobs in order to support her family. Her husband, Skip, has worked many trade jobs, and yet is not very interested in getting involved with the St. George community, as he believes they are all extremely arrogant, conceited and condescending towards those with little wealth.  Both Cory and Skip reiterate the same concept of the fact that they have both worked so hard in life, but cannot seem to get any assistance or guidance from anyone. Cory also mentions the unrealistic concept of the American Dream, saying that “…the American Dream needs some adjustment to reality.” This line reflects how the narrative of modern society must shift from being seen through rose-coloured glasses, and into a more realistic point of view.

Moving along with the film, it is seen that Seren has grown up living the same lifestyle as his parents. The director has multiple short interviews with Seren, and in them, he discusses hastily having to leave his toys behind in a hotel, as well as how he feels about living differently than his school peers. This shows that Seren realizes that he is unlike his friends in terms of housing, however, he still retains a childlike mindset regarding materialistic items, such as his toys. Seren mentions that he is very interested in living in St. George, however, Cory and Skip are unable to afford a down payment or mortgage of a house. It is very interesting to see the family’s struggles from a child’s perspective, as well as to hear his own commentary about the situation. A quote from Skip, that I found very interesting, in relation to Seren, as well as to Skip and Cory’s individual struggles with mental illness, was “…hopefully we are able to not damage Seren too much before we can fix ourselves.” I believe that this is an extremely important quote to the film, as it makes note of the fact that Cory and Skip have been living a way of life, that, in time, could affect Seren’s development. However, they are very aware of this and are determined to try to change their future for Seren’s sake. The “Gray Area” of socioeconomics needs to be addressed by all types of governments as well as local communities, in order to help those who fall above the poverty line.

In the film, the ideals of marriage are also challenged. The director chooses to film a very private moment between Skip and Cory, in which they are fighting. At this moment, the filmmaker decides to talk with Seren about what is happening with his parents, instead of focusing on the fight. I found it quite interesting that the director chose this as her perspective, as it really continues to showcase and highlight adult issues through a child’s eyes. The film focuses on the concept of instability in marriage, heightened by close living quarters, while simultaneously struggling with individual financial and personal issues. Furthermore, the film introduces the concept of a traditional gender role reversal, with Cory going to work, as well as doing most of the shopping and interacting with the community of St. George, while Skip stays home, cooks, and plays with Seren.  This made me wonder if this switch of gender roles is common with others who find themselves within “The Grey Area.”

Finally, the director chose to go with a direct cinema approach, as there are no staged events, and the director is recording exactly what she sees, as it is happening. She focuses on the family only, rather than a certain topic and a range of families. Neither the camera, nor the director are shown in the film, and the director’s voice is only ever heard when she is talking with Seren, which I found quite fascinating. It makes me think that perhaps the director chose to do this in order to show that often, children need to be prompted by questions in order for them to reveal their true feelings about different scenarios. Lastly, both imagery and music help to paint the picture of Cory, Skip and Seren’s circumstances. The insertion of landscape images into the film reflects the feelings of both Cory and Skip, as the destitute landscape parallels how they feel in “The Gray Area.” There is a soft guitar soundtrack throughout the film, which is a light addition to the tone of the film. Overall, “The Gray Area” was a very interesting film to watch, and I would highly recommend it to everyone.