Eugene Jarecki's 2005 documentary Why We Fight suggested that the United States continually engages in conflicts to suit the powerful military-industrial complex. The House I Live In, Jarecki's new documentary, offers a similarly bold thesis - America's "War on Drugs" is nothing more than an excuse for classicide. He assembles a well-curated group of interviewees to prove that policy and enforcement related to this war do not yield positive effects and instead frequently create unintended consequences.
Jarecki personalizes his examination of the War on Drugs, structuring the film around the question "why did my (lower class African American) housekeeper's family encounter so much trouble while my (upper class white) family thrived?" This allows us to invest in an individual's story as we look at the broader effects of the War on Drugs, but it also reveals the film's vantage point and target audience. The House I Live In is aimed at a middle to upper class viewer that is not subject to disadvantages created by the War on Drugs. The choice to center the documentary around Jarecki's investigation makes him appear to be a more naive narrator than he actually is (his wide-eyed initial voice-over runs counter to the obvious research he did to put together the documentary). More importantly, it serves as an indictment of the willful ignorance maintained by those unaffected. Some reviews of the film suggest that the information within the documentary is revelatory or shocking, but (with a few exceptions) it's sadly expected.
But novelty is not Jarecki's strength or aspiration - his intention is to prove his charge of classicide. By that measure, Jarecki excels as he crafts a credible argument through a comprehensive approach. The claim that the War on Drugs is merely used to lock up poor, young African American men is a common one, but the assemblage of evidence provides convincing support for the sweeping thesis. While appealing to our sense of justice as we watch families being torn apart, Jarecki also builds a factual case against the War on Drugs so we're left with more than vague accusations and a sense of wrongdoing.
Crew & Cast
Written & Directed by Eugene Jarecki (Reagan, Why We Fight, The Trials of Henry Kissinger)