A Raisin in the Sun- Daniel Petrie

The crunch can be a real rat bastard son of a bitch.

I think anyone who is the least bit acquainted with modern-day economics can attest to that statement.

As a child, I used to find amusement in the distraught adults in movies who submitted to defeat at the bar, staring thousand-yard gazes into the kaleidoscope of brown liquor and tiny fields of glass.

How could anyone end up like that? I would wonder with condescension.

My dalliances with (what I consider to be) opulence can be characterized as educational, embarrassing, triumphant, smart, or stupid. I suppose it all depends upon which block of years you choose to throw my bank accounts under the microscope.

I have fallen into money about five times in my life that came out of nowhere.

Once, during the pandemic, when payments piled up from unemployment and stimulus checks. Another time, when a leftover PTO check from MGM was relegated to unclaimed funds. Once more, through a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of the supervisors at a former place of employment. Most recently, in the settlement of a car crash. And finally, when I received a $3,000.00 bonus from a casino as an incentive to cover moving costs when I got a job there (of which I think I devoted maybe $250.00 towards moving).

Of these five instances—provided, with an honest eye of recollection—one and a half I would consider to be foolish utilizing in my unexpected windfall. The jury is out on my most recent inheritance (but I feel good about my future).

When I left the casino with over $13,000 in the bank, it was to become an author. That part I do not regret. In hindsight though, I really should have given more respective foresight to my finances and looked for investment opportunities—or part-time gig work—rather than let the cash flow erode into nothing, which then forced me to spend 40-50 hours a week door-dashing as a means of staying ahead of the chase.

So that instance is my half.

The $3,000.00 check to cover moving expenses was flat-out foolish spending. No bones about it. I blew that in less than six months in a sordid assortment of drinking, football tickets, taxi rides (days of pre-uber), tiny vacations, and concerts. You could deduce this handicap of financial profundity from the fact that I was acting in cadence with my age (28). But, then again, I'm sure you could ask a lot of my contemporaries about what their station in life was at that age and a good number already had families to support and mortgages to pay.

The PTO check and lawsuit settlement went straight to covering various credit card debts that had amassed from a combination of a former roommate breaking a lease halfway through the contract, and, again, fast and foolish living.

Looking back I can honestly say that I don't regret a lot, even the foolish handling of my money. When I came to terms with God's forgiveness for sins of the past, I found that I was less prone to self-eviscerating thoughts. Life is a series of learning stages and some lessons are harder than others.

Just so long as I learned from my mistakes.

Very little of my money was gambled away, but a great amount did fall into the till of tavern cash registers. Does that make it any better? Not really. But such is not the case anymore.

***

If we were to rewind a bit to July 31st of 2023, it was the beginning of financial uncertainty and fear like I had never experienced before. A constant state of mathematical woe that made me appreciate the madness that glazes over Walter Lee Youngers eyes when the stone-cold fact of his being swindled finally hits.

It was the morning after I had been hit by a driver who carried no insurance and totaled my car.

I depended upon my Mitsubishi Mirage for about %65 of my income and now I didn't have one.

With only $600.00 in the bank, the panic didn't take long to suffocate me after that. It fell upon me like an avalanche. I woke up at 4 AM to dig through emails, searching for insurance documents. What was the process? What could I plan on? Should I go to the hospital? Could I afford to go to the hospital? What did I have available in my 401k accounts should it come to that point? Did I have gap insurance? If not, how the hell was I going to be able to make payments on a hunk of metal that was no longer in commission?

Couple all of these pervading fears with trying to heal from a near-death accident, and, yeah, it was extremely tough to endure.

But I did.

From it all I received a tremendous amount of durability and an adrenaline shot of self-efficacy. If I could survive that without crumbling to pieces, then I was more well-equipped for adversity than I had ever given myself credit for.

Along with the feeling of triumph came the benefit of compassion.

So, when I watched A Raisin In The Sun and saw how the uncertainty plagued every one of the Youngers, despite a hefty sum headed their way, I understood.

From an outside perspective, you would think that it is nothing but roses and cotton candy headed your way, what with $10,000 to arrive imminently ($100,000 in modern-day times). But everything is not as it seems. The $10,000 life insurance check only served to sever the ties further between the Youngers.

Grandma Younger, the wise sage that she was, felt it was in the best interest of the family to invest in a house and break free from the claustrophobic confines of tenement living so that young Travis could experience life in a house, just as she did as a little girl.

Beneathea, with her independent spirit, cares only about her schooling and wishes to break free entirely from the Youngers and explore the world with a fresh set of eyes. Her progressive attitudes toward God, a woman's place in society, and the uppity gentlemen callers constantly bring her into clashes with other members of the family.

Ruth Younger, the exhausted mother who just wishes the ordeal with the check could be finalized so the family could quit arguing about what to do with the money, knowing full well that after it arrives the struggles that have plagued the Youngers are sure to remain.

And finally Walter Lee Younger. The embittered father who is so far away from making ends meet as a limousine driver for rich people that he has to shack up in the family apartment, and hope for lady luck to arrive sooner than later.

The characters each have their share of a platform in front of the screen, and I genuinely didn't know who I wanted to agree with. It was almost as if the sudden jolt of good luck became more of a burden to the family than a blessing. The check tore Grandma Lena apart as she wanted to trust her son's judgment by investing in a three-way partnership of a liquor store, but knew it was askew. She wanted to see her daughter succeed in college but didn't want to lose her to scatter-brained thinking that could potentially carry her off to faraway lands. She loved her daughter-in-law, but couldn't begin to even fathom her having an abortion, and considered using the check as an incentive for her to keep the baby.

Of course, Walter Lee Younger—based on my depiction of Tully—is going to be my favorite player in this game.

I'm willing to bet that everyone at some point in time has come across a manifestation of Tully McGinty or Walter Lee Younger. That pessimistic and callous soul who resents success in others and sees only failure in himself based upon societal mechanisms beyond his control. Their station of struggle in life feels permanent, their self-esteem is only temporarily boosted when they sit on a barstool, and when any sort of good fortune comes across their path, they inevitably squander it away.

"I'd wish you all good luck, but you wouldn't know what to do with it if you got it."

Blake, Glengarry Glen Ross

"A fool and his money are lucky enough to get together in the first place."

Gordon Gekko, Wall Street

I've been the recipient of both of those statements, and it isn't a fun moment of realization when it sinks in. But nowhere near to the level have I ever come to as Walter Lee Younger—when the venomous swindle of his family's fortune begins to take hold—comes to grips with. The utter disbelief. The fiendish film that befalls his pupils. He can't breathe. He can't move. $6,500.00, his fathers' blood money, all gone.

And what does he have to show for his barmy investment?

Nothing but shame.

That moment, when Sidney Poitier dissolves at the news of his "partners" embezzlement, I think is one of the most supreme performances of a given scene in film history.

Up there with the Sara Goldfarb confession of loneliness to her son Harry.

This movie doesn't stop with the knife twisting and then presents the audience with the deceitfully bigoted neighborhood committee spokesman, who, with a quaint ribbon wrapping, offers to buy the Youngers out from their new household down payment at twice the value so that they can keep the ivory neighborhood free from the blemishes of ebony.

As Walter Lee, the disgraced prince and heir to the throne ponders the opportunity, the family continues to argue over which is the proper path to take.

What good is dignity if you can't deposit it at the bank?

But, then again, if you don't have dignity, what else have you got?

I don't know why films like this, Sling Blade, We Grown Now, Lady Bird, and Little Miss Sunshine are made with such infrequency because the lasting legacy of performances authored in family struggle brought upon by financial stress seems to be timeless. They certainly resonate with me, that's for sure.

But I suppose not everyone likes to have their emotions beaten to a pulp like some of these films tend to do. And for a lot of people who go to the movies, they like to forget their struggles when they enter the theatre and sit down with their bowl of popcorn and Coca-Cola, not be reminded of them.

To each they own I guess.

I loved this one a lot.

Stars: *****

Verdict: Watch

Cousins: The Boost, Glengarry Glen Ross, Lady Bird, We Grown Now, Little Miss Sunshine