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Spring 2008 ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION ORDER BUNDLES ----- Green Pages Board Business |
DeRosa's effort is starting point for critical examination
By Rebecca L. Weber, D.C. Statehood Green Party
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| Connecticut Green State Senate candidate Mike DeRosa appears in the documentary, "Third Party." |
| Photo Credit: Michael Burns |
DeRosa knocks on door after door, introducing himself to the citizens of Hartford, explaining with passion and down-to-earth demeanor his commitment to cleaning up the water supply and fighting poverty. It's hard not to like the guy.
The giddiest moment of DeRosa's campaign is when the Democratic incumbent, John Fonfara, finally agrees to a debate.
"I don't want to shock anybody. We didn't win," said DeRosa on election night. Still, DeRosa claims victory for forcing discussion and debate on key local issues and building the Green Party.
"Third Party" offers a timely look at the growing number of Americans who don't register as Democrat or Republican, and makes a compelling argument for the importance of a third--and fourth and fifth--voice in American politics.
Twenty-seven year old Burns-- "most definitely" a registered Green--originally intended to document just one local Green campaign, but the project quickly grew. DeRosa's operation is still the heart of the film, but a range of experts and activists--from Ralph Nader to Reverend Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping--give a grounded historical perspective on the importance of third parties.
"When you start making a film," Burns wrote via e-mail, "the initial vision is always different from the final product. This film was no exception."
Burns deftly documents how, with the exception of the Republicans eclipsing the Whigs, minor parties in America have never achieved major party status. The film shows how alternative parties have had a tradition of raising issues that the major parties don't want to address. For example, in the first half of the 20th century, the Socialist and Communist parties first introduced the concepts of social security and organizing workers.
Representatives from the Green, Libertarian, Reform, Communist, Workers World, and a host of other progressive parties articulately weigh in on what it would take to make real change. In the spirit of balanced journalism, a few right-wing parties are mentioned, but then dismissed as fundamentalist faith-based parties.
Not surprisingly, one thing most of the alternative parties agree on is the need to change the winner-take-all electoral system to the proportional representation system used in many other countries. But for obvious reasons, the major parties would rather not dilute their own support base.
Explanations and analysis of why and how the two major parties try to limit third party participation are ample in the film. Oklahoma requires 5 percent of registered voters to sign a petition allowing a third party candidate on the ballot; no third party candidate has made the state ballot since 1942.
The major flaw in "Third Party" is one of omission: the big guys don't get a chance to mount their own defense. If not for the sake of balance, it at least would have been entertaining to hear why they are opposed to, say, debating presidential candidates from other parties. But given the media access the GOP and the Democrats already have, it's hardly a fatal failing.
"Despite its imperfections," Burns writes, "the film begins to raise wider crucial issues about whether a country can be characterized as a healthy democracy if it is dominated by two relatively similar political forces for citizens to channel their political aspirations."
In the indie world--where else?-- "Third Party" has done just fine. The film has toured the film festival circuit since last year and won the Golden Gate Fiction & Documentary Festivalâs award for best editing.
Burns is currently working on his PhD at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. His latest film, "Preventive Warriors," premiered in Italy this May. Both films address what Burns sees as the country's most pressing problems.
"In 'Third Party'â we talk about both the crisis and the opposition to that crisis," writes Burns. "In 'Preventive Warriors'â I think we do a good job of identifying a different crisis, as well as pointing out that our current trajectory of behavior as unilateralist proliferators of conflict in the world makes a democratic future less likely to take shape any time soon. We also attempt to summarize some of the backlash against the Bush administration, and contextualize it to show why it is occurring and where it might be headed."
Whether you relish or loathe forthcoming conversations about "spoilers" and the "lesser of two evils," "Third Party" provides a deep enough look at where weâve come from to imagine that we might be headed somewhere better.
Green Party members can order "Third Party" on VHS for the reduced rate of $29.95 (normal list price is $99.95) by calling Cinema Guild at 800-723-5522 through the end of August and mentioning this article for the reduced rate.
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