Synopsis Of The Movie 'Two American Families'

The movie on the “Two American Families”, which are the Neumann’s and Stanley’s, is a biography of two “middle class” families living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin who had struggled through early 1990 and the Great Recession in 2008. The movie made it known that American’s economy at that time was experiencing hardship because of the change in free-market capitalism and international influence. Tony and Terry Neumann experienced great financial hardships.
The Neumann’s family met in high school and married immediately when they graduated. Mr. Neumann had a great union job working at the factory, while his wife was a stay at home mother catering to their children. With his income, they were able to keep food in their refrigerator and kept a roof over their heads until he lost his union job during the recession. The economy contracted during the recession and the rate of unemployment increased. After Mr. Neumann lost his union job, both decided to work and then still their combined wages couldn’t make the mortgage payment so their home foreclosed and then got sold for one-fourth the balance owed. Due to the economic hardship, both separated on a good term without any hard feelings.
Terry Neumann found a minimum …show more content…
Claude Stanley and Jackie Stanley lived in Milwaukee with their 5 children. Claude, just like Tony Neumann, lost his good paying union job and then struggled to find work that paid well. Even though Claude Stanley lost his great job, he and his family refused to get on government benefits so he and his sons did odd jobs to sustain the family. Mrs. Stanley tried to get her family back on track by pursuing a real estate career but she was not successful because of her husband’s health and she was denied from selling homes on the better sides of Milwaukee. Also, both Claude and Jackie had to use credit cards to pay for health insurance as well as send their older son to