‘Working’ Explores Pursuing the American Dream
lurking around the corner — the onnot nearly that much.) set of artificial intelligence, more and Focusing on the fields of home care, more people working from home, the tech and hospitality, each episode of spiraling inequality between the up“Working” takes us inside a particular per-tier management and those on the level of employment within three combottom of the ladder — and poses the panies, as we meet a diverse group of question: “What if we pick up Studs’ hardworking and dedicated and, yes, ina Simone’s “Sinproject for this new moment?” sometimes frustrated members of the nerman” plays on the That’s the fascinating, enlightening workforce as they pursue the 21st-censoundtrack as we see a and sometimes sobering framework tury version of the Great American photo of a young Barack for the four-part Netflix documenDream. For some, that means simObama pulling a book from a library tary series “Working: What We Do ply being able to pay the bills and shelf and we hear the former presiAll Day,” from Barack and Michelle take care of their family. For others, dent in present day: Obama’s Higher Ground Productions, it might include finally being able to
“Sometime in college, I came across with Barack Obama serving as narrabuy a new house. For a relatively few, it Theatres • Santa Clarita Signal this book called ‘ Working’ by Studs tor and tour adsource@exhibitorads.com guide. Director Caroline means the proverbial “having it all.”
Suh provides p. In Episode 1, “Service Jobs,” we meet 5.9” Terkel, which was a chronicle of peo
888.737.2812 skillful visual articulaf. 203.438.1206 ple from every walk of life and what it tion to the hopes and dreams — and Elba, who has worked for more than Sunday-thursday, May 28-June setbacks 1, — 2023 of everyone from hourwas like for them to work.” 20 years as a housekeeper at the iconic Cut to footage Pierre Hotel on the Upper East Side;
Tuesday, of the May legendary 23, 2023 Terat 10:31:56 ly workers AM who CASCS_LEM0528-0601.QXP juggle more than one kel explaining how he wanted to get to job and still struggle mightily to make Randi, an aide starting a new job with the “quintessential truth” by talking to ends meet, to the CEOS and foundHome Care Mississippi, and Carmen, individuals from all walks of life, with ers who live in a world of penthouse a delivery driver in Pittsburgh who all sorts of jobs. Obama talks about apartments and private jets. (We also dreams of becoming a makeup artist.
“Sometimes if you say good mornthe sweeping changes to the workplace meet a CEO who laughs when she’s
ing [to the guests], they don’t respond,” we’ve seen in recent times, or we see asked if she makes $100,000 a year. It’s says the upbeat and resilient Elba. “They dress better than me, but they are no better than me.”
Meanwhile, in Mississippi, Randi learns her duties will include cooking, cleaning the house, running errands, bathing and changing diapers for the senior clients — and the pay is $9 an hour. “I used to work in a chicken plant,” she tells us. “[Deboning] chicken thighs. It was horrifying. But you made $16 an hour.”
We’re also introduced to Luke, a data manager at Aurora Innovation in Pittsburgh, which develops self-driving technology. In later episodes, we’ll meet a senior robotics engineer at the Pittsburgh company and then the CEO and co-founder, a hotshot who came over from Google. To say they experience the workplace from different angles is an understatement. At times “Working” plays like an extended episode of “Undercover Boss,” only no one is undercover.
When Luke sits around a break room table with his peers, they all talk of how great it felt to make that climb from jobs that paid hourly wages to something more stable. Says one co-worker: “If you are given an opportunity to do something more of what you want to do, that pays you a fair wage, your mind unlocks. I remem
‘Working: What We Do All Day’
★★★
(1/2 (out of four) A four-part Netflix series
Nber thinking, ‘OK, I can only get $25 worth of gas, or I can’t get groceries for the rest of the week.’ Now I can just get gas. Money doesn’t bring happiness, but it certainly provides the means to find it.”
In addition to the always interesting profiles, the series provides some brief but helpful looks back at the history of the workplace in America, and some nifty pop-culture touches, as when Obama notes so many popular TV shows in the 1970s featured relatable families “who weren’t poor, but weren’t rich either,” e.g., “Sanford & Son,” “All in the Family,” “Good Times,” whereas 1980s TV was often about people with obscene wealth: “Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous” and “Dallas.”
The series wisely limits Obama’s on-camera presence to some brief interviews with various subjects; any more than that, and it would have become a documentary about Barack Obama chatting up workers and executives in their homes and offices. Not that that wouldn’t make for good TV; it’s just that “Working: What We Do All Day,” like Terkel’s book, isn’t about the storyteller, it’s about the workers. From the Pierre Hotel housekeeper spending her days in an endless cycle of making up rooms, 30-40 minutes per room, to the CEO of the multinational conglomerate for which the Pierre is just one relatively small holding, they all have stories worth telling.