Slay the Dragon
I wonder how many people are familiar with the concept of Gerrymandering. It wasn’t until I began to follow politics more closely that I started to really pay attention to what the process entailed, and how it impacts how government works. I think most people feel like they have a basic understanding of the term, and how it relates to the redistricting of the congressional maps after every census, but don’t realize the ways it has mutated into a political tool for both parties over the years. “Slay the Dragon” will change that; it’s an important piece of political documentary filmmaking.
The film is directed by Chris Durrance and Barak Goodman in as standard a documentary format as you would expect- it’s informational as well as giving us a narrative on where the current debates on the subject lie. This isn’t about reinventing the form or doing anything beyond just informing the audience of the subject. That’s all a movie like this needs to do- it’s the subject’s job to rope us in. In terms of political intrigue, “Slay the Dragon” follows two separate movements to try and abolish political Gerrymandering- one is a grassroots organization that rose up out of the Flint water crisis in Michigan to try and get a ballot initiative passed to take political map-drawing out of legislature hands, the other is a court case out of Wisconsin attempting to get the Supreme Court to determine the legality of Gerrymandering. Durrance and Goodman follow the efforts of the respective teams, and set context as to how it got to this point, and what led these people to take on the fight. It’s inspiring to see people take up the call of political action.
“Slay the Dragon” is like a lot of other political docs you’ll watch, and there’s not really much beyond the personal interest you may have to recommend it. If you have an interest in learning more about the direction of American politics, and why it’s worth paying attention to, “Slay the Dragon” is a good primer for something that you may not be familiar with, but should be aware of. If it inspires you to take action, or to pay closer attention, then I would say that it’s done it’s job, regardless of what side of the isle you are on.
