Homelessness in Contemporary Literature and Film

Empathy and Solutions:
Chronic Homelessness in Contemporary Literature and Film
A proposal for a 2022 educational series.

These are my suggestions for accessible general materials that have influenced me and might interest others as well. I offer these two books and three films for two reasons: One is in the spirit of creating empathy, which is often cited by the homeless themselves as key to helping them. Two is for consideration of the specific strategies or solutions explored.

I personally think that mental illness is hard to empathize with because it is irrational. I found the book Stranger in the Forest and the movie Leave No Trace especially useful because they feature characters who bridge the gap between the average “rational” person and the irrationality induced by mental illness. The protagonists are rational people who don’t wish to or cannot live in society. They are different, as far as can see. from most of the chronically homeless we see on our streets but their lives provide some insight into why and how people can come to choose to live “rough.” The Soloist is about a musical prodigy who experienced a schizophrenic break and one man who tries to help him navigate available options. The Definition of Insanity is a short documentary about a judge in Florida who tries to deal thoughtfully with the many homeless, who come before him repeatedly for minor infractions, and some solutions he explores.

***

The Stranger in the Forest is a revelation. In this book, journalist Michael Finkel tells of a 20 year old who disappeared into the woods of Maine, where he lived alone and undetected for 27 years. The author calls him a genius and, indeed, the details of how he survived are brilliant resourcefulness. What this book made clear to me is that in spite of the commonplace that man is a social animal, some men are not. A few rare people seek to live alone but they are not necessarily disconnected from reality. This man, Christopher Knight, loved to read — philosophy, history, religion — books which he stole, along with all-important batteries and the bare minimum of food, from vacation homes on a lake near the rock formation he called home. He worked assiduously to secure his isolation, was scrupulous to harm no one, and took full responsibility for his deeds. Author Finkel is unfailingly respectful of the concerns of everyone involved and yet manages to convey all that we need to know, in clear prose that draws readers on as if it were a whodunit.

In The Soloist, LA Times columnist Steve Lopez details his unlikely friendship with African American classical musician Nathaniel Ayers, who he comes across living on skid row. It’s been thirty years since the cello prodigy left Julliard after a schizophrenic break. One of few African Americans to attend Julliard at the time, he ended up on the streets due to the delusion that his sister — his guardian — wanted to kill him. Lopez’ sincere desire to be of help is well presented in the book as well as the frustrations of dealing with Ayers’ mental illness. The Soloist was made into a movie starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. The book and movie complement each other.

The fictional 2018 movie Leave no Trace is drawn from the real life story of a vet with PTSD who, after the loss of his wife, has been raising his daughter entirely in an encampment in an old growth forest in Oregon, where he felt safe but was knowingly trespassing. The film gives a wonderful sense of the inability of the man to live in society through no fault of his own. His daughter loves and understands him in spite of the dawning sense that her destiny lies apart. The film concludes with a means of coping that accommodates everyone. However, in terms of solutions that might be scaled, it is not readily available. Perhaps, it could and should be. A thoughtful film, the second most highly reviewed to receive 100% approval on Rotten Tomatoes. Washington Post culture critic Mark Jenkins held it to be the best film of the year, as did many others, including the staff of the Guardian. Director Debra Granik (Winter’s Bone)has worked extensively with Iraq War vets and studied PTSD.

The Definition of Insanity is a POV documentary available on the PBS app. Told through the eyes of homeless service providers who end up with clients in the Miami-Dade courtroom of Judge Steven Leifman. For his part, the judge found he was dealing with the same homeless people, repeatedly arrested on minor charges such as disturbing the peace, indecent exposure, etc., and who seem to be suffering from mental illnesses. Some may find controversial (as I did at first) the Judge’s strategy of essentially leveraging incarceration against consent to participate in a program consisting of being evaluated, taking meds if prescribed, attending group therapy, working on job skills or GED prep, regular monitoring, periodic progress appearances before the judge, etc., in order to be released. By film’s end, the judge himself is looking to buy a former office building to transform into supportive housing for many of the homeless people he sees in his courtroom. The program may not work for all but it acknowledges the role of mental illness, and the need for congregate housing, at least for a time, to allow supportive services, aka “wrap around” services, to be delivered effectively.