Lazos De Familia

During the infancy of my career, many a time, being the most junior of the team, I usually ended up having to see poor patients who just made it to the clinic at closing time. I soon came to know that they were living far from civilisation, deep in rubber or palm oil estate. Coming to the hospital meant getting up at four in the morning, preparing breakfast for the school-going children and being able to get on the first 6 o'clock morning bus to town. Invariably, they would be delayed. The transport out to the main road would not turn up. Perhaps, the feeder bus would break down or the bus that they had to change left earlier.

They would eventually reach the hospital close to noon. After getting an earful for not keeping to their time, they would have to seen by the junior most doctor of the team. The senior ones would have left the clinic for more pressing needs. Unable to make a definitive plan of medical treatment for them, these patients who would require most of the expertise from the medical team ended up discarded by the system. They would be given another appointment; the whole ritual needs to be repeated. On top of all these, as they are daily wage earners, absence from work meant the loss of a day's earning.

I thought all these slave-like working conditions would end as the world changed. With globalisation, workers were promised working conditions and preservation of unassailable rights of the workers. Marx's dream of working for sustenance and having leisure time to enjoy the reason for their existence, they thought, would of fruition with the gig economy. They do a gig when and if they want. The workers would be their own boss. They work for themselves; not for the bosses or company. They do not work for a company but with the company. What the company failed to highlight were the fine prints, the exclusion clauses and the penalty they were to be imposed if specific rules are not followed.

Fast forward, and workers realise that the whole economy is just a scam. The same old economic ideology is just re-packaged. The same plot of scheming the poor to feed the rich is in full force. The workers continue breaking their back until a new horizon emerges. Who knows what else would they promise the next time. Meanwhile, like Sisyphus, the unendowed have the find simple pleasures within their unending cycle of hardship, a flicker of hope, resolution, pain and the curse of repeating it all over again.

Still reeling with debts from the 2008 economic downturn, Ricky thought he found a sure way to end his financial woes. The promise of good returns as an independent despatch services provider, he felt his hard work was the only thing that separated him from economic independence. For that, however, he needed to purchase a pickup van. For its down payment, he had to sell off the family car in which, the wife, Abbie, a home care nurse moved around to meet her patients.

Soon everyone realises that it is not all hunky-dory. Ricky has to spend long hours at work. Abbie finds it taxing to meet her demanding schedule. Their two teenage children are left to their devices. The parents are unable to meet up to their school and their children's emotional needs. Ricky's woes only accumulate. He has to pay damages for lost items which are not covered by insurance and to work despite his injuries after mugged.

It looks like the dependence on others will spill over on to the next generation. Their dependency on their digital hand-held devices is not mere addiction. It has become their essential tools to do their school, learning, communication and more. The digital world is another platform that is manipulated by the economic giants to make people fall at the service providers' feet. This is yet another doublespeak and the dehumanising trap of the neoliberal economy. Instead of building an antifragile society that grows stronger with every stress that is hurled upon them, we will be left with a brittle one, needing support at the mere thought of pressure.

Again, our electron microscopic friend, COVID-19 has shown us the fragility of the gig economy. Being locked down for two weeks may be excellent for family time and bonding, but neither bring in the cash nor pays the bills.

"Sorry We Missed You" is an exceptional film from British director Ken Loach that I recently saw at the Philadelphia Film Festival. It's amazingly realistic and powerful....as well as incredibly sad and depressing. This is NOT a criticism...more just to let you know that it's anything but a 'feel good' sort of movie.

The story is about a working class family in crisis. The father worked 90 hour weeks as a delivery man. His boss is completely unsympathetic and hard...like a rock. The wife is also working 12-14 hour days and together they barely get by. But, because they are barely home, it's taking a huge emotional and physical toll on them as well as the family. Through the course of the film, you see these decent people fall apart....and there doesn't seem to be any answer for their predicament.

This movie was brilliant in that the actors seemed nothing like conventional actors....they were REAL. But, unlike non-professional actors, they were convincing and extremely effective. I applaud them and Loach for delivering a film that makes you think and feel....and challenges your preconceptions about the fairness and decency in the modern economy. A film not to be missed...unless you are depressed. If you do suffer from clinical depression or your life has been hard lately....maybe you might want to skip this one.

Ken Loach films are always on point, no matter the issues and societal ills being explored. Sorry We Missed You takes its audience into the life of a family whose circumstances result in both parents being at the mercy of zero hours contracts and corporate misuse of self employment to exploit their workforce for bigger profits. Its a sad indictment of our society and the gig economy which journeys more and more towards placing higher value on the pursuit of profit over the lives and well being of ordinary working class people. Anyone who buys on line and has your parcel delivered to your door or has relatives who rely on paid carers should watch this film to fully appreciate what they do for us and the sacrifices and hardships they may be facing.

Another critical analysis of life in England in 2019. Has English society changed at all since Ken Loach' first films in the 60s? It seems not. Heartbreaking, shameful, relatable and tragically so true. We can all relate to the characters,they are our friends and neighbours and think, there but for the grace of god...... The film reminded me of On the Waterfront, with the corrupt 1950s dockside gang masters. How can these working practices have been allowed in England, in the C21st? A decade of capitalist government lade bare, just as the UK decides it's future yet again. Other "reviews" suggest the acting is suspect in places, but I feel this is the film's and LoachKs skill in making the film appear to be so real , so natural, so tragically real. Every scene and every prop had meaning, from the dreadful state of the rented house - why aren't landlords forced to maintain a decent level of decoration and repair. To the fast food of the van dash board- so what is the social and health cost of forcing drivers to work long hours, with no breaks eating sugar filled snacks. To the school who excluded a young man for 2 weeks with no support or, understanding of the causes or support needed. A true essay of English life in 2019. Tragic.

Very moving and beautifully executed story. It's more tragedy than drama, but sets modern life into perspective.