Documentary

I would like to film a documentary about the bar and restaurant industry and how they hire immigrants. I think that it would be interesting to see how businesses profit off these individuals by paying them less than white Americans. You can go to any city in the United States and in the kitchen is where you will find most of these workers. I would be interested to see how businesses can hire these individuals who are working without a permit or are illegal aliens. However, this issue is never talked about in our society because big business has a lot of power. My documentary would have bias because I have worked in the service industry and feel that these people are not paid what they are worth.
My documentary would include a lot of interviews with immigrant workers in the service industry. I would also plant a hidden camera in the kitchen so that the audience could see what a workday was like for these employees. I would probably have to do a lot of editing to get my perspective across to the viewers. The kitchen is a place where anything can happen, but often there are long periods of time when nothing happens. I think that the audience would benefit from seeing the realities of the service industry. The issue of these workers rights is a very important message to deliver. I think that often people don’t notice that these new immigrants are sometimes working two jobs with over 60 hours a week just to survive in our country and mail money home.
My intended message in my documentary would be that all workers deserve the right of equal pay. I want my audience to understand that big business is profiting off the cheap labor that these immigrants provide. The point of this documentary is to have society be more aware of the injustices that happen in their local area. This documentary would make people think twice before dining at these establishments who don’t treat their workers fair and equal. I would include many interviews during my documentary.
I would like to interview restaurant workers who work more than 60 hours a week and follow them through their normal workday. I would also go home with these workers to demonstrate the struggle of these new immigrant families in America. I think that often people put these new immigrants into very negative categories. Often we hear comments from the public saying “they are taking our jobs!” or “these people come here and use our system for money.” I think that these are heard more because people don’t want to face that these families are working harder than most Americans and trying to support their families.
I would also ask these workers many questions about how they got hired in America. I am sure that most of these immigrants would know how to get hired whether they are legally or illegally in this country. I would also ask the general managers and kitchen managers how they cold hire these individuals. It would also be important to ask these managers what they think of the work ethic of these immigrant workers. I am sure that some of these mangers would be reluctant to talk about their hiring practices.
It would be difficult to get accurate information about this issue from managers, because they might be at risk of losing their job. I think that more accurate information would come from a manager who had left the industry because of the unjust treatment of immigrant workers. However, this might also be inaccurate because maybe this person would have a personal vendetta against the service industry because of losing his/her job. I also think that it would be difficult to get accurate information from the immigrant workers because they would not want to lose their job. However, I would hope that by protecting the identity of these individuals I could obtain accurate information from these people. The language barrier might pose a problem, because many of these new immigrants speak little or no English. A translator would have to tell the story coming from these interviews. Some American people might think that since these individuals speak little or no English than they shouldn’t be successful. However, people don’t want to admit that English is not the only language in the world. People don’t want to hear that many people are manipulated because of their lack of understanding of how jobs in the United States are supposed to function.
I hope that my documentary would open they eyes of people so that they would fight for these workers rights. I think that if people step forward with accurate information we could stop this modern day slavery. I believe that all people deserve the right to be in this country and work for equal pay. This should be the land of opportunity not injustice.