The opening scene brings us to a young, vibrant, & brilliant woman staring in the mirror. She looks anxious as if she’s realizing she’s preparing to take on one of the biggest challenges of her life. As she finishes her mascara and begins to apply her earrings, she explains how usually in political debates or any event involving politics, men are expected to wear the formal button up long-sleeve with the sleeves rolled up, yet for women they’re expected to wear a formal dress and not much else. Yet she doesn’t seem to care that much about preconceived expectations. This scene is a foreshadowing of exactly who this young woman is and what she’s about to embark on in the remainder of this film. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a 31-year old woman from The Bronx, New York. Growing up in the Latinx community from a working class family, she’s very familiar with what everyday life looks like for people of color in the inner city communities of New York. She spent a fair amount of her early 20’s working as a waitress and believes that the experiences she’s garnered from being a part of the middle class have shaped her perfectly to run as a candidate reflective of the many disparities of working class & minority citizens in “The Big Apple”. In addition to that, from a greater perspective, Cortez represents a vast population of not only underrepresented citizens but women who face inequality in their work environments and are often never acknowledged.
The main contingency that AOC seems to want to attack is the fact that pre-existing politicians & officials are having their intentions for their communities dissolved by incentives being offered from colossal conglomerate companies. State representatives have not only been allowing certain companies to occupy massive amounts of space within their community, but also pillage the resources belonging to them as well. Not to mention this is being done while reframing to offer citizens of that community job opportunities in order to survive the economic surge in cost of living that big companies often create. When comparing Cortez against the stature, size, manpower & authority that Crowley holds, this resembles nothing short of a David versus Goliath type of battle. However, despite the odds, through efforts of her grassroots supporters, whether it be promoting her campaign door to door or standing in the street collecting thousands of signatures, Alexandria continues to persevere in an effort to demand better for her people. Along with her on this journey are a multitude of other women throughout the country who are advocating for civil justice within their respective regions; however, in the end AOC seems to be one of the first in a long time to finally break through. This film, directed by Rachel Lears, is essentially an autobiography depicting an intricate and organic look into Cortez’s life during the journey to office and all the unforeseen twists and turns that come with it. It encourages viewers that there is a positive outcome with hard work, dedication & righteous intent.
OVERALL RATING: 9.5 out of 10