A young woman who cares for the elderly in Mississippi, a maid who has worked for over 20 years at the same hotel in Manhattan, and a distributor in Pittsburgh with many part-time jobs and dreams of one day becoming a famous makeup artist.

The daily lives and problems of these three women are captured on camera in the first episode “Work: what do we do all day” (“Work: Our Everyday Life”) of a new documentary mini-series available on the platform Netflix with the narrator Barack Obama, who asks, “What makes a good job…good?”.

Inspired by the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, historian, actor and producer of the same name. Stanz Terkel which he read as a student, the former president of the United States “explores the ways in which we find meaning in our work.” “When we ensure that everyone feels that their work is respected, that everyone’s contribution is valued, and that everyone is paid a living wage so they can truly participate in our communities, we build the trust between us that makes everything in life possible. the former president said in a statement to Rabochaya.

Led by Carolyn Shue (Blackpink: Light Up the Sky, Frontrunners) and produced by Barack and Michelle Obama, the project takes the spirit of Terkel’s 1974 book into the modern era, focusing on three distinct industries: home, technology and hospitality. A total of 12 people working in these industries share their experience in America today. And the picture is by no means “rainbow”. Instead, it evokes in the viewer a sense of sadness, longing and worry about a future in which many jobs will be replaced by artificial intelligence. However, the general style of presentation and the direction of the documentary do not cause discomfort, making the necessary pauses to look back at the history of the “land of opportunity”.

Each episode focuses on three people who are on the same level of the modern labor pyramid, which they continue to climb in order to gain more power and money. Obama, who occasionally appears on the screen, places these stories in the context of an American economy that has undergone radical changes since the Terkel era.

The former president’s narration places the characters in each episode in a more general economic, historical, and socio-political commentary. Then it is connected to work in the 21st century.

Viewers find out if the protagonists are satisfied with the work at different levels, from providing services to other people, to middle-class workers struggling to cope with the rising cost of living, to managers with money to look for jobs that better match their expectations of life.

Obama obscures the central issue

And while the show focuses on issues such as job difficulties, pay disparities, and intergenerational differences in work experience, it fails to deliver on one, but multiple messages. The project, which seeks to showcase “our struggles that bind us on a human level,” as Netflix’s official description puts it, has been largely overshadowed by Obama’s presence, whether on or off screen. From the first minutes we see Obama reminiscing about his time as president and talking about the importance of the souvenirs given to him, you would think that he himself would visit the participants in the documentary and talk with them more actively and personally. . Instead, we watch him side by side for a bit in a conversation that feels more “wooden” and staged than real.

It is common knowledge that America is not the same as it was twenty years ago, it has changed. Life has become difficult in all areas, jobs are poorly paid, young people are constantly looking for a professional home that will provide them with a livelihood and at the same time give them the opportunity to develop, racism everywhere has become even more intense. Perhaps a documentary of this kind and from these creators needed more depth and analysis, especially when the focus was on the person.