"Street Fight" is an enlightening documentary about the 2002 Newark, New Jersey mayoral election between four-time incumbent Sharpe James and challenger Cory Booker, a first-term city councilman, originally from the suburbs, who moved to Newark to make a difference, living in the low-income housing project, Brick
Towers. By focusing on this municipal election, the documentary shines a light on elections in general and asks some very important questions about democracy. For example, when Booker is not spending a good deal of time simply raising funds, he has to deflect some of the sillier attacks against him, including his being Jewish and Republican.(Both candidates are black and Democrats. Newark is predominantly black.) All of which leaves little time for Booker to address the serious issues of reform that drew him to Newark in the first place. The filmmaker is banned repeatedly from Sharpe James' campaign appearances while also being deeply ensonced in Cory Booker's campaign. So, "Street Fight" does come to side with Cory Booker and this does seem strange for a documentary about an election where some objectivity would be expected. Plus, the movie's New York City release date was rather close to the 2006 Newark mayoral election.
June 26, 2007
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