Slay the Dragon
This documentary has a clear point of view: Gerrymandering is snuffing out representative democracy and is the source of everything vile about current U.S. politics. One case in point it discusses in some detail: The 11th Congressional District in North Carolina, from which most of Asheville was ejected in 2011, prompting the retirement of Rep. Heath Shuler and the election of Rep. Mark Meadows.
If, on the other hand, you think Meadows won fair and square, the current makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court is dandy, voter ID laws are justified, and drawing voting districts to perpetuate the power of a single party is a fair tactic, you might want to skip Slay the Dragon. And if you don’t even know what gerrymandering is — as is shown to be the case with countless voters in Michigan — well, God help you.
Directed by skilled television documentarians Chris Durrance (Frontline) and Barak Goodman (American Experience), Slay the Dragon traces the RedMAP project of the Republican State Leadership Committee, which succeeded in flipping numerous state legislatures from Democratic to Republican control in 2010. This allowed the new GOP majorities in many states to redraw safe legislative districts, empowering the party to push through state laws targeting unions, the ability to vote, transgender rights, gun control, and other matters, even when majorities of their states’ citizens opposed such laws.
The weakening of the unions and rise of voter ID laws, the filmmakers argue, paved the way for the election of Donald Trump, who then packing the U.S. Supreme Court with justices certain to support partisan gerrymandering.
Slay the Dragon packs a lot into its first two thirds, elucidating and connecting the issues clearly (with clean, intelligent graphics) and with interviews of movers and shakers from both sides of the issue. Its particular focus is young activist Katie Fahey (pictured above), who founded Voters Not Politicians, a grassroots effort to pass a ballot initiative to eliminate gerrymandering in Michigan.
The last third of the film is less compelling, as it slides into the rut of trying to build up the narratives of Fahey’s campaign and a parallel U.S. Supreme Court case (about gerrymandering in Wisconsin) into suspense story lines. Informed viewers will already know the outcome of both, but even if you don’t, far too much time is spent building up to the unsurprising results. It’s like the filmmakers were so happy with all they’d accomplished up to that point that they decided viewers couldn’t absorb anymore.
No matter — it’s still a worthy effort and may make Democrats chew their fingernails to the quick, watching recent history unfold. (The film doesn’t address the complete failure of the Democratic Party to counter the RedMAP project, which was no big secret at the time.) The end is a call to action, and anyone who has been paying attention is likely to take that call seriously.
Grade: B. Rated PG-13. Now available for streaming via the Fine Arts Theatre’s website. Streaming purchases support the theater during its current closure due to COVID-19.
(Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
