Welfare

looks at the New York welfare system from the perspective of the officials who administer it and the recipients who crowd its offices. The result is both disconcerting and heartening: disconcerting because this bureaucracy seems to be pitted against those least fit to deal with it, and heartening because those running the system are not inhumane and frequently do all they can to help. A wide range of people show up. One employee tells a young lady that he is reponsible for two-and-a-half million people, and that if only a couple thousand do not get what is coming to them, he is doing a good job. And then there is the German immigrant who believes that God only helps you if He feels so inclined. “Given the circumstances,” he says, “I’d better look for a nice place to hang myself.” To some people, even the smallest setback is a great drama, so the police sometimes have to get involved. Most of them are black and there are racists about, but the cops keep their cool, even when told they should be wiped out “before the blood starts flowing in the streets.” All the while, Wiseman’s camera simply records the events as they occur.