This film tells the
story of the eugenics movement and its long history in the United States. The beginnings of this movement
involved the study of heredity. Then,
the movement began to influence immigration laws and they wanted to close our
borders to groups deemed genetically inferior. As the movement
grew, many states enacted marriage laws with eugenic criteria. Anyone who was epileptic, imbecile or
feeble-minded was prevented from marrying. As time went on, long lists of undesirable traits were assembled into lists. Then, the next step was forced sterilization to prevent
these unwanted conditions from being passed on from parents to their children.
This movement and its
ideas harmed many people. People
who were poor, those who drank, prostitutes, the lower class and those deemed
unfit and promiscuous were a danger to society. These people could pass on these traits and that must be prevented for the sake of society. Many people were also institutionalized if they had any of
the traits or behaviors. I think
there needed to be more concise editing for this film
because there is some repetition and
120 minutes is too long. 3 ½* (I
liked this movie)
120
min Doc directed and written by Michelle Ferrari. Shown as on Season 30 Episode 9 of American Experience.
Note: Imdb 7.4 out of 10, Amazon 3.7* out of
5* with 8 reviews.
Special
Note: The same type of movement
was going on in Nazi Germany during WWII where the Aryan Race was the elite race. This race consisted of the Nordic people of Germany, England, Denmark, The Netherlands, Sweden and Norway. All Jewish people were unworthy and
needed to be eliminated.
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