Breaking Down Stereotypes

The film tries to capture the experience of being homeless, says Marshall. "I'm not out for the immediate solutions. I'm trying to get people to think about what homelessness means to the people who live it. What I'm aiming at is for people to look at the homeless in a different way, to break down stereotypes."

According to Robb Moss, a visiting lecturer in the VES department, Marshall accomplished his objective. "Most people on the street we see out of the corner of our eyes; we see them without noticing them or really comprehending the situation. In this film the marginal people are in the center and straight society is placed on the side lines," Moss says.

"On The Street" reveals the close relationship that the filmmaker had with his subjects, says Moss. "It has an intimate quality; it's personal without editorializing."

Marshall says that he intentionally stayed away from the statistics and "didactic narration" of typical documentaries. He deliberately shot the film in color, because "black and white imposes a statement on the film that says it is depressing."

"On the Street" is very different from the the T.V. news because "it has some depth and real knowledge," says Alfred Guzzetti, Marshall's thesis advisor and the chairman of the VES department. "Unlike other films about the homeless, this one's made from the inside. It shows us what we don't expect to see."

Marshall plans to distribute his film, which cost $4000 to complete, to public television stations and educational and social service organizations.

Marshall's acute interest in homelessness stems in part from his parents' emphasis on social responsibility. In Berkeley, Marshall says, the homeless were a major concern. While at Harvard, he volunteered in two homeless shelters and conducted research for the City of Somerville Human Services Department on strategies for the prevention of homelessness.

While saddened by their plight, Marshall was also intrigued by the seemingly carefree aspects of a homeless person's lifestyle. "I always had a fantasy about being a bum. I thought it would be a kind of freedom," he says. But Marshall discovered that concerns about his next meal and finding a shelter were "a pain in the ass."

"It made me think a lot about choice. Some people say that the homeless want to live on the street, to be free. But that kind of freedom and choice don't exist. That's just a rationalization," he says.

"Given the choice of living on the street or being turned down again and again for a job and an apartment, [homeless people] will say it's their decision to live on the street, when in fact it's their only choice."