The Difficulty of Killer of Sheep

Killer of Sheep is one of the most difficult films I think I have ever viewed. I sat down in my living room expecting this film to be about a story of poverty for an African-American family living in Watts District of Los Angeles, and in a way it was but the shocking thing to me was there was no plot throughout the film. I was expecting like traditional films for there to be growth of the characters and plot points that are tied together to reach a climax and conclusion at the end of the film. There is none of this in the film Killer of Sheep it is just scene after scene that depict daily events for people and how poor everyone is in the Watts District and none of the scenes go anywhere and are loosely connected at best. I found myself watching this film and scene after scene people would come into the picture and I would think "Who is this, I don't even know who this character is or how they are related to this film."It would turn out that it didn't really matter, the characters would rarely show up again in different scenes. The only characters I knew were Stan, his son and daughter, and his wife who isn't even give a name in the film, it is one of the few films I have seen where one of the main characters isn't even given a name.

This difficulty of understanding the film I experienced while watching this film I think helps relate you to the main character Stan's struggle and hardship in life. The whole film you see him struggling with poverty, trying to make ends meet for his family by working a terrible job at a slaughter house, while also working on home improvement projects and raising a family and it is like the harder he works to get ahead and make any improvement in his life, his situation gets worse. Two examples of this are when he finally saves enough money to buy a car engine and better his automobile then before he can pull away from where he bought it the engine falls out of the back of the truck and breaks and Stan ends up with less money then he had before and no better engine. The second is when he and some friends try to go to the horse track, it looks like the characters are off to have a good day and enjoy themselves but before they can even get there the car gets a flat tire and they do not have a spare, reminding the characters that they can't escape their situation even for a few hours. Stan's situation is desperately hopeless for ever getting better and it looks like he will be stuck working his terrible job and living in his poverty stricken community until the day he dies. Although this film does not have traditional plot points and makes the viewer struggle with the difficulty of trying to understand where the film is going, it helps the viewer understand what Stan's life is like and how difficult life is in the Watts District in Los Angeles and how he has no chance of ever making his situation better.