Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland: the politics of the Other
Nomadland is a tale of the Other.
In Chloé Zhao’s latest film
Nomadland, Fern (Frances McDormand) starts a seemingly endless journey through Central America in her van, working seasonal jobs to keep herself afloat after the town that she lived half of her life a company town, where all residents worked for the state’s largest gypsum company, the United States
Gypsum Corporation (USG) shuts down after the economic recession. The van is her new home, as is the case for other nomads, alienated by the neoliberal economic system.
Nomadland is a tale of the Other that is usually left out from the grand narratives told by the media. In the film, Fern and other nomads find themselves exiled (or exile themselves) from a ‘normal’ life: working a decent 9-5 job, getting paid and living as a middle-class American. In the film, Zhao digs into the underlying politics and economic system that threatens life. Like migratory bird