Arts & Entertainment

What Happened to the American Dream? New Documentary Asks 1,000 People Across 50 States

For centuries, millions of people have traveled to the United States in pursuit of one thing: the American Dream.

But as the country faces unprecedented affordability crises, rising mental and physical health issues, and a polarizing political climate, a new documentary seeks to discover whether that dream can be realized. 

“Amerigo: The Search for the American Dream” asks everyday people and experts how they define the American Dream and how it has changed since the country’s beginnings. 

David McCourt, Emmy Award-winning producer, writer and narrator of “Amerigo,” traveled across all 50 states over two years and interviewed 1,000 people to find out whether the pursuit of the American Dream still has the power to unite the nation. 

“Everybody was celebrating America’s 250th birthday and they seemed to be looking backwards. We wanted to create a film that looked forward,” David McCourt said. “The film is America’s point of view on what we need going forward.”

The documentary begins with Americans describing their version of the American Dream. For many, a white picket fence and a big house were included. Now, with rising housing costs, mass layoffs and an ongoing affordability crisis throughout the United States, David McCourt said that’s not as attainable as it once was. 

“It’s hard to live a dignified life if you know you can never afford to own a tiny piece of America, the country that you love, the country that you’re willing to work for, the country that you’re willing to fight for, the country you’re willing to contribute to your community for, and volunteer for and help strangers for, but you can’t own a tiny piece of it yourself,” David McCourt said. “I don’t think that’s a good policy.” 

His wife, Julie McCourt, co-produced the film. She said she was surprised at the lack of optimism for the younger generation when asked about homeownership. 

“In our generation, we all had a path,” Julie McCourt said. “We understood that we would work hard, maybe we’d get a small house, maybe we’d get to sell it and move up. That cycle of moving up through your economic possibilities seems impossible now.”

The invention of the internet, public safety concerns and inconsistent news coverage were also included as reasons for a vanishing American Dream. Similarly, Americans who are descendants of slaves or Native communities also have complicated relationships with the way the American Dream is portrayed, explaining that it was not always an equal opportunity for all. 

For David McCourt’s family, the American Dream is what kept them going. In the documentary, he explains his grandparents were Irish immigrants who birthed three generations of the American Dream. His grandfather was a street car driver and janitor, but was still able to build a beautiful life for himself and his family. 

“I never remember a birthday or Christmas where I didn’t have a little something from him,” David McCourt said. “He owned his own home, he raised my mother, and then my mother and father raised me. He died debt free and he lived a really dignified life, and I was able to stand on his shoulders.”

The documentary also features music, noting how art can unite people of different backgrounds. David McCourt said “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “A Better World is Waiting,” an original song co-written by Julie McCourt, are examples of how we can heal and move forward in this next chapter.

Though the documentary is already out, the McCourts said the conversations are ongoing. They have spoken to an additional 4,000 people since finishing the film and hope to eventually reach 1 million.

“The hope there is that we will start talking to one another, that we will build community, that we will start being allies instead of rejecting one another,” Julie McCourt said. “I think that’s a real hope for the future.”

“Amerigo: The Search for the American Dream” airs at 9 p.m. Monday on WTTW; it can also be streamed at pbs.org.

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