At the heart of What Is Democracy?, a documentary from Canadian American filmmaker/philosopher Astra Taylor, is a black American barber who is also an ex-convict. Ellie Brett is young, but he has already served nearly a decade in prison for what he describes as a bad decision. During his incarceration, he learned how to barber and, as a consequence, is now—in terms of the society he paid a big debt to—gainfully employed. He is interviewed while cutting, shaving, and sculpting the hair of this and that man. What makes his moment the heart of what this film is trying to express is a story he tells about being part of a hunger strike while he was in prison.
But before explaining what the hunger strike was about, he warns us that it may sound trivial, that it might not impress your common productive member of society. The protest did not have the grandeur of marching against gun control or for policies that address climate change. The big issues. Instead, the hunger strike was fueled by a library.
