What is a Nomad exactly? Webster’s defines the word as a noun. ‘A member of a people or tribe that has no permanent abode but moves about from place to place, usually seasonally and often following a traditional route to the state of the pasturage or food supply.’
And that pretty much sums up the newly sought-out life of Fern, portrayed by Frances McDormand, a name you’ll be hearing very shortly associated with Oscar Nominated Actress yet again. A 60-something widow, Fern is cashing it all in (with what little cash she has) and living out of her white van, driving mainly throughout Nevada and looking for work. Why do I fear this might be a lot of Americans and very soon?
Fern’s lost her job of many years at U. S. Gypsum because there’s a shortage for sheetrock. No sooner the plant closes, so does her town’s zip code. After 88 years. Apparently by July 2014, the zip for 89405 no longer existed. And Fern felt the life she built no longer existed either.
So off she goes, on a long never-ending pavement, peeing roadside, taking factory jobs at Amazon warehouses, loading boxes with bubble wrap. She wants to work, she longs to work, she likes to work. And, her van is now her home, her family, her place of safety so she’s named it ‘Vanguard.’ But, don’t call her homeless. She’s “houseless.”
Her friends are her support system (and I suspect a lot of the actors aren’t acting at all but instead the real deal having appeared in the film for authenticity purposes.) But it’s David (David Straithairn) who turns her head at a community swap, offering Fern a safety net and possibly a home. Will she take it? Is it her destiny?
There’s a feeling of non-committal in living this way. There’s also pride that stops her from sleeping at the church shelter. These are Americans who have worked themselves to death only to be felt as if they’re being put out to pasture. Yet despite all of Fern’s loss, she’s an emotional fighter. Like the great pioneers she believes there’s a life to be had out there in the wild frontier.
What we take away from this sacred little tale is that we work our entire lives but for what? There is some irony in following a nomad who longs for safety and finances and somehow freedom all rolled into one. Maybe the movie’s real message is that time is our most precious commodity.