Rescue Me Study Guide

Written and directed by
Gerard Thomas Straub

Introduction to the Film
Divided into two parts, Rescue Me is a 3 hour and 20 minute documentary film on the horrific plight of the poor and homeless of Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles and the heroic work of the Union Rescue Mission which offers them food, shelter and rehabilitation programs. The film presents a stark and unwelcomed look at the tragic lives of real people who are homeless. Yet amid the pain and suffering on full display on the mean streets of Skid Row, a nightmarish 50-blocl area in downtown Los Angeles where more than 10,000 people, including a shocking number of women and children, live in cardboard boxes or overcrowded missions, they find a place where love abounds standing ready to offer a helping hand and a way to a better life.

Gerry’s own statements of his deeply held and courageously lived out religious convictions and his poignant visuals disturb and challenge viewers at many levels. He makes us see what we would rather not see. He invites us to feel and empathize more deeply, to think more critically, to pray more faithfully, and to act more courageously. His personal witness is as inspiring as it is troubling. As an expression of the Gospel, Gerry’s life and films are indeed “good news for the poor.” But they await the viewers’ response to become even “better news for the poor.”