Today is Blog Action Day 2008 - an awesome day where bloggers everywhere all write on one topic. This years topic is poverty and in honor of that topic I’ve put a list together of the Top 10 American Movies That Highlight Poverty.

And a little FYI - these are all narrative films (and obviously American).   Of course there are TONS of great films from other countries and documentaries that tackle the subject - and if you know some good ones please leave them in the comments!

And takepart to learn more about Blog Action Day and to read other pieces on poverty from other bloggers.

10. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory - This may be a magical, silly movie but the reality is there are a lot of families like Charlie’s and they live in worlds without golden tickets.   It also speaks to the importance of family - no matter how poor one might be.

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9. Aladdin - It’s Disney and it does feature a Genie voiced by Robin Williams - but Aladdin also brings up a debate about what it takes to survive on the streets and the morals of stealing to survive.   It also brings with it a pretty powerful message that kids can watch -  to be yourself no matter what your situation. Also the music rocks!

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8. A Raisin in the Sun

The story of a struggling family that suddenly has to contend with a new life situation, the film is true to it’s time and it portrayel of a family living in the Chicago ghetto.

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7. Coal Miner’s Daughter

The second half of the film may focus on the rise of Loretta Lynn, but the beginning focuses on a small coal mining community and the realities of the lifestyle.

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6. To Kill a Mockingbird

More a film about legal justice, To Kill a Mockingbird nonetheless brings up the point of the poor and how they work in the larger world, the legal world.   Unfortunately there are very few Atticus Finches out there.

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5. Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore - While Alice and her son aren’t in dire poverty in this film, the story does highlight a group that often struggles and in the past had it pretty rough - single moms.   In the film Alice is forced to live in a hotel with her son and work some awful jobs just to get them back on their feet after her husband dies.   It’s a testament to sucking it up and working hard.

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4. Sullivan’s Travels - There isn’t a better meditation on poverty than Preston Sturges tales of a movie director that wants to experience “real life” and dresses up as a bum to find out what struggle means.   When things go awry, the director gets more than he bargained for.    This is a film that while being funny and entertaining, does a great job of critiquing “liberal guilt.”

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3. The Wire - OK, so technically The Wire is a television show.   I couldn’t help but include it on this list though - it does more than any movie could ever do in explaining the larger systemic issues of poverty, government and crime.   This show is a triumph and should be seen by everyone.   The clip below may be a tad extreme (it’s from Hamsterdam) but in a few minutes you see the effects of poverty pretty clearly.

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2. Monsieur Verdoux - More of a film about ideas of poverty, Charlie Chpalin’s story of a man who loses his job and takes to marrying and then murdering rich women to support his family is darkly comic but also speaks to what poverty can make one do.   Chaplin’s political commentary about war and society also makes this a film ripe with ideas about those society often forgets about.   It also features a stock market crash - which seems extremely relevant today.

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1. The Grapes of Wrath - The classic and the ultimate.   A story of struggle, hope and the great depression.