Alan Black's Jackpot: Bingo Not Just a Game
Source: AOL
Posted: 04/28/09 10:13AM
Filed Under: Hot Docs 2009
By CHRIS JANCELEWICZ
The first thought that jumps to mind when you think 'Bingo' is a bunch of little old ladies wasting their pension money. Admit it. But have you ever really thought about Bingo as a serious addiction? Or as a way to kill time before you die?
In his documentary Jackpot, director Alan Black explores these questions and more as he follows several Bingo players' lives. At Toronto's infamous Delta Bingo hall, one of the few vestiges left in the city, regulars show up at 10 am (sometimes earlier) and play until the sun goes down. For these people, it's a lifestyle, not a game.
At times stirring, at times depressing, Jackpot takes us into the world of blotters and Bingo cards, where people keep muttering that one last number they need in order to shout 'Bingo!' Stakes are certainly high in Delta's cavernous walls. AOL sat down with Black to find out what it was really like living a Bingo lifestyle for a few years.
How do people react to Bingo after seeing your film?
We hear both opinions; some people say I'm never going to play Bingo, and others say 'I really want to go.' Which is good, because that means we did a good job at being even-handed.
One one hand you want to go because it's a different world, but on the other you don't want to get sucked in or feel depressed.
We filmed always at the same time, there's kind of different sets of people, depending on when you're there. We went during the day crowd. But at night, sometimes you get birthdays, some younger people looking for a good time, they're totally oblivious to the fact that this little world is going on in there.
So you were only there during the day.
Yeah, the people that were the most appealing to me were the people that got there at like 10 am on Wednesday morning. The best times to catch people were when they maybe should have been doing something else besides playing Bingo.
The older lady in the film, Margaret...she was my favourite player.
That's great to hear - different people attach themselves to different characters.
What inspired you to make a doc about Bingo?
I used to play Bingo with my grandmother every year around Christmas at her retirement home. My sister and my grandmother would play $1 for the night, and win $10. It was a bunch of Yiddish grandmothers sitting together and having a really good time. It was one of my great childhood memories - I remember I used to love going down to Florida for that. When you would win the money, especially as a kid, your hands would be shaking, you were so excited. It was an exhilarating feeling.
I didn't go to play much in my teens, 20s or 30s, but I went back with my girlfriend to one of these professional places, and it was very, very different than how I remembered. There wasn't a fun, easygoing attitude, it was a bit more intense. And people were serious, playing 100 cards.
Then I came across an article in the paper about this 58-year-old Bingo regular who was killed in a parking lot for the jackpot he had won that day [at Finch Bingo Country in Toronto, a man was killed by four female players]. When you do the math, $1000, that's not a lot of money between four people - and they beat this guy to death. This sparked my interest in the Bingo subculture - it meant there had to be more to it than just money and winning.
It becomes more of an emotional thing.
Yes, it brought me back to when I was a child, and that excitement when I was one number away from winning, you get to feel something that you don't really get to feel that often, which is a sense of true victory.
It defies all logic, really, because if you win $1000, how much of that is going back into Bingo?
Exactly, all of it. It's like you're not even going to Bingo to win money. You pay money to win once in a while, to get this feeling. And if you've reached the age where all your best years are behind you, and nothing really happens, or you feel like you're luckless and you don't have a shot, that's what you're paying for.
Bingo is kind of like a downgraded version of a casino.
You can't lose your life savings in one sitting. The addiction is there, but it's not as quick. It's not like slots, where you can lose thousands in a matter of minutes. Slots are also not a social game. With Bingo, it's like a community.
Was it hard for you to film and remain unattached to the characters?
Michelle, my producer and I, spent two years there before we started filming. We knew these people quite well, and their stories. We were rooting for them, in all ways.
Was there more animosity going on behind the scenes than you showed, or were the relationships as depicted?
A few of the people in the film are very good friends. Margaret and Nancy and Rick [a married couple] are really good friends, they're almost like Margaret's children. She's 92, no kids, so they check up on her every day. But just as with any large group of people, there's some infighting and gossip.
We originally had another woman, Muriel, who was going to be one of our subjects, but she really didn't want to be in it. She hasn't missed a day in 30 years. Her and Margaret have totally different temperaments - Margaret is sweet and easygoing, whereas Muriel hated it. She hated Bingo, yet she went every day. Her and Margaret hate each other, but yet they sit at the same table staring at each other all day. We asked them, 'Why don't you go take another seat?' and they'd reply, 'Why doesn't she move?' It's weird - even though you may not talk to someone, you're united with them in the weirdest possible way.
While I was watching, I kept struggling between 'Well, it's their money, let them do what they want', and 'Oh my God, this is a serious addiction!'
It's a tragic necessity. I feel bad that this is the only place you can go, but if you're 92, what are you going to do? Muriel, the woman who was not in the film, would always say that. 'What am I going to do, stare at the four walls of my apartment all day?' Everybody needs something to live for.
Bingo seems like a fairly innocuous thing to do. Sort of.
Well, we didn't really get to go into it in the film, but there's some sad realities with the Bingo industry now. The smoking ban makes it a lot worse. They lost a lot of business, so they had to figure out other ways of making money. Those little pull-tab tickets are one way. The machines are another way. It's a lot more expensive to play now. It's also a dying thing - there used to be five times as many Bingo halls in Ontario as there are now. Delta Bingo is one of the only remaining halls in Toronto. What happens when this place closes - where are they going to go?
'Jackpot' plays on Friday, May 1 at 10 pm at The Royal Cinema, and Sunday, May 10 at 6:30 pm at Bloor Cinema.
Visit the movie's [website](http://www.jackpotmovie.com].
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