Wisconsin was known for years as a prototypically “purple” state, with a rich tradition of political debate and a veritable pendulum of power in the Governor’s seat. That has changed a great deal in the last six years.
Along with the change in political control has come a change in tone of politics here. Filmmaker Brad Lichtenstein tried to get at the heart of the state’s polarization in a new short film called "Whatever Happened to Wisconsin Nice."
"I wanted to explore why Wisconsin has become so polarized and why politics is so hard to talk about in almost any setting and how we can find a path to healing," he says. "We rank near the top of so many measures of inequality. People feel truly excluded or they feel like they have the answer."
Lichtenstein is the president of 371 Productions. "Whatever Happened to Wisconsin Nice" is part of a series called "Postcards From the Great Divide" from the Center for New American Media, and it's featured here on the Washington Post's website.
