What is the first thing you think of when you see a homeless person begging for change on the side of the street? Maybe how disgusting he or she might look, how they’re only going to buy drugs and alcohol, or maybe you thought that banana suit looks a little odd. Well if it was that last one, chances are you saw Keith Lowell Jensen during his attempt to chronicle the struggles of the Sacramento panhandler in his upcoming documentary, “Why Lie? I Need A Drink.”

In this documentary Jensen makes several attempts to get to the root of the panhandling game in Sacramento. While trying out the best and sometimes obscure methods to make money on the streets, Jensen also tries to debunk certain myths about homeless people and panhandlers alike.

The most prevalent rumor he tries to figure out is the one about the person on the corner asking for change then returning to his nice car and house after a hard days begging. According to several people Jensen interviewed these mythical panhandlers do exist, but one couldn’t be found during filming.

The film also has a satirical edge to it, with Jensen wearing several different costumes ranging from the aforementioned banana suit to an Uncle Sam get-up on the Fourth of July. The varying responses he got while the street also elicited some laughs making this documentary entertaining as well as insightful.

It goes from the comical aspect to the more serious life of these homeless people, showing how poor their living conditions really are. One woman actually led him and his filming crew to her “campsite” which consisted of an old mattress and some dirty blankets. The woman and her boyfriend, who was found sleeping there, were fairly proud of their sleeping arrangement.

Through talking to people on the street Jensen found mixed reactions concerning how to treat panhandlers and how willing employed people were to give them money. One man in particular insisted he wouldn’t give them money because he knew they would just spend it on alcohol or drugs. He called these people degenerates and claimed they were wasting their potential and talents in life. If they really wanted money they should get a job. The picture Jensen paints in this documentary is one that can make you laugh as well as truly feel sorry for these people, the homeless and the employed alike.

Throughout the film you begin to see how these homeless people are caught in the lives they lead. It is easy for people who have support systems and families like the ones interviewed in this film to judge, but in reality no business is going to give a heroin addicted, toothless and unkempt person a job. Jensen tries to show how hard it is panhandling with his many personal attempts on the street as well as ingenious forays into the digital world of the internet, and at this he definitely succeeds.

The more important message he brings across however is the problem of the homeless, they obviously don’t want to live this kind of life and nobody really has a solution for it.

You can see a screening of Jensen’s documentary at The Crest on Saturday and Sunday.

Matt Rascher can be reached at [email protected]