Norma Rae

 This film showed the importance and impact having a group of people come together and really believing in the same cause. Workers have been overworked and payed a lot less than they deserve for a really long time and all across the world. They are often given no breaks, no or little time off, and have to work in horrible conditions for long hours. This takes a large toll on their mental and physical health. To ensure the success of labor for both the organization and the employees, they need to be able to communicate effectively and be perceptive to what is going on around them. The film showed a complete lack of respect from the employer to the employees. The boss knew they had to work in order to put food on the table for their families and knew that it was pretty much the only place they could work in town. This allowed them to make the working conditions even worse and overwork them even to death as Norma Rae's father died while on the job. If everyone can rally together to make a statement and protest the conditions, then change will happen, but everyone needs to be together. We have seen this theme in other movies we've watched such as in Mr. Smith goes to Washington, when he wouldn't back down even though people were trying to lie about his character, Iron Jawed Angels, when they wouldn't back down no matter the obstacle, and Inherit the Wind, when even though the whole town was against evolution, they still spoke up. These films have shown the power one person has with their voice, let alone the power an entire community or union could have. 

A Labor Day Reflection on Unions, Race, and Division | The New Yorker

Comments

  1. Catherine BolzendahlMarch 11, 2023 at 1:39 PM

    The tenacity of the characters to fight for what they believe in has definitely been a constant across our movies - great observation.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Milk - Emma G.

Image
In 2021, it was estimated that roughly 20 million Americans--roughly 8% of the adult population--were part of the LGBTQ+ community. Even more Americans reported attraction to the same sex, but were unable to give themselves a label that categorized them into the 8%. The number of Americans identifyng as part of the LGBTQ+ community has increased over the years, with a huge increase shown after the legalization of the gay marriage within the United States. In the 1970s, even some of America's communities full of LGBTQ+ activism struggled to flourish against the homophobic values within the United States. In the film Milk , Harvey Milk, an openly gay man in Castro, runs for public office. His campaign and election is met with criticism from the homophobic opposition. While campaigning, Milk famously states, " On the Statue of Liberty it says, 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free.' In the Declaration of Independence, it is written, '
Read more

Milk

Image
 Maddie Dieringer  During class we discussed how acceptance of LGBTQ+ individuals has changed quickly compared to other public opinions throughout history. This makes sense with my understanding of history, but I feel as though there has been an increase in the number of laws taking rights away from LGBTQ+ individuals, especially people who are transgender. I did a few quick google searches and found that there were 17 anti-LGBTQ laws passed in 2021 which was the worst year for LGBTQ rights since 2015. It seems that with more awareness and progress there is even more legislative push back to create laws that harm LGBTQ people than before. According to the American Civil Liberties Union there are 389 anti-LGBTQ bills being introduced across the US having to do with health care, education, civil rights, free speech and more. Linked below is the ACLU page that is kept up to date.  In the film Milk we see some of the adversity gay individuals faced during the 70s, and it's easy to see
Read more

Reservation Dogs

Image
 In connection to the other films, I thought this show represented a lot of unity and togetherness within the characters. The group had to all stay together to progress and questions of leaving versus staying to help the community also came up, specifically for Bear. I thought it was really important that the entire cast and anyone who helped create the film were Native American or Indigenous because of the lack of opportunities they often have and the educational aspect behind it. Growing up and going to school during the years of K-8, kids don't normally learn about Native American culture or history. If you're lucky to learn about them while in school, it is usually pretty vague. I don't remember learning about the history that much, but I do remember a period where we discussed the culture and why some things are important that may not be to ourselves. I think that community gets left behind and forgotten a lot and people are uncomfortable discussing that. The most prom
Read more