Difference between revisions of "329--Week 10 Questions/Comments"
From McClurken Wiki
(→a Right:) |
(→a Right:) |
||
| Line 37: | Line 37: | ||
I found the scene where the black miners are told of the company policy regarding wages and wares to be quite effective. As Taylor mentioned these tactics put the workers into instant dependency on the company as most of their wages for the first month are deducted for lodging and clothes. The man going through the protocols drones on and you can see the workers just deflate. Also I felt that this scene, in addition to the whole setting up camp showed just how difficult it was to unionize and go against the owners. No wonder unions had such trouble gaining a lasting foothold. While there could be historical discrepancies in these scenes, the emotions and messages they convey are powerful to understanding the hardships of labor during this era. - Bryan Mull | I found the scene where the black miners are told of the company policy regarding wages and wares to be quite effective. As Taylor mentioned these tactics put the workers into instant dependency on the company as most of their wages for the first month are deducted for lodging and clothes. The man going through the protocols drones on and you can see the workers just deflate. Also I felt that this scene, in addition to the whole setting up camp showed just how difficult it was to unionize and go against the owners. No wonder unions had such trouble gaining a lasting foothold. While there could be historical discrepancies in these scenes, the emotions and messages they convey are powerful to understanding the hardships of labor during this era. - Bryan Mull | ||
| − | Like the old miner, Ratliff, with the whistle said in the readings that the system pretty much made "slaves" out of the workers. Freedom was attainable in theory, but surrounded by catch-22s (every option was lose-lose for the miners and their families) and this was clearly depicted in the film- in the company policies explained to the black strikebreakers, in the rhetoric of Kenehan's speeches, and in the relationships between the women and their families. The mention of "the Wobbilies" was brief and unexplained for the lay-viewer. However, Kenehan mentioned he "used to be a member" and then a miner chimes in that he used to be one "back when it meant something." The movie, through this line, helps quickly reveal that groups like the International Workers of the World that were strongly and publicly associated with socialist ideas had lost power and credibility. In 1920 the Red Scare was in full swing and it shows in how the miners begin to distrust and grew suspicious of poor, pacifist Kenehan in the middle of the film. Kenehan, although I believe is fictional, accurately represented union field organizers of the time. The movie makes him his hero, reflected in the words of the aged narrator, constantly quoting him. In the reading, Ratliff recalls field organizer Tom Raney, a unionizing hero, giving speeches that captivated Kentucky miners, much like those of Kenehan's in the movie. | + | Like the old miner, Ratliff, with the whistle said in the readings that the system pretty much made "slaves" out of the workers. Freedom was attainable in theory, but surrounded by catch-22s (every option was lose-lose for the miners and their families) and this was clearly depicted in the film- in the company policies explained to the black strikebreakers, in the rhetoric of Kenehan's speeches, and in the relationships between the women and their families. The mention of "the Wobbilies" was brief and unexplained for the lay-viewer. However, Kenehan mentioned he "used to be a member" and then a miner chimes in that he used to be one "back when it meant something." The movie, through this line, helps quickly reveal that groups like the International Workers of the World that were strongly and publicly associated with socialist ideas had lost power and credibility. In 1920 the Red Scare was in full swing and it shows in how the miners begin to distrust and grew suspicious of poor, pacifist Kenehan in the middle of the film. Kenehan, although I believe is fictional, accurately represented union field organizers of the time. The movie makes him his hero, reflected in the words of the aged narrator, constantly quoting him. In the reading, Ratliff recalls field organizer Tom Raney, a unionizing hero, giving speeches that captivated Kentucky miners, much like those of Kenehan's in the movie.--Jackie Reed |
== b Inaccurate/issues: == | == b Inaccurate/issues: == | ||
