''Salt of the Earth''
I wrote the following for Amazon.com and I include it w/ a more fiery addition.
This movie delivers a great visual image of the story. From start to finish we see who is who and what the protagonists are up against. It is a sympatheitc and endearing portrayal of simple people up against a monolithic system of oprression that can not be beat and yet can no longer be tolerated.
The story is cut and dry, good guys vs bad guys and it's easy to sympathize w/ the good guys. Unfortuanately, or maybe obviously without disguise it is also a Socialist apology and propaganda.
I say those harsh words deliberately. My biggest criticsm w/ Socialist propaganda and rhetoric is simply that a labor union and improved conditions for workers is just the first step in any improvement of the people's lives. The Socialists are always out to unionize the dishwashers and cotton pickers but they never seem to ask the obvious question that no one really wants to be a dishwasher or cotton picker all their lives.
This is a well made movie and portrays the people's struggle and all without a word of Marxism but the underlying premise is that these people merely want a fair shake; they just want another crust of bread and maybe some milk. I disagree. These people want a option and that means a different job. The film is amusing, even cute in that is seems to show these people as content but just wishing a few improvements in their awful lives, when anyone watching it in the comfort of a middle class American home, w/ cold soda, chips and air con or central heating, would realize they the viewer would really ask for a one way ticket out of there!
Yes, particularly cute when the women folk take over the picket lines (b/c the men are barred from doing so) and thje women are jailed and quaintly annoy the sheriff until he releases them, ha ha, yeah real funny, I don't hear anyone laughing.
Cute Socialist propaganda, well done movie, worthy of watching and it should b shown to teenagers as a history or Civic classs. The story to suppress it is more interesting and more crucial to debate. Is there freedom of expression? Can we speak freely? and moreso What should we be saying?
This movie delivers a great visual image of the story. From start to finish we see who is who and what the protagonists are up against. It is a sympatheitc and endearing portrayal of simple people up against a monolithic system of oprression that can not be beat and yet can no longer be tolerated.
The story is cut and dry, good guys vs bad guys and it's easy to sympathize w/ the good guys. Unfortuanately, or maybe obviously without disguise it is also a Socialist apology and propaganda.
I say those harsh words deliberately. My biggest criticsm w/ Socialist propaganda and rhetoric is simply that a labor union and improved conditions for workers is just the first step in any improvement of the people's lives. The Socialists are always out to unionize the dishwashers and cotton pickers but they never seem to ask the obvious question that no one really wants to be a dishwasher or cotton picker all their lives.
This is a well made movie and portrays the people's struggle and all without a word of Marxism but the underlying premise is that these people merely want a fair shake; they just want another crust of bread and maybe some milk. I disagree. These people want a option and that means a different job. The film is amusing, even cute in that is seems to show these people as content but just wishing a few improvements in their awful lives, when anyone watching it in the comfort of a middle class American home, w/ cold soda, chips and air con or central heating, would realize they the viewer would really ask for a one way ticket out of there!
Yes, particularly cute when the women folk take over the picket lines (b/c the men are barred from doing so) and thje women are jailed and quaintly annoy the sheriff until he releases them, ha ha, yeah real funny, I don't hear anyone laughing.
Cute Socialist propaganda, well done movie, worthy of watching and it should b shown to teenagers as a history or Civic classs. The story to suppress it is more interesting and more crucial to debate. Is there freedom of expression? Can we speak freely? and moreso What should we be saying?
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