Made by several blacklisted filmmakers, including Michael Wilson (writer), Herbert J. Biberman (director), and Paul Jarrico (Producer), Salt of the Earth is a movie about the struggles and subsequent strike of Miners in a fictional village in New Mexico: Zinc Town. Within this, however, is a fight for Women's Equality. As the Mexican descended cast stands for their rights as men held equal under the law, they try to keep the women out of it. There is violence. That violence begets more violence, but everything eventually comes to a satisfying end.
Even so, the film was given a harsh welcome, marked negatively even before developing. Just having the blacklisted makers left the film at a disadvantage as the commands were given to stop it's showing. At least in the US. In foreign countries, the movie gained quite a bit of praise. It came back up in th 60s, the banned nature of the film giving it bigger sales here. Stores could sell it as a cult film, and, yes, there were certain people who used it as such, especially in feminist circles.
It has been argued that it was a communist film, but also that it was merely a strong feminist film. It's even been described as "simply a strong pro-labor film with a particularly sympathetic interest in the Mexican-Americans with whom it deals". Many people sought to stop the filming. There were shots fired, actors deported, and attempted sabotage. Speaking of Actors, there weren't many in the film. Most were locals, or members of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers (The local chapter, of course). Even so, the film seemed to have done relatively well, despite the hardships.
What really surprised me was it's popularity in other countries. It just goes to show that sometimes we react strangely as a whole. Why would the other countries watch it with such fascination? France is a given for obvious reasons, but it wasn't just them. All of Europe and parts of Asia watched it! Czechoslovakia even tried to use it as propaganda... It failed, but that's because they tried to use it to help them pass of a sack of lies. As said by Bernard Levin, writer for The Times in London, "oppressive rulers may tell their subjects lies on almost anything and have at any rate some chance of being believed, except when the lies concern their people's own lives". With the world they were living in, there was no way they could hide the positives that even the poorer Americans have in comparison (e.g. their own cars. Just saying.)
I watched a similar movie once, Matewan. It was good, and I was really drawn to their suffering. I had a period of "down with the man" -ism. Honestly. My teacher definitely regretted that choice. Well...at least, one of them did. The other laughed.
Without watching the film, I can't analyze or offer up many questions, but I do have one.
"What finally broke down the walls between the men accepting their wives equality? How was it presented?" I'll find out more about that upon watching it, obviously, but it was a question I had. One of the articles said something about the men staying home while the women kept up the strike, but that still didn't explain it entirely for me.
I believe that some clarification is in order here, actually. Cooperation is a word that most of us have a grasp on, including myself, but I feel it worth the effort to actually look at what it means, it's dictionary definition. It's always worth looking back on words you know to make sure your understanding isn't skewed. Therefore....
Cooperation: - the action of cooperating
- common effort
- association of persons for common benefit
Cooperate: - to act or work with another or others
- to act together or in compliance
- to associate with another or others for mutual benefit
So. To Cooperate, or, to act together in a common effort. Yeah, my definition was definitely a little skewed. Too many experiences getting in the way. Glad I've cleared that up. Cooperation was more like compromise in my mind.
I really would like to watch this movie, even though I already know the relative ending from the reading. I think it will be extremely enjoyable, as well as bringing up further questions and insights into the way that Films effect the world at large. Specifically by how hard the government fought to hide it. In any case, I must leave you with this thought.
How did they develop all of this in a shack? O.O
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