Monday, April 26, 2010
Alicia Schmidt Camacho on Femicides in Ciudad Juarez
Concept of ethnicity, class, and gender through Cinema
“I wished…. I wish my child would never be born. No. Not into this world.” (Salt of the Earth, 1954). Those were the last words spoken by Esperanza in her introductory narrative for the 1954 cinematic production, Salt of the Earth. The introductory narrative, especially the last line, intrigued me. I am usually not one to watch anything not Star Wars made after 1985, but something about this movie and the discussions we have been having about the borderlands flipped a switch for me. I liked it even more when I heard it had been banned in the United States. I wondered what this movie would represent, what its message was. What I soon learned was that it tackles the issues of ethnicity, class, and gender. These key subjects are even touched on in the fifty eight second original trailer. What the movie ultimately proves is that the best way to accomplish a goal is to come together, putting all differences aside.
A vast concept of Salt of the Earth is ethnicity and the role it plays in how individuals are treated. Most of the mine workers are of Mexican decent where as the owner of the company and the police officers are white. In my opinion, the producers of this film are making the point that the white men have the power over the other ethnicities. The owner of the mining company refuses to give into the demands of the workers even when the mine conditions become extremely hazardous. When asking for safer working conditions the boss replies “Read your contract or get someone to read it for you.” (Salt of the Earth). The boss is insinuating that because the man is Mexican is unintelligent and illiterate. The unsafe working conditions force the workers, mostly Mexican, to go on strike. The men picket the entrance to the mine and chase away any scab workers. The writer of the movie could be send a message to all minorities that if you want to be treated as an equal you must stand up for yourself rather than allowing the same ethnical discrimination to continue.
The next key concept is economic class. The movie shows the large discrepancy between the lower class and the upper class. Esperanza and Ramon struggle to make payment and put food on the table where as the boss of the company drivers around in beautiful car and wears expensive suits. This is yet again another issue of power; those who are financially better of hold the power. This is why the bosses allow the strike to continue for so long. They believe that once the families run out of funds they will willingly comeback to working in the same horrible conditions they had previously worked in. The same point that is made about ethnicity is made about class. If those of the lower class would like to hold some of the power they need to take that power because if they continue on the same path they have in the past they will ultimately still be pushed around by the upper class. In Salt of the Earth the lower class does rebel from the power held over them by the upper class when they go on strike. Yes the strike is the main plot point of the movie, but it can have a deeper mean as well, a more general lesson. That lesson is that when people come together they are a hard stop. This is the exact case in the movie. The bosses try everything in their power to bring the miner back to work, but the lower class stays strong; they help each other. An example of this is the union supplies food to the families. The women even go to take the spots of the men in the picket line. Class still plays a large role in today’s society, let alone 1954 when this movie was filmed, but what this black and white movie is showing us is that the class system can be overcome by coming together for the common good.
The last key notion is that of gender. The idea of gender roles is turned upside down in this film. This is not something that was thought highly of in the nineteen fifties. Esperanza is the best example of a complete gender role transformation. In the beginning of the movie she is seen as the typical house wife who says home and takes care of the children, but this changes once she decides, against her husband’s wishes, to stand up for what she believes and march on the picket line. It’s worth noting that she is pregnant at the time. In one part of the film she is struck by Ramon, she responds by saying, "Never strike me again--that was the old way. Sleep where you please but not with me." (Salt of the Earth, 1954). The Esperanza that was introduced at the beginning of the film would not dare talk to her husband that way, but now she was the one who was standing up for her family and refused to be spoken to as anything but an equal. This goes for the rest of the women in the film as well. When the police get a court order removing the men from the picket line the women step up and take their place. Many of the women even go to jail for the cause. This is another message and that message is that men and women are equal. They are both able to achieve great accomplishments. The film also makes it a point to show that things work much better when men and women are supportive of each other. Salt of the Earth is innovative in its portrayal of women. Women are not seen at this time as doers, but followers. This movie completely turns that idea upside down. The men of the film find a greater respect for the women in their lives.
Through all the key concepts represented in Salt of the Earth one cannot ignore the most prevailing idea. The idea is coming together despite differences is the best way to accomplish goals. One can see that throughout the entire story. Countless examples are shown again and again. The mine workers and their wives are able to overcome ethnicity issues, class issues, and most of all gender issues. It is obvious to me that the film is about much more than an entertaining story line but more of an underlining message and maybe even a call to action for equality in the United States. This is something that we as Americans still continue to move towards even today. Countless examples of how we have improves are highly noted, our first black president. But we still have not perfected equality. Racism, gender discrimination, and class differences are still prevalent in today’s society even more than fifty years after Salt of the Earth was released. Manuel Apuy writes a very interesting article inequalities very much exist but have become almost undetectable. What we are still attempting to learn is that coming together, as they did in the film, is the only way we can achieve the equality that our country speaks of having. Films are writing like this are attempting to send that message. The message of equality rains down from every part of this spectacular cinematic masterpiece.
Other Interesting Links
Movie Summary
Online Book about borderland issues
Work place gender gap
Written by John Morris
A vast concept of Salt of the Earth is ethnicity and the role it plays in how individuals are treated. Most of the mine workers are of Mexican decent where as the owner of the company and the police officers are white. In my opinion, the producers of this film are making the point that the white men have the power over the other ethnicities. The owner of the mining company refuses to give into the demands of the workers even when the mine conditions become extremely hazardous. When asking for safer working conditions the boss replies “Read your contract or get someone to read it for you.” (Salt of the Earth). The boss is insinuating that because the man is Mexican is unintelligent and illiterate. The unsafe working conditions force the workers, mostly Mexican, to go on strike. The men picket the entrance to the mine and chase away any scab workers. The writer of the movie could be send a message to all minorities that if you want to be treated as an equal you must stand up for yourself rather than allowing the same ethnical discrimination to continue.
The next key concept is economic class. The movie shows the large discrepancy between the lower class and the upper class. Esperanza and Ramon struggle to make payment and put food on the table where as the boss of the company drivers around in beautiful car and wears expensive suits. This is yet again another issue of power; those who are financially better of hold the power. This is why the bosses allow the strike to continue for so long. They believe that once the families run out of funds they will willingly comeback to working in the same horrible conditions they had previously worked in. The same point that is made about ethnicity is made about class. If those of the lower class would like to hold some of the power they need to take that power because if they continue on the same path they have in the past they will ultimately still be pushed around by the upper class. In Salt of the Earth the lower class does rebel from the power held over them by the upper class when they go on strike. Yes the strike is the main plot point of the movie, but it can have a deeper mean as well, a more general lesson. That lesson is that when people come together they are a hard stop. This is the exact case in the movie. The bosses try everything in their power to bring the miner back to work, but the lower class stays strong; they help each other. An example of this is the union supplies food to the families. The women even go to take the spots of the men in the picket line. Class still plays a large role in today’s society, let alone 1954 when this movie was filmed, but what this black and white movie is showing us is that the class system can be overcome by coming together for the common good.
The last key notion is that of gender. The idea of gender roles is turned upside down in this film. This is not something that was thought highly of in the nineteen fifties. Esperanza is the best example of a complete gender role transformation. In the beginning of the movie she is seen as the typical house wife who says home and takes care of the children, but this changes once she decides, against her husband’s wishes, to stand up for what she believes and march on the picket line. It’s worth noting that she is pregnant at the time. In one part of the film she is struck by Ramon, she responds by saying, "Never strike me again--that was the old way. Sleep where you please but not with me." (Salt of the Earth, 1954). The Esperanza that was introduced at the beginning of the film would not dare talk to her husband that way, but now she was the one who was standing up for her family and refused to be spoken to as anything but an equal. This goes for the rest of the women in the film as well. When the police get a court order removing the men from the picket line the women step up and take their place. Many of the women even go to jail for the cause. This is another message and that message is that men and women are equal. They are both able to achieve great accomplishments. The film also makes it a point to show that things work much better when men and women are supportive of each other. Salt of the Earth is innovative in its portrayal of women. Women are not seen at this time as doers, but followers. This movie completely turns that idea upside down. The men of the film find a greater respect for the women in their lives.
Through all the key concepts represented in Salt of the Earth one cannot ignore the most prevailing idea. The idea is coming together despite differences is the best way to accomplish goals. One can see that throughout the entire story. Countless examples are shown again and again. The mine workers and their wives are able to overcome ethnicity issues, class issues, and most of all gender issues. It is obvious to me that the film is about much more than an entertaining story line but more of an underlining message and maybe even a call to action for equality in the United States. This is something that we as Americans still continue to move towards even today. Countless examples of how we have improves are highly noted, our first black president. But we still have not perfected equality. Racism, gender discrimination, and class differences are still prevalent in today’s society even more than fifty years after Salt of the Earth was released. Manuel Apuy writes a very interesting article inequalities very much exist but have become almost undetectable. What we are still attempting to learn is that coming together, as they did in the film, is the only way we can achieve the equality that our country speaks of having. Films are writing like this are attempting to send that message. The message of equality rains down from every part of this spectacular cinematic masterpiece.
Other Interesting Links
Movie Summary
Online Book about borderland issues
Work place gender gap
Written by John Morris
One People
The American Southwest at the turn of the twentieth century was a place where Native Americans and Whites interacted every day. Whether it was riding along the trail, stopping at the trading post, or even exchanging cattle and hard goods, this interaction briefly closed the gap between cultures and brought racially fueled tension upon the area. Oliver La Farge’s Laughing Boy shows us multiple examples of these certain situations.
The first of the interactions happens at the dance at the beginning of the book. Laughing Boy has just won some goods off of another man in a bet and wants to sell something, so he and Jesting Squaw’s Son meet with the two American’s who attended the dance. The tourist and his guide are put off at first, apparently they had been persuaded into feeding several stray indians that day, this was the first of many examples of the Navajo trying to take advantage of the ignorant whites. The tourist takes and interest in the belts around Laughing Boy’s waist and allowed them to sit down. Before they begin the negotiations, the Indian boys are offered a “big black cigarette”. The tobacco brings them both almost to the point of vomiting, but they make it a point not to show their discomfort in front of the foreign men. They begin bartering and there is a noticeable lack of respect on both sides, with the boys trying to swindle the white men out of as much money and tobacco as possible, and the white men trying to pay as little as they could for the goods. In the end neither really wins and they end up paying what the belt was worth. On the last day of that same dance, another incident occurred.
Before the horse races, a shot was heard. All the Navajo men rushed toward the sound with their weapons, the younger ones all hoping for a fight. The scene included many Navajo, several Americans, and a few men from other tribes. The Navajo men lined up in front of the area in a slightly crescent shaped line, within bow range. The older men wanted no trouble, for fear that it would bring soldiers onto the reservation, but to the younger braves, something had been started and if the tribal officials would step aside it could be finished. The edges of the crescent begin to extend and they would soon have the area surrounded. Just then it is noticed that some Americans are wounded and immediately the mood lightens slightly. The break in tension allows the officials to explain that an American and a Navajo were selling whiskey and when they were being arrested the Navajo man started shooting and killed a Hopi, starting all the excitement. Smiles spread across the faces of the Navajo men once they heard that it was a Hopi man killed. Having found that only a Hopi man was killed and an American and a Navajo were only to be jailed, the men went back to their horses. The policemen from the other tribes were disappointed they didn’t get to fight any Navajo. This situation further illustrated Navajo’s disdain for Americans and the lack of respect between different tribes in the area.
Later on, after another dance, Laughing Boy, Slim Girl, and several other Navajo rode toward their homes and approached an established trading post with a relatively new owner. The trading post was run by an American who bought the business to make a living swindling the Navajo, but he wasn’t as bright as they were and they usually ended up tricking him. Laughing Boy pretends to be interested in trading his expensive horse bridle to convince the shop owner to supply he and his friends with coffee, tobacco, and candies. He then takes his bridle off the counter and tells the man he’s no longer interested in selling. Once again the quality of the relationship between Americans and Navajo is demonstrated through tricks and lies.
Laughing Boy does not give much hope for the two cultures one day cooperating peacefully and respectfully with one another. In fact, we have seen that the Americans oppressed the indigenous population until the point where they almost disappeared. Today, we treat them like an endangered species, kept largely confined and seen as needing our help to survive. In fact, throughout the book, there are no examples of positive, respectful, mutually beneficial interaction between the Natives and the Americans. They stole Slim Girl from her home and tried to teach the ways of the Navajo out of her system. They turned her away when they found she was pregnant. Even her relationship with George was based on nothing but her own revenge for wrongs done to her in the past.
Knowing what happens in the world this book was based in after the story was over makes it difficult to speculate on the relationship between the two cultures displayed in the book; however, with the interactions La Farge describes in the book, it seems he could see the future of the issue. Wrongs were committed on both sides by both parties, but by the time the story is over it seems that there is no permanently bridging the gap between these two cultures.
People are the same where ever you go, but as much evidence as gets presented that mankind is capable of coming together, it seems that more than twice that amount surfaces to say we will never truly be one people.
-- AW
The first of the interactions happens at the dance at the beginning of the book. Laughing Boy has just won some goods off of another man in a bet and wants to sell something, so he and Jesting Squaw’s Son meet with the two American’s who attended the dance. The tourist and his guide are put off at first, apparently they had been persuaded into feeding several stray indians that day, this was the first of many examples of the Navajo trying to take advantage of the ignorant whites. The tourist takes and interest in the belts around Laughing Boy’s waist and allowed them to sit down. Before they begin the negotiations, the Indian boys are offered a “big black cigarette”. The tobacco brings them both almost to the point of vomiting, but they make it a point not to show their discomfort in front of the foreign men. They begin bartering and there is a noticeable lack of respect on both sides, with the boys trying to swindle the white men out of as much money and tobacco as possible, and the white men trying to pay as little as they could for the goods. In the end neither really wins and they end up paying what the belt was worth. On the last day of that same dance, another incident occurred.
Before the horse races, a shot was heard. All the Navajo men rushed toward the sound with their weapons, the younger ones all hoping for a fight. The scene included many Navajo, several Americans, and a few men from other tribes. The Navajo men lined up in front of the area in a slightly crescent shaped line, within bow range. The older men wanted no trouble, for fear that it would bring soldiers onto the reservation, but to the younger braves, something had been started and if the tribal officials would step aside it could be finished. The edges of the crescent begin to extend and they would soon have the area surrounded. Just then it is noticed that some Americans are wounded and immediately the mood lightens slightly. The break in tension allows the officials to explain that an American and a Navajo were selling whiskey and when they were being arrested the Navajo man started shooting and killed a Hopi, starting all the excitement. Smiles spread across the faces of the Navajo men once they heard that it was a Hopi man killed. Having found that only a Hopi man was killed and an American and a Navajo were only to be jailed, the men went back to their horses. The policemen from the other tribes were disappointed they didn’t get to fight any Navajo. This situation further illustrated Navajo’s disdain for Americans and the lack of respect between different tribes in the area.
Later on, after another dance, Laughing Boy, Slim Girl, and several other Navajo rode toward their homes and approached an established trading post with a relatively new owner. The trading post was run by an American who bought the business to make a living swindling the Navajo, but he wasn’t as bright as they were and they usually ended up tricking him. Laughing Boy pretends to be interested in trading his expensive horse bridle to convince the shop owner to supply he and his friends with coffee, tobacco, and candies. He then takes his bridle off the counter and tells the man he’s no longer interested in selling. Once again the quality of the relationship between Americans and Navajo is demonstrated through tricks and lies.
Laughing Boy does not give much hope for the two cultures one day cooperating peacefully and respectfully with one another. In fact, we have seen that the Americans oppressed the indigenous population until the point where they almost disappeared. Today, we treat them like an endangered species, kept largely confined and seen as needing our help to survive. In fact, throughout the book, there are no examples of positive, respectful, mutually beneficial interaction between the Natives and the Americans. They stole Slim Girl from her home and tried to teach the ways of the Navajo out of her system. They turned her away when they found she was pregnant. Even her relationship with George was based on nothing but her own revenge for wrongs done to her in the past.
Knowing what happens in the world this book was based in after the story was over makes it difficult to speculate on the relationship between the two cultures displayed in the book; however, with the interactions La Farge describes in the book, it seems he could see the future of the issue. Wrongs were committed on both sides by both parties, but by the time the story is over it seems that there is no permanently bridging the gap between these two cultures.
People are the same where ever you go, but as much evidence as gets presented that mankind is capable of coming together, it seems that more than twice that amount surfaces to say we will never truly be one people.
-- AW
Salt of the Earth
The movie Salt of the Earth showed me many hardships that members of the borderlands faced with the movement of the Anglo-Americans. The unsafe workspaces, the disrespect they received from coworkers, but it also showed me the strength of the native people of the area. The miners of the time were facing adversity from every aspect of the workplace therefore they decided to strike. Not only did the Anglo-Americans change the workplaces, they also changed the name of the town from San Marcos, to Zinc Town. All these affects were forced on the Mexican-Americans of Zinc Town. Although the Mexican-Americans faced struggles, they still had the power to strike. Once the president of the mining company decided that the men working in the mines did not need a worker for safety in the mines. The extra worker was used for safety and looking out for dangerous spots. Once these extra workers were taken away, not only the miners were affected, the entire town was affected because each worker had a family and everything was tied into the mine. Due to everyone involved with the town the strike was bound to happen. A labor strike is going to happen whenever workers are unhappy with wages, work conditions, or the way they are being treated. A strike is a massive work stoppage by the refusal of workers to work. Strikes occur all around the world today, and the workers are protected by Unions. The goal of a strike is to work out an agreement via contract between employee and employers. The strike from Salt of the Earth was possible because all of the workers stuck together and knew what they wanted, safer work areas. Ramon was a leader throughout the strike, he wanted rights, but he contradicted himself at home by treating his wife as inferior to him. But he later realized while on strike and at home with the kids the tough job she had to do every day while he worked. Strikes today are protected by laws and supported by workers unions, but during this time period they were not allowed to strike. They were forced off of the picket line by the Taft-Hartley Act, but this did not put an end to the picket line, the women supported their men and filled in for them while they were forced out. Although this was not the first strike of all time, it was a very important one and very influential on strikes that happen nowadays. There have been an infinite amount of strikes that have happened in the United States, and all over the world. It does not have to be just manual labor strikes it is any type of labor that can strike, for instance the writer’s strike during 2007 and 2008. The Writers Guild decided they need to strike because they were not receiving the large funds that all the studios were receiving. Writer's Strike The video shows that the writers were unsatisfied workers. Strikes are ways for workers to either get what they feel they deserve, or for safety reasons. The human right to a safe workplace is essential. An unsafe work area can cause more problems than any company would want to deal with, lawsuits and loss of employees can occur, or in the situation with Salt of the Earth they strike. The strike can only work if every employee joins in and there are not any scabs. A scab is a worker that crosses the picket line. Scabs In a picket line the workers stand outside the worksite with signs and chants and walk around, showing the people in charge that they are unhappy with the circumstances they face. Picket Line. As you can see the people doing the picketing do not always have to be against working they can also be picketing something they believe in. Picket lines are very controversial and can be dangerous at times. I feel that strikes and picket lines are a very unreasonable way of getting what you want. If a child is not allowed to play with a toy and they pout and cry for a time period, the parent is not supposed to buckle down and give the child the toy. The protestors do deserve better circumstances but I do not believe this is the proper approach. It works most of the time but I feel as if they are pouting about the situation instead of finding a solution to deal with the problem.
By: John Garvin
By: John Garvin
The Legend of Fray Baltazar
We start out our story by learning about the Indian uprising in which all the missionaries and all the Spaniards in northern New Mexico were either driven our or murdered. We are now set in the time period about 15 years later after the country had been reconquered with new missionaries and Frier Baltazar Montoya is introduced as the priest of Acoma. Our story goes on to tell the story of Fay Baltazar, the corrupt priest who treats the native people of New Mexico very poorly and as if they were basically his slaves. The story shows the great example of how when people are mistreated and are attempted to be controlled how the human spirit will always come out and an uprising is sure to come. No human should be treated lesser than any other human and when pushed into a corner, all humans will fight for their rights to live their lives free from persecution and control.
We are introduced to the corrupt priest, Friar Montoya, who was known for having a tyrannical and overbearing position and showed a hard hand on the natives of New Mexico. Montoya treated the natives as second-class people. “It was his belief that the pueblo of Acoma existed chiefly to support is fine church, and that this should be the pride of the Indians as it was his. He took the best of their corn and beans and squashes for his table, and selected the choicest portion when they slaughtered a sheep, chose their best hides to carpet his dwelling. Moreover, he exacted a heavy tribute in labor.” He had no intention of treating the Indians as one of God’s children but instead he treated them as people that could do things for him and that he could benefit from. He was sent Acoma to bring peace and religion, yet he only brought greed, anger and discrimination to this already ravaged land.
Montoya had originally come to Acoma and was a very active man who traveled far to obtain fruits and other items to make his house and his garden a beautiful sanctuary, but soon his mind and heart became filled with power and greed. Montoya decided to start using the Indian people to fulfill his desires and to make his life easier, without thinking about what he was doing to the Indians. Cather states. “It was clear that the Friar at Acoma lived more after the flesh than after the spirit. “ Montoya quickly went from being a respected holy man to being a man whose only goal was to fill his own desires. He soon had multiple servant boys who he treated poorly and trained to do whatever Montoya desired. Montoya held his “magical power” over the heads of the native people who were too afraid of what the repercussions of a revolt might do. Cather states, “Baltazar’s tyranny grew little by little, and the Acoma people were sometimes at the point of revolt. But they could no estimate just how powerful the Padre’s magic might be and were afraid to put it to the test. There was no doubt that the holy picture of St. Joseph had come to them from the Kind of Spain by the request of this Padre, and that picture had been more effective in averting drought than all the native rain-makers had been.” Montoya used his position of power and the lack of education to keep the Indian people in fear and inferior to him so that they would be too afraid to have an uprising. Fear and religion have been used to control the masses for as long as man has been around, and Montoya made sure he kept this trend going.
Soon Montoya decided that he wanted some company and someone whom he could show off his amazing gardens, house, and control of the Indians to. He decided to throw an extravagant dinner party and invite other priests from around the area to join. Montoya had perfected his favorite sauce and was bragging and boasting to the other priests on how amazing it was. As the sauce became ready and was brought out, the little servant boy tripped and spilled the sauce everywhere. Montoya became enraged, threw a cup at the servant boy’s head and killed him right there on the spot. The other priests, knowing this situation would have a horrible ending, left as soon as the incident happened. Soon the Indian people found out and went and got Montoya and brought him to the top of a cliff where they hanged him and finally ended his control of the natives.
This story is about the struggles and hardships that the native people had to endure in this time period. The goal of the missionaries and priests were to bring the different groups of people together as one and to prosper together, but the human need for power and dominance continued to take over and separate the people. The Indians were constantly discriminated against for their heritage and for their lack of the Christian religion. This story shows the many attempts to bridge the gap between the people but the constant failures that keep occurring. This story shows how cultures continue to try to dominate other cultures and how this constantly causes heartache, death, discrimination, and a world full of hate. This story shows the importance of equality and how humans should work together as one single species to make the world a harmonious place. There will always be people who are trying to achieve more power and use people to get ahead in life and to control, but it is our duty to keep uprising and keep revolting against this unfair treatment so that we can one day reach or goal of a utopian society. We also need to remember to hold these figures of power to the same standards as all people. Just because a person is given a place of power doesn’t mean we shouldn’t constantly question and check them. It takes a whole community to keep peace and harmony; it only takes one person to create hate, discrimination and hardship. It is our goal as a society to make sure this doesn’t happen anymore.
--PM
We are introduced to the corrupt priest, Friar Montoya, who was known for having a tyrannical and overbearing position and showed a hard hand on the natives of New Mexico. Montoya treated the natives as second-class people. “It was his belief that the pueblo of Acoma existed chiefly to support is fine church, and that this should be the pride of the Indians as it was his. He took the best of their corn and beans and squashes for his table, and selected the choicest portion when they slaughtered a sheep, chose their best hides to carpet his dwelling. Moreover, he exacted a heavy tribute in labor.” He had no intention of treating the Indians as one of God’s children but instead he treated them as people that could do things for him and that he could benefit from. He was sent Acoma to bring peace and religion, yet he only brought greed, anger and discrimination to this already ravaged land.
Montoya had originally come to Acoma and was a very active man who traveled far to obtain fruits and other items to make his house and his garden a beautiful sanctuary, but soon his mind and heart became filled with power and greed. Montoya decided to start using the Indian people to fulfill his desires and to make his life easier, without thinking about what he was doing to the Indians. Cather states. “It was clear that the Friar at Acoma lived more after the flesh than after the spirit. “ Montoya quickly went from being a respected holy man to being a man whose only goal was to fill his own desires. He soon had multiple servant boys who he treated poorly and trained to do whatever Montoya desired. Montoya held his “magical power” over the heads of the native people who were too afraid of what the repercussions of a revolt might do. Cather states, “Baltazar’s tyranny grew little by little, and the Acoma people were sometimes at the point of revolt. But they could no estimate just how powerful the Padre’s magic might be and were afraid to put it to the test. There was no doubt that the holy picture of St. Joseph had come to them from the Kind of Spain by the request of this Padre, and that picture had been more effective in averting drought than all the native rain-makers had been.” Montoya used his position of power and the lack of education to keep the Indian people in fear and inferior to him so that they would be too afraid to have an uprising. Fear and religion have been used to control the masses for as long as man has been around, and Montoya made sure he kept this trend going.
Soon Montoya decided that he wanted some company and someone whom he could show off his amazing gardens, house, and control of the Indians to. He decided to throw an extravagant dinner party and invite other priests from around the area to join. Montoya had perfected his favorite sauce and was bragging and boasting to the other priests on how amazing it was. As the sauce became ready and was brought out, the little servant boy tripped and spilled the sauce everywhere. Montoya became enraged, threw a cup at the servant boy’s head and killed him right there on the spot. The other priests, knowing this situation would have a horrible ending, left as soon as the incident happened. Soon the Indian people found out and went and got Montoya and brought him to the top of a cliff where they hanged him and finally ended his control of the natives.
This story is about the struggles and hardships that the native people had to endure in this time period. The goal of the missionaries and priests were to bring the different groups of people together as one and to prosper together, but the human need for power and dominance continued to take over and separate the people. The Indians were constantly discriminated against for their heritage and for their lack of the Christian religion. This story shows the many attempts to bridge the gap between the people but the constant failures that keep occurring. This story shows how cultures continue to try to dominate other cultures and how this constantly causes heartache, death, discrimination, and a world full of hate. This story shows the importance of equality and how humans should work together as one single species to make the world a harmonious place. There will always be people who are trying to achieve more power and use people to get ahead in life and to control, but it is our duty to keep uprising and keep revolting against this unfair treatment so that we can one day reach or goal of a utopian society. We also need to remember to hold these figures of power to the same standards as all people. Just because a person is given a place of power doesn’t mean we shouldn’t constantly question and check them. It takes a whole community to keep peace and harmony; it only takes one person to create hate, discrimination and hardship. It is our goal as a society to make sure this doesn’t happen anymore.
--PM
Friday, April 16, 2010
Absolutely Autonomous Individual
The novel “Laughing Boy” is truly a work of art. Its characters are original and are very interesting. The character that interests me most is the character Slim Girl. In this author’s opinion she is the real main character of the novel, named after her lover. Slim Girl takes the character “Laughing Boy” into American society and uses him to help herself become reintroduced into Navajo society. And along the way shows the reader the intense conflict between cultures and genders. Slim Girl’s conflicts in the novel come from many angles and portray the beliefs of both cultures’ views on the opposite race of people. She represents the middle ground that exists between both cultures, but in the process she is destroyed and thus the idea of another possible way is destroyed. but Through her both cultures are represented in new light, she appreciates the American way of life in which the standard for beauty is far higher than that in Navajo cultures yet she detests Americans for their treatment of her. She dislikes the Navajo idea of manual labor destroying her beauty, and she also feels very welcome and at home in a typical American city. In not accepting any way of life holistically she develops her own way, and in developing her own way of life (and seeing as how she was universally rejected she had to do this alone) she is portrayed as a strong, working, independent, free thinking woman. This was also something revolutionary in the era of La Farge, the idea of a woman being so strong in mind and body, beautiful, and clever.
Issue involving ethnicity and nationality combined
Intermarriage between cultures
Navajo idea of marrying an American-
“She is bad. She lives down by the railroad. She is not of the People any more, she is American. She does bad things for the Americans. (La Farge 33).” Wounded Face spoke of Slim Girl very poorly. While he knows that she is not a woman of good moral standing, the line that surprises me most is the one that claims that she is American. She is bad because she is American. There is no intermarriage between Americans and Navajo. This is frowned upon. Slim Girl is seen as an American even though she still speaks Navajo and is of Navajo race. This is enough in the Navajo people to segregate Slim Girl. She was not raised in the typical Navajo way and thus she is considered an American. In every other way she is Navajo, yet they still reject her and treat her as almost hostile.
American idea of marrying a “Squaw”-
“Then I saw that I was going to have a child. The next time he came to town, I asked him to marry me quickly….He said to get out of his way, he couldn’t be bothered by a ‘Squaw’ (La Farge166).” This is the conflict between the man that impregnated Slim Girl and Slim Girl herself. The man wouldn’t marry Slim Girl because she was a “Squaw”, which was American slang for a Native American woman. No matter what happened he would not take her as his wife. Eventually she also told the preacher that cared for her, and they also kicked her out of the church and commanded her to leave. The idea of a Native American woman marrying an American man was viewed incredibly poorly, as the Americans clearly believed that they were superior to the Navajo.
Universally she was not accepted by either people. Americans rejected her for her race, and Navajo rejected her for her unorthodox upbringing. And in not being accepted into either culture, for very different reasons, she was not allowed to marry within either culture.
Gender-
“He took out his knife.
‘I shall try to make it not wiggle,’ he said.
‘What are you going to do?’
‘Cut it off just by the hole; I can’t pull all that through your arm.’
‘It is a good arrow. Pull it through.’
There was never a woman like this one. (La Farge163)”
Slim Girl challenges roles of gender throughout the novel. It is my opinion that she is almost forced to because she is exiled from both cultures and her only option is to become her own person. She clearly has traits from both cultures. She weaves like a Navajo woman and has their sense of material wealth, yet she is not a fan of hard manual labor and she insists on retaining the American value of beauty. She has an affinity and knowledge of American culture and is very much at home within it. She frequently visits the town, not only to visit her lover, but to interact with the people that she has been around for her entire life. Her only knowledge of culture is from her experiences with Americans. So while she carries a deep hatred for the Americans, she can’t escape the fact that they are the only thing that she knows. Because of this conflict within her, she has had to become a very callous, independent individual. She suddenly can’t rely on either Navajo or American peoples, and for much of her life she had few if any friends. Slim Girl had to rely on herself and herself alone to make it in life. This has made her very quick witted, strong, and indomitable. These are traits that were normally reserved for men in that time and place. To show Slim Girl as a beautiful, independent woman challenges the American ideas of female subservience and the Navajo ideals of beauty and subservience.
Slim Girl is a woman that has an agenda, she knows exactly what she wants and is steadfast enough to obtain it. The story was forced to end because she simply couldn’t choose one path, which in the end was the Navajo path. Slim Girl lived on the boundary between American and Navajo. She had tried both paths and failed at both, the idea that Laughing Boy could her reintegrate her into Navajo culture was a wonderful idea but in the end was unrealistic as she had adopted far too many American cultural values to be fully enamored with Navajo ways.
-- RS
LaFarge, Oliver. Laughing Boy. New York, New York: Signet Classics, 1957. Print.
Issue involving ethnicity and nationality combined
Intermarriage between cultures
Navajo idea of marrying an American-
“She is bad. She lives down by the railroad. She is not of the People any more, she is American. She does bad things for the Americans. (La Farge 33).” Wounded Face spoke of Slim Girl very poorly. While he knows that she is not a woman of good moral standing, the line that surprises me most is the one that claims that she is American. She is bad because she is American. There is no intermarriage between Americans and Navajo. This is frowned upon. Slim Girl is seen as an American even though she still speaks Navajo and is of Navajo race. This is enough in the Navajo people to segregate Slim Girl. She was not raised in the typical Navajo way and thus she is considered an American. In every other way she is Navajo, yet they still reject her and treat her as almost hostile.
American idea of marrying a “Squaw”-
“Then I saw that I was going to have a child. The next time he came to town, I asked him to marry me quickly….He said to get out of his way, he couldn’t be bothered by a ‘Squaw’ (La Farge166).” This is the conflict between the man that impregnated Slim Girl and Slim Girl herself. The man wouldn’t marry Slim Girl because she was a “Squaw”, which was American slang for a Native American woman. No matter what happened he would not take her as his wife. Eventually she also told the preacher that cared for her, and they also kicked her out of the church and commanded her to leave. The idea of a Native American woman marrying an American man was viewed incredibly poorly, as the Americans clearly believed that they were superior to the Navajo.
Universally she was not accepted by either people. Americans rejected her for her race, and Navajo rejected her for her unorthodox upbringing. And in not being accepted into either culture, for very different reasons, she was not allowed to marry within either culture.
Gender-
“He took out his knife.
‘I shall try to make it not wiggle,’ he said.
‘What are you going to do?’
‘Cut it off just by the hole; I can’t pull all that through your arm.’
‘It is a good arrow. Pull it through.’
There was never a woman like this one. (La Farge163)”
Slim Girl challenges roles of gender throughout the novel. It is my opinion that she is almost forced to because she is exiled from both cultures and her only option is to become her own person. She clearly has traits from both cultures. She weaves like a Navajo woman and has their sense of material wealth, yet she is not a fan of hard manual labor and she insists on retaining the American value of beauty. She has an affinity and knowledge of American culture and is very much at home within it. She frequently visits the town, not only to visit her lover, but to interact with the people that she has been around for her entire life. Her only knowledge of culture is from her experiences with Americans. So while she carries a deep hatred for the Americans, she can’t escape the fact that they are the only thing that she knows. Because of this conflict within her, she has had to become a very callous, independent individual. She suddenly can’t rely on either Navajo or American peoples, and for much of her life she had few if any friends. Slim Girl had to rely on herself and herself alone to make it in life. This has made her very quick witted, strong, and indomitable. These are traits that were normally reserved for men in that time and place. To show Slim Girl as a beautiful, independent woman challenges the American ideas of female subservience and the Navajo ideals of beauty and subservience.
Slim Girl is a woman that has an agenda, she knows exactly what she wants and is steadfast enough to obtain it. The story was forced to end because she simply couldn’t choose one path, which in the end was the Navajo path. Slim Girl lived on the boundary between American and Navajo. She had tried both paths and failed at both, the idea that Laughing Boy could her reintegrate her into Navajo culture was a wonderful idea but in the end was unrealistic as she had adopted far too many American cultural values to be fully enamored with Navajo ways.
-- RS
LaFarge, Oliver. Laughing Boy. New York, New York: Signet Classics, 1957. Print.
Being Human
What makes someone human? Is it the way they dress, look, speak, or behave? Perhaps it is simply that they have the genetic makeup of a human being even though they may be “primitive” and more similar to another species. In Willa Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop, this question of being un-human, or a lower class of human, creates conflict for both Bishop Latour and Fray Baltazar. Because Latour and Baltazar view the natives as being so different from themselves, they treat the natives with inequity and disrespect. Ultimately for Fray Baltazar, his mistreatment of his people leads to his death in a lesson of pushing people to their breaking point.
This discrimination is seen through the eyes of Bishop Latour when he is giving his sermon. As he looks at the native Acomas he characterizes them as “antediluvian creatures”(Cather 100). Not only does he view the people as being more similar to a different species than himself but all of Acoma seems foreign to him. He observes that, “something reptilian he felt here, something that had endured by immobility, a kind of life out of reach, like the crustaceans in their armour”(Cather 103). This description gives the sense that Latour is in a different world where nothing is alive but instead dead and hard. The church also seems foreign to him as it is described as, “gaunt, grim, grey, its nave rising some seventy feet to a sagging, half-ruined roof, it was more like a fortress than a place of worship”(Cather 100). The church isn’t a typical church that he is accustomed to as he describes its disutility as a place of worship. This church displays another example of missionaries thinking of the Indians as being a lower class of human as the needs of the Acomas weren’t thought of in the construction or style of this structure. Latour remarks that the missionary or Priest who built the church “was not altogether innocent of worldly ambition, and that they built for their own satisfaction, perhaps, rather than according to the needs of the Indians”(Cather 101). Not only was the church designed without the Acomas in mind but, the natives also had to perform the labor necessary to build such a church as the Acomas had to carry the materials from forty miles away. Since Latour sees these people as being pre-historic beings, he doesn’t see any of himself in them and therefore, they become non-human to him.
The conflict for Latour continues when he doesn’t connect with the Acomas and gives up on them during this sermon as, “when he blessed them and sent them away, it was with a sense of inadequacy and spiritual defeat”. Latour feels so far removed from this community that he dismisses them as being a lost cause. When we interact with a culture that is extremely different from our own, either we embrace it or we turn away from it and become homesick for our comfort zone. An example of Latour’s rejection of his surrounding is when “he was on a naked rock in the desert, in the stone age, a prey to homesickness for his own kind, his own epoch, for European man and his glorious history of desire and dreams”(Cather 103). Here, Latour has an ethnic disconnect between the Indians and his European background.
When Latour is unable to connect or relate to the natives, we see his racism. Or, is this racism or just ignorance? Even though this passage in the chapter leaves us with a picture of Latour’s faults in that he is not a perfect picture of acceptance and un-biased views, it’s easy to be sympathetic to his experience. Since Latour has never encountered people like this, they are new to him and he doesn’t know how to interact with them. Latour’s European background takes place in a different environment where “through all the centuries that his own part of the world had been changing like the sky at daybreak, this people had been fixed” (Cather 103). This could be the same between any two cultures that are dramatically different. Not always can we relate to others that are so different than ourselves that we find no similarities.
During “The Legend of Fray Baltazar”, Bishop Latour learns of the fate of a former priest of Acoma. The conflict shown in this story occurs between the different lifestyles and ethnicity of Baltazar and the Indians of Acoma and how he uses these differences to treat the Indians with disrespect and as lesser humans. Baltazar was from a “religious house in Spain which was noted for good living”(Cather 105) while the Indians worked on farms and toiled for their food and simple possessions. Baltazar disrespects the natives by making them work for him and chose to practically enslave them for his own benefit. He believes that the natives are beneath him and are therefore a lower class of humans. In fact, “it was his belief that the pueblo of Acoma existed chiefly to support its fine church”(Cather 104). This belief shows that Baltazar views the natives not as equals but instead as worker bees to support him and further his cause and lifestyle. He even takes their best crops and their water as, “he took the best of their corn and beans and squashes for his table”(Cather 104). Baltazar doesn’t consider the Indians and their possessions and therefore treats them with inferiority.
This view of non-human is shown in the fact that the Indians are perceived as a lower class of citizen in the eyes of Baltazar. We see this mistreatment as Baltazar is described as “of a tyrannical and overbearing disposition and bore a hard hand on the natives”(Cather 103-104). In this case, ignorance is not an excuse for Baltazar. Here, he continued to exert power on the Indians incrementally as, “Baltazar’s tyranny grew little by little, and the Acoma people were sometimes at the point of revolt”(Cather 106). Baltazar and the students of this story learn the fate of treating others with inequality. The Acomas accept Baltazar’s treatment until he kills one of their own. This is when the formerly submissive people revolt and throw Baltazar off a cliff. People can only take so much mistreatment until they reach their breaking point as, “so did they rid their rock of their tyrant, whom on the whole they had liked very well. But everything has its day”(Cather 113). This lesson shows that with discrimination and bad treatment comes revenge to the abuser.
When people view others as being un-human because their differences are so great from their own, is this racism or just ignorance? In the case of Bishop Latour, it seems to be racism. With Fray Baltazar, he takes the Acomas for granted and exerts tyranny over them. Even though we may be unfamiliar and ignorant about another culture, that doesn’t mean that these people are any less human than we are. What really makes a human is there genetic makeup. Who cares what they look or act like? Scientifically, what qualifies as a human is clear. But it’s more difficult in our mind to view others that are are so different from ourselves and like something we’ve never seen as being the same as we are. Even though we are taught to embrace our differences, it’s difficult to do that when we have trouble relating to others that are completely different from us. Even today, would an upper class European view a native from the Amazon as being not just primitive but so unlike themselves that they feel this person is of a different species? There’s a good chance that they would especially if this nationality is new to them they can’t relate with each other. The Amazonian may view the European in the same way and think that they are a different creature altogether.
“Acoma History Part 2”:
This clip from the Haaku Museum in Acoma Sky City, talks about the building of the mission church along with the Indians’ revolt. The video also describes the missionaries and Europeans that came to Acoma to convert the Indians and how the Acomas had to adapt to the ways of the Europeans.
Picture of an Acoma woman taken in 1904 by Edward S. Curis. Source: http://www.old-picture.com/indians/Acoma-Indian-Woman.htm. This is what a native Acoma woman would have looked like when Father Latour gave his sermon. We can see that she doesn’t look reptilian at all and in fact, looks more similar to Europeans than Father Latour thinks. Her shawl would have been bright along with the other fabrics of her clothing.
Acoma cliff where Fray Baltazar might have been thrown. Picture taken by Richard Dean Star. Source: http://www.richarddeanstarr.com/images/Acoma.jpg. This picture helps to visualize the cliff that Fray Baltazar might have been thrown from by the Acomas. It shows how steep it is and its proximity to the community.
This discrimination is seen through the eyes of Bishop Latour when he is giving his sermon. As he looks at the native Acomas he characterizes them as “antediluvian creatures”(Cather 100). Not only does he view the people as being more similar to a different species than himself but all of Acoma seems foreign to him. He observes that, “something reptilian he felt here, something that had endured by immobility, a kind of life out of reach, like the crustaceans in their armour”(Cather 103). This description gives the sense that Latour is in a different world where nothing is alive but instead dead and hard. The church also seems foreign to him as it is described as, “gaunt, grim, grey, its nave rising some seventy feet to a sagging, half-ruined roof, it was more like a fortress than a place of worship”(Cather 100). The church isn’t a typical church that he is accustomed to as he describes its disutility as a place of worship. This church displays another example of missionaries thinking of the Indians as being a lower class of human as the needs of the Acomas weren’t thought of in the construction or style of this structure. Latour remarks that the missionary or Priest who built the church “was not altogether innocent of worldly ambition, and that they built for their own satisfaction, perhaps, rather than according to the needs of the Indians”(Cather 101). Not only was the church designed without the Acomas in mind but, the natives also had to perform the labor necessary to build such a church as the Acomas had to carry the materials from forty miles away. Since Latour sees these people as being pre-historic beings, he doesn’t see any of himself in them and therefore, they become non-human to him.
The conflict for Latour continues when he doesn’t connect with the Acomas and gives up on them during this sermon as, “when he blessed them and sent them away, it was with a sense of inadequacy and spiritual defeat”. Latour feels so far removed from this community that he dismisses them as being a lost cause. When we interact with a culture that is extremely different from our own, either we embrace it or we turn away from it and become homesick for our comfort zone. An example of Latour’s rejection of his surrounding is when “he was on a naked rock in the desert, in the stone age, a prey to homesickness for his own kind, his own epoch, for European man and his glorious history of desire and dreams”(Cather 103). Here, Latour has an ethnic disconnect between the Indians and his European background.
When Latour is unable to connect or relate to the natives, we see his racism. Or, is this racism or just ignorance? Even though this passage in the chapter leaves us with a picture of Latour’s faults in that he is not a perfect picture of acceptance and un-biased views, it’s easy to be sympathetic to his experience. Since Latour has never encountered people like this, they are new to him and he doesn’t know how to interact with them. Latour’s European background takes place in a different environment where “through all the centuries that his own part of the world had been changing like the sky at daybreak, this people had been fixed” (Cather 103). This could be the same between any two cultures that are dramatically different. Not always can we relate to others that are so different than ourselves that we find no similarities.
During “The Legend of Fray Baltazar”, Bishop Latour learns of the fate of a former priest of Acoma. The conflict shown in this story occurs between the different lifestyles and ethnicity of Baltazar and the Indians of Acoma and how he uses these differences to treat the Indians with disrespect and as lesser humans. Baltazar was from a “religious house in Spain which was noted for good living”(Cather 105) while the Indians worked on farms and toiled for their food and simple possessions. Baltazar disrespects the natives by making them work for him and chose to practically enslave them for his own benefit. He believes that the natives are beneath him and are therefore a lower class of humans. In fact, “it was his belief that the pueblo of Acoma existed chiefly to support its fine church”(Cather 104). This belief shows that Baltazar views the natives not as equals but instead as worker bees to support him and further his cause and lifestyle. He even takes their best crops and their water as, “he took the best of their corn and beans and squashes for his table”(Cather 104). Baltazar doesn’t consider the Indians and their possessions and therefore treats them with inferiority.
This view of non-human is shown in the fact that the Indians are perceived as a lower class of citizen in the eyes of Baltazar. We see this mistreatment as Baltazar is described as “of a tyrannical and overbearing disposition and bore a hard hand on the natives”(Cather 103-104). In this case, ignorance is not an excuse for Baltazar. Here, he continued to exert power on the Indians incrementally as, “Baltazar’s tyranny grew little by little, and the Acoma people were sometimes at the point of revolt”(Cather 106). Baltazar and the students of this story learn the fate of treating others with inequality. The Acomas accept Baltazar’s treatment until he kills one of their own. This is when the formerly submissive people revolt and throw Baltazar off a cliff. People can only take so much mistreatment until they reach their breaking point as, “so did they rid their rock of their tyrant, whom on the whole they had liked very well. But everything has its day”(Cather 113). This lesson shows that with discrimination and bad treatment comes revenge to the abuser.
When people view others as being un-human because their differences are so great from their own, is this racism or just ignorance? In the case of Bishop Latour, it seems to be racism. With Fray Baltazar, he takes the Acomas for granted and exerts tyranny over them. Even though we may be unfamiliar and ignorant about another culture, that doesn’t mean that these people are any less human than we are. What really makes a human is there genetic makeup. Who cares what they look or act like? Scientifically, what qualifies as a human is clear. But it’s more difficult in our mind to view others that are are so different from ourselves and like something we’ve never seen as being the same as we are. Even though we are taught to embrace our differences, it’s difficult to do that when we have trouble relating to others that are completely different from us. Even today, would an upper class European view a native from the Amazon as being not just primitive but so unlike themselves that they feel this person is of a different species? There’s a good chance that they would especially if this nationality is new to them they can’t relate with each other. The Amazonian may view the European in the same way and think that they are a different creature altogether.
“Acoma History Part 2”:
This clip from the Haaku Museum in Acoma Sky City, talks about the building of the mission church along with the Indians’ revolt. The video also describes the missionaries and Europeans that came to Acoma to convert the Indians and how the Acomas had to adapt to the ways of the Europeans.
Picture of an Acoma woman taken in 1904 by Edward S. Curis. Source: http://www.old-picture.com/indians/Acoma-Indian-Woman.htm. This is what a native Acoma woman would have looked like when Father Latour gave his sermon. We can see that she doesn’t look reptilian at all and in fact, looks more similar to Europeans than Father Latour thinks. Her shawl would have been bright along with the other fabrics of her clothing.
Acoma cliff where Fray Baltazar might have been thrown. Picture taken by Richard Dean Star. Source: http://www.richarddeanstarr.com/images/Acoma.jpg. This picture helps to visualize the cliff that Fray Baltazar might have been thrown from by the Acomas. It shows how steep it is and its proximity to the community.
On "Salt of the Earth"
To kick things off, I think it would be appropriate to give you basic background information on the film I will be discussing. With that introduction, the film is entitled The Salt of the Earth. It was directed by Herbert J. Biberman and was released in 1954. It is a truly inspiring work that describes the events leading up to and the results of the strike for equality at the Delaware Mining Company. It follows Esperanza and Ramon Quintero in the city of San Marcos to the Mexicans and Zinc Town to the ?Anglos? who changed its name. The miners strike because they want equality with the Anglo workers and striking is the only way to make this happen. Through turns and twists, the wives of the miners actually take their husbands spots on the picket lines and fight along side them. Upon saying that, as someone seeking knowledge on generally non discussed topics and as a scholar, I believe it is imperative that you watch and internalize this film. It is deeply powerful and will undoubtedly open your eyes to an array of things you probably never noticed before. It is located on Google Videos and I strongly recommend viewing it.
Right now, I would like to discuss this film in a historical perspective. In order to do this properly, I must first define what I mean by ?history.? The dictionary defines it as follows, ?the branch of knowledge dealing with past event?, ?a continuous, systematic narrative of past events as relating to a particular people, country, period, person, etc., usually written as a chronological account?,? acts, ideas, or events that will or can shape the course of the future; immediate but significant happenings.? In my definition, history is any event in the past that has shaped the present or is shaping the future in some distinct way. Although dates and facts are important in history, is not limited to simply that; rather it is about understanding how an event affects and alters the future following it. In saying such, there are two distinct ways that this film engages in historical events. The first way, and most apparent and evident, is that it visibly centers around the actual Empire Zinc Miner strike in Silver City, New Mexico in 1951. That is factual and recorded. The main events like the real strike and the women taking over happened in actuality. Clinton Jencks, portrayed as Frank Barnes in the film, was actually present throughout the strike in Silver City in 1951. Four years before the strike, the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, the IUMMSW, hired Jencks and sent him to Local 890, positioned in Silver City, New Mexico. On October 17, 1950, the men of Local 890 launched the strike for equality in wages and conditions. Just to clarify again that we are on the same page, a strike is a declaration in the suspension of work against an employer until certain demands are met. Jencks was part of the strike with the other miners and was also arrested with them for sixteen months on Jun 12, 1951. As in the movie, the wives of the miners really took over the picketing line. After roughly six months, the company consented to the majority of the demands of the workers. The Salt of the Earth is very true to historical accounts and is very closely based on true events. It is obvious to see the historical perspective of the film in this way. The foundation of the movie is based on concrete and definite events that impacted the future. What kind of impact do you think this strike had for the miners? Were all the implications positive? Put yourself in the shoes of these miners and their wives. Do you believe you could have participated and endured through a strike lasting fifteen or more months? Could you push through being tormented and possibly beaten for better working conditions? These are great questions that I deeply encourage you to consider. Fascinated and interested with labor strikes? Want to learn more? Go to this website and learn some more.
The second way, and most importantly in my opinion, this film incorporates history is how it addresses the rise of feminism. I do not believe that it was the forefront reason for making this film, but I truly believe it was a strong secondary meaning. Feminism is commonly accepted to have really gained momentum in the 1960?s. So it is easy to see that when this film was made, just six years prior, feminism was slowly gaining some energy and force. Before I delve any further into the subject, let me again do some defining for you so we are on the same page. The dictionary describes it as follows, ?the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men.? My definition coincides with the dictionary?s, but that explanation seems really formal in my eyes. When reading that, I imagined something along the lines of a group of women getting together and writing a formal doctrine. That obviously wasn?t the case, but that is how I imagined it. My definition is a little more relaxed and informal. I believe feminism is any action that women take in order to secure equality with men in any way, shape, or form.
Now that we are on the same page hopefully, I would like to show you a few ways the rise of feminism is portrayed in this film. Starting at 7:55 to roughly 8:45 in the film, gender roles are strictly set. We can see that Ramon clearly views Esperanza as being inferior to him. She is cleaning about the house and he is getting ready to go to the bar. Roles are clearly defined in this short segment. This is further developed in the section from 15:15 to about 16:15. Here the miners? wives are talking about going to the mine and picketing. Esperanza is instantly against it because her husband would disprove. Women are visibly seen as second-rate citizens at this time in the movie. Shortly after, we can see that this role starts to slowly change. The change starts small at 26:15 with a woman first watching the picket line and then eventually joining it. At 48:10, the shifting winds of change turn into a full blown hurricane. A woman proposes the idea that the wives take over the picket lines and it, after much debate and resistance from some of the men, becomes a reality. The last and probably the climax to the rise of feminism in this movie is at 1:19:00 to 1:20:50. In this segment, Esperanza stands up to Ramon and finally puts him in his place. She tells him that she will no longer be inferior to him and that without her, he cannot win this strike. This scene is quintessential feminism. Esperanza was declaring her equality to her husband and she was not backing down for anything or anyone. So I would like to leave you with some questions. What do you think you would have done had you been in Esperanza Quintero?s shoes? Would you have been able to defy your loved one entirely to be apart of something you strongly believe in? Would you have been able to fight a role that society had placed you in? I wholeheartedly recommend watching this movie and really putting yourself in her shoes. Think about the strength and conviction in oneself that it would take to do what Esperanza did. Savvy? If you are actually interested in researching feminism further, here are a few links that can tell you more information pertaining to it. Go forth and delve into knowledge. And just in case I haven?t made it distinctly clear, GO WATCH THE MOVIE. It is profound and if you truly let it sink in, it can alter your perspective on the world.
The second way, and most importantly in my opinion, this film incorporates history is how it addresses the rise of feminism. I do not believe that it was the forefront reason for making this film, but I truly believe it was a strong secondary meaning. Feminism is commonly accepted to have really gained momentum in the 1960?s. So it is easy to see that when this film was made, just six years prior, feminism was slowly gaining some energy and force. Before I delve any further into the subject, let me again do some defining for you so we are on the same page. The dictionary describes it as follows, ?the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men.? My definition coincides with the dictionary?s, but that explanation seems really formal in my eyes. When reading that, I imagined something along the lines of a group of women getting together and writing a formal doctrine. That obviously wasn?t the case, but that is how I imagined it. My definition is a little more relaxed and informal. I believe feminism is any action that women take in order to secure equality with men in any way, shape, or form.
Now that we are on the same page hopefully, I would like to show you a few ways the rise of feminism is portrayed in this film. Starting at 7:55 to roughly 8:45 in the film, gender roles are strictly set. We can see that Ramon clearly views Esperanza as being inferior to him. She is cleaning about the house and he is getting ready to go to the bar. Roles are clearly defined in this short segment. This is further developed in the section from 15:15 to about 16:15. Here the miners? wives are talking about going to the mine and picketing. Esperanza is instantly against it because her husband would disprove. Women are visibly seen as second-rate citizens at this time in the movie. Shortly after, we can see that this role starts to slowly change. The change starts small at 26:15 with a woman first watching the picket line and then eventually joining it. At 48:10, the shifting winds of change turn into a full blown hurricane. A woman proposes the idea that the wives take over the picket lines and it, after much debate and resistance from some of the men, becomes a reality. The last and probably the climax to the rise of feminism in this movie is at 1:19:00 to 1:20:50. In this segment, Esperanza stands up to Ramon and finally puts him in his place. She tells him that she will no longer be inferior to him and that without her, he cannot win this strike. This scene is quintessential feminism. Esperanza was declaring her equality to her husband and she was not backing down for anything or anyone. So I would like to leave you with some questions. What do you think you would have done had you been in Esperanza Quintero?s shoes? Would you have been able to defy your loved one entirely to be apart of something you strongly believe in? Would you have been able to fight a role that society had placed you in? I wholeheartedly recommend watching this movie and really putting yourself in her shoes. Think about the strength and conviction in oneself that it would take to do what Esperanza did. Savvy? If you are actually interested in researching feminism further, here are a few links that can tell you more information pertaining to it. Go forth and delve into knowledge. And just in case I haven?t made it distinctly clear, GO WATCH THE MOVIE. It is profound and if you truly let it sink in, it can alter your perspective on the world.
Brittany Adams =D
Here is the beginning of the movie. Watch a quick preview and then go here to watch it in full.
Here is the beginning of the movie. Watch a quick preview and then go here to watch it in full.
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