Who: The proletariat
of the United States
What: Fairytale
portrayal of working conditions and job opportunities
Where: Hollywood
films, The United States workforce
When: The films
and literature will be from recent U.S. history and the analysis will stem from
current day problems.
Why: To demonstrate
that it is not this way; workers in our very own “land of the free” are
suffering.
Research:
I plan to find
academic articles on workforce conditions and investigate worker’s statements
and biographies or autobiographies.
Possible categories to search are: the labor movement, portrayal of
workers in media/film, opinion of workers, opinion of worker’s rights,
knowledge of worker’s conditions, common perception of workers in the United
States (I could search in an international database for this). All of the previous searches will be
specifically for the workers in the United States.
Films I plan on
reviewing for this project are: Erin Brockovich,
Norma Ray, and other films that
attempt to portray the reality of factory workers. I will comment on how the films’ representation of these
workers affected its viewers, i.e. if it was an accurate representation, did it
follow any stereotypes or end the film with a bow? I will also look into current popular movies and analyze
their depiction of jobs and workers to compare with the reality of the times.
Soviet Montage would also be a great reference for this--fight for the working man.
ReplyDeleteI might want to see a greater degree of focus when it comes to Fairytale portrayal--and again Caryn James' article might be a good starting point.
I dunno, but that's just me.
This gets interesting when you get specific. I suggest you start with the specific films you want to address and then quickly get to what you want to say about them--while keeping in mind that you also need to say something about the culture. Bearing that in mind, you should also use some more current films to make your point. Or look at a few films over time to say something about how attitudes have or have not changed and what that means. Again, beware of being overly academic. Use the films and examples from them as evidence for your argument as your primary sources.
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