"Blue collar" workers, repairing railroad tracks in another country, fighting for respect and some control over there life’s and jobs, while living in a society where skilled laborers are treasured instead of replaced by a cheaper machine just makes me wonder what happened to America. Considering we started out as a colonies, derived from there way of living and social conform which was been established for years we as a nation, I feel, wish where more like them. Observing the respect they have for each other, fighting for equal pay, and forced to concede to the new ways even though they signed agreements long before which would protect there rights, only makes me feel like we went astray at some point and only seem to follow a small portion of the ideals we started with.
This movie reminds me of today's economy on how the numbers of blue-collar jobs are decreasing in the U.S due to jobs being shipped overseas for cheaper and low-skilled manufacturing. These workers in the movie have a ton of respect, pride, and integrity over their jobs something you see less common these days.
Growing up in a blue-collar family I have witnessed my parents and brothers laid off due to companies being shut down and shipped overseas. My father worked in a factory and even though his job was labor intensive he did it with a lot of pride and dignity.
From a blue-collar respective, my dad once told me to learn to love your job, do it well and your best even if you're a street sweeper or a garbageman. He said if you're going to be a street sweeper do it well as Michael Jordan played basketball.
I saw a lot of these qualities that my dad said to me throughout the movie. Today these qualities are becoming rare since they are hiring low paying and lazy unskilled workers.
The one scene where the guys from London travel all the way to work only for one day really spoke to the situation that these workers where in. It almost made sense of why the men ended up moving a hurt worker, because they where scared for their jobs.
It might just be that a lot of what these men are dealing with seems familiar to me, but I felt less enthused by this film then a lot of the others that we have viewed in class. For instance, the realist approach to All or Nothing was an element that I found breath taking and profound. Yet, here, I found it slow moving and then BAM all of a sudden action happens. Again, though I understand this was an intentional directorial choice, it was just a little too straight forward for me. My favorite aspect of the film was the jazzy soundtrack, it threws things off a bit and abstracted its construction, in a good way.
It was interesting to see a film dedicated to blue-collar workers, since I have not seen much depicted like this film. The choice of soundtrack was unusual but interesting, and I enjoyed the jazz music throughout the film. However, I did find the film to be a bit slow at the beginning, so I had some trouble trying to catch on to what was happening. The scene with the fish and chips shop was humorous, and reminded me strongly of the bond between some of my friends.
Appreciation for those working hard in blue collar jobs have not really been shown much, and I agree with R.Chan on that.
YES!!! Thank you! That was really bugging me, I knew I recognized him from somewhere
ReplyDeleteAh, yes, another fine film about the plight of unemployed blue collar laborers...but there, the similarities seem to end.
ReplyDelete"Blue collar" workers, repairing railroad tracks in another country, fighting for respect and some control over there life’s and jobs, while living in a society where skilled laborers are treasured instead of replaced by a cheaper machine just makes me wonder what happened to America. Considering we started out as a colonies, derived from there way of living and social conform which was been established for years we as a nation, I feel, wish where more like them. Observing the respect they have for each other, fighting for equal pay, and forced to concede to the new ways even though they signed agreements long before which would protect there rights, only makes me feel like we went astray at some point and only seem to follow a small portion of the ideals we started with.
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ReplyDeleteThis movie reminds me of today's economy on how the numbers of blue-collar jobs are decreasing in the U.S due to jobs being shipped overseas for cheaper and low-skilled manufacturing. These workers in the movie have a ton of respect, pride, and integrity over their jobs something you see less common these days.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in a blue-collar family I have witnessed my parents and brothers laid off due to companies being shut down and shipped overseas. My father worked in a factory and even though his job was labor intensive he did it with a lot of pride and dignity.
From a blue-collar respective, my dad once told me to learn to love your job, do it well and your best even if you're a street sweeper or a garbageman. He said if you're going to be a street sweeper do it well as Michael Jordan played basketball.
I saw a lot of these qualities that my dad said to me throughout the movie. Today these qualities are becoming rare since they are hiring low paying and lazy unskilled workers.
The one scene where the guys from London travel all the way to work only for one day really spoke to the situation that these workers where in. It almost made sense of why the men ended up moving a hurt worker, because they where scared for their jobs.
ReplyDeleteYes I did notice that too!
ReplyDeleteIt might just be that a lot of what these men are dealing with seems familiar to me, but I felt less enthused by this film then a lot of the others that we have viewed in class. For instance, the realist approach to All or Nothing was an element that I found breath taking and profound. Yet, here, I found it slow moving and then BAM all of a sudden action happens. Again, though I understand this was an intentional directorial choice, it was just a little too straight forward for me. My favorite aspect of the film was the jazzy soundtrack, it threws things off a bit and abstracted its construction, in a good way.
It was interesting to see a film dedicated to blue-collar workers, since I have not seen much depicted like this film. The choice of soundtrack was unusual but interesting, and I enjoyed the jazz music throughout the film. However, I did find the film to be a bit slow at the beginning, so I had some trouble trying to catch on to what was happening. The scene with the fish and chips shop was humorous, and reminded me strongly of the bond between some of my friends.
ReplyDeleteAppreciation for those working hard in blue collar jobs have not really been shown much, and I agree with R.Chan on that.