Socialist Action /June 2001
Film Review: Bread & Roses
By PAUL McKIM
Going to the movies nowadays can be a demoralizing
experience. We rarely see examples of human solidarity and courage against
injustice, or the beauty, creativity, and power of average working people
depicted there. Most movies don't encourage us to value our own lives or
learn about the many important struggles that working-class people have
waged throughout history.
"Bread and Roses" is a striking exception
to this, and sure to be inspiring for most people who see it. It is an independent
film made by Ken Loach, a British director responsible for creating a number
of excellent films over the years, such as "Land and Freedom,"
about the Spanish Civil War.
Loach's most recent film takes place in Los Angeles
and is about a group of janitors who struggle to improve their working conditions
and their lives. It is a fictional story, but is based upon real events
that took place during the janitors' strike last year.
The film focuses on the life of a young worker
named Maya, who comes to LA from Mexico. In order to survive, she gets a
cleaning job with her sister at a major office building downtown. She is
forced to do hard work under very bad conditions for little pay and no benefits.
Even worse is that the boss is a tyrannical and abusive man who constantly
mistreats and degrades Maya and all of the other workers, most of whom are
immigrants as well.
The film does an excellent job depicting the plight
of Mexican and other Latin American immigrant workers in the United States
who face especially bad conditions on the job every day. It shows how they
are taken advantage of and super-exploited because of their status in this
country.
When the workers are pushed too far by their boss
they begin to fight back. Although they face many obstacles along the way,
they wage a successful strike and publicity campaign that wins recognition
for the union and important gains in the areas of wages and benefits.
The story of the workers in "Bread and Roses"
shows the power that working people have when they join together as a class
and fight for their rights.
The film is excellent in many other ways as well.
It points out the contradiction between the tremendous wealth of the United
States and the fact that so many people here are forced to go without the
basic necessities of life.
It also deals with some of the problems that workers
encounter in the course of struggle. For example, it shows the common tactic
of management to try to seek out certain workers who can be bought off with
promotions and used to snitch on other workers. And it exposes the role
played by the trade-union officialdom in trying to squelch the militant
action of the rank and file.
What is most inspiring about the film and involving
for the viewer is the extent to which the struggle of the janitors is personalized
through the character of Maya and other workers. We see them deal with many
issues that workers have to confront when they engage in struggles-for example,
a lack of confidence in themselves and enormous risks to their lives and
jobs.
They also must consider the choice of whether to
struggle for the benefit of all or to try to advance individually at the
expense of everyone else. A few workers refuse to participate in the organizing
and one betrays her co-workers in order to move up at work. But most of
them join with each other in struggle for their collective improvement.
During the course of the organizing campaign we
see the wonderful transformation that people undergo when they are part
of a social movement: the growth of their courage, consciousness, and solidarity
with one another and their ability to rely on each other as fighters in
a common cause.
I would recommend "Bread and Roses" to
anyone who can see it. If you can't find it playing in a theater, look for
it on video when it comes out.
Socialist Action /June 2001 |