Director: John Ford
Starring: Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine
Rank: 23
A failing economy, hundreds of thousands of people unemployed, citizens losing faith in their government, countless banks and businesses failing, and desperate times for the entire country. Does this sound familiar? Unless you've been living in a cave for the last two years, then it would come as no surprise if you think I'm talking about the current state of our country. Really, though, this is about the film The Grapes of Wrath, based on the book about a family's struggles to survive in the Great Depression.
Following the Joad family on their cross-country journey from Oklahoma to California is not an easy one to view. They've lost the farm and head out to California in the hopes of finding jobs and new opportunity. They are just one family of hundreds that make the journey hoping for the same outcome, and when they arrive in California they find disappointment when there really is not enough jobs to accommodate for everyone. It is the employers who have the edge here, able to cut down wages to next to nothing because there are so many people desperate for work.
The Joad family may be fictional, but the situation definitely was not. The sad thing is, this is a pattern the economy has fallen into: we go through a recession every few years, and every so often they become a depression. (FYI: Two recessions in a row equals one depression. "Experts" are saying now that we are about to enter into a second recession, making this another depression.) Right now, it is extremely difficult to find a job, much less find a GOOD job. People are short on cash, forecloser rates are at record highs, and people are getting desperate.
What frustrates me is the fact that this is, indeed, a pattern. If things continue as normal, we'll get out of this recession (either this one or the second one that has been foreseen) and go back to normal, then a few years down the line we will go through another recession. Doesn't this seem like a sign that we need to change things?! Even though this may seem like a crazy idea, but we are in control: if we decide to change things, then things would change. Perhaps we need to reform the government, perhaps we need to better prepare ourselves for tight times. It is just unfathomable that we would allow this to continually happen repeatedly when we do in fact have the power to change the situation. Maybe this is too far-fetched, but I've never been one to harbor small ideas. There's no point in dreaming if you don't dream big.
There is a positive side to a recession and depression, though. People begin to realize how much we really need each other; kindness becomes contagious. In The Grapes of Wrath, the family is unable to afford food. They make a stop at a restaurant and ask to buy a loaf of bread. Through the kindness of strangers, the Joad family is given a loaf of bread and is sold candies at two for a penny, when the candies are really one for a nickel. Being kind to other people can come back to us in the best of ways. I once saw on a church marquee as I drove by: "Kindness is the one thing which the more you give it, the more you get it back."
I had seen The Grapes of Wrath back when I was in high school, and it bored me to death back then. But watching it now I really enjoyed the film, probably because it is so relevant to the current events going on in today's world. But even if we can't change the pattern of recessions, we can at least spread kindness to each other. Give kindness, and you'll get it back. I promise.
Movies to Go: 84
