Will the REAL Norma Rae Please Stand Up!

“Norma Rae” is a movie about a woman who is encouraged to fight for fair working conditions after experiencing workplace discrimination. Norma Rae, who is played by Sally Field, is a single mother, who still lives at home with her parents who also work at the factory. It is clear that the factory has no regard for the employees and are only concerned with if production is being made and that it is made promptly. Norma meets a guy named Reuben who is a union rep. and would like to fight for wage increases and better working conditions. After a struggle Norma gets on board with Reuben to fight for fair workers’ rights and eventually, they win!

My interpretation of the film “Norma Rae” is that the director had an agenda to do many things with this film, like many writers and filmmakers do. What I found astonishing was the team of writers and the director who contributed to this film are men. With such a strong female leading role I was just sure that this movie was written by a woman! Then I thought deeper about the movie and decided that Norma Rae didn’t just fight for the women whom she worked with, she fought for all the employees who were employed with her. The team of writers didn’t have to be women to portray what both men and women were experiencing in the workplace at this time in history because blue collar working conditions were terrible for both genders unless they held a prestigious position. I believe the purpose of films with messages like the one in “Norma Rae” is to bring awareness to the challenges that can sometime be invisible to the eye. Another purpose is to give hope to those who may not have any. In this movie in particular there were a series of obstacles to overcome beginning with Reuben trying to get the employees to even join the union. This many years later an employee is lucky to even to be employed by a company that even has union, let alone be qualified enough to even be eligible to be a part of the union. Where I work now nurses are not included in the union bargaining or given union rights but as a CNA, I am! Working conditions are still unfair but have come a long way from where they were. Creators of films, books, and music have a platform to reach a wide audience and with a message like the one in “Norma Rae”, the creators were able to put what so many had been experiencing into the hindsight of the world! There is power in that and it is like giving a voice to a group of people who have been muted!

I connected with this movie on several levels, employed since 16, once a factory worker, always a hard worker, I have been in tough working situations. My factory experience was a lot like Norma Rae’s, my uncle got me a job with him making car parts for Ford Motors, he had been with the company forever. He was well liked by management, and he worked at least 60 hours a week! I noticed almost immediately that demographics of the people in the factory were majority minorities in race. One guy even got reported from the job and got deported! The women there, myself included were always looked at in terms of sexuality. Especially in the summertime the factory had no air conditioning and we were allowed to wear whatever we wanted, and guys would watch the ladies walk in shorts and tank tops like an animal with their tongues out! What I hated the most was the long hours – there was often mandatory overtime, I hated that people my mothers age were working so hard and expected to keep that same energy Monday through Friday , sometime Saturday too. I hated that this one guy, Wally could barely walk. He had been with the company for over 30 years and he was in his sixties but could past for a lot older. He couldn’t afford to retire; he couldn’t afford to walk to the break room either! It would take him too long and he couldn’t make it back to his station in time. They were strict about production! He would eat his lunch at his station… After 30 years I couldn’t see myself in that situation – that to me is not life… So I signed myself up for Gateway and here I am about to graduate from Parkside. I too will share my story someday in hopes of giving people courage…..

“At its heart, Norma Rae isn’t a button-wearing union film as much as it is a character study of one woman who is pushed to the point of doing something spectacular.” (Carr, 2014)

While examining this film from a female gaze this quote exemplifies the challenges of survival amongst minorities. Women are minorities… it is a shame that in 2020 I have to write a statement like that! But it is true, and the quote is a realization of the lives of many at this moment. Meaning someone, somewhere right now is feeling like their job is a waste of time, they don’t want to be there, they hate it… but without it would mean to start over. Some people are afraid to start over… Some people just are not in a position to start over that would mean their family would have to start over because for most they work to support their families. It’s a mode of survival and companies have that power. When I worked at the factory most people as much as they hated to work overtime, they complained that their check wasn’t shit without it and jobs know this!

References

Carr, K. (2014, April 16). Rotten Tomatoes – Norma Rae. Retrieved from Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/norma_rae

Dirnbach, E. (2019, January 3rd). Organizing Work Norma Rae Movie Review. Retrieved from Organizing Work: https://organizing.work/2019/01/movie-review-norma-rae-1979/