The Grapes of Wrath

Saw The Grapes of Wrath. A fairly depressing piece of consciousness-raising. The film's best asset is the big, soulful mother of the Joad clan. She carries the heart of the film from the deeply sorrowful leaving of the farm to the cautiously hopeful ending. The son, Tom, is the brains of the film, articulating in folksy tones the message of the film that we are collectively strong. A government-run camp, with an anarcho-socialist internal political structure is the closest the film gets to real happiness and security. Of course this means that the California tax-payer is paying for the cruelty of Oklahoma land-owners and it could be said that without being incentivized the Joads could have stayed comfortably forever, but this film is so sincere and earnest, it seems like a blasphemy to say. And of course the Joads are such archetypal sons of the soil that it's impossible to imagine them doing anything that isn't completely wholesome and endearing. A bitter-sweet film, and one whose political message is unfortunately transparent enough to not change many minds in this trench-war political climate we're now in.

Also, lol McCarthy

Edit: a funny piece of trivia: The Farm Security Administration (FSA) was the agency responsible for combating rural poverty. In aid of this effort, they got several photographers to take pictures of people from work camps, transient workers, starving farmers. The idea was to drum up sympathy and then money for the farmers. However, it was run on tax-payer money and therefore controversial, especially those with opposing interests. The FSA justified its actions by claiming to be merely documenting the conditions of the farmers. However, this famous picture got them (the FSA) into deep trouble because The cattle skull had been moved to the cracked mud. Controversy erupted. In The Grapes of Wrath meanwhile, the little girl wonders if they'll see cow skulls, but as I believe that this photo is the origin of the skull-in-desert image, this is an anachronism. Anybody know any different?