Titanic & The Grapes of Wrath
The two films I chose to review were the 1997 Oscar winning Titanic directed by James Cameron and The Grapes of Wrath directed by John Ford in 1940. These two films have their similarities and differences in terms of violence, race, and class. I am going to focus on how they are similar and or different in how they portray class. In the way I am going to talk about class in these two films will be in terms of social standing in society. Comparing two classic movies that were made nearly 60 years apart shows just how much the lines between social classes have changed over time. Even though the social class in modern movies has become more obvious, close analysis reveals that they are less of a barrier now than they once were 60 years ago.
In The Grapes of Wrath the examples of class were not as obvious and you had to dig to find them. The main character Tom Joad returns to his home to find that his family has been kicked off of their land because of the dust bowl. They are poor farmers with little money left. Like many Americans at the time they are living in poverty and out of work. The men in the movie have the most power over the women in the Joad family. In the beginning of the movie there is a scene that shows the people with caterpillars going across the plains tearing down anything in their way. The farmer and his family try to stand their ground but can’t because they don’t have the authority over the government. This shows the lack of power that Tom and his family had. Many of the family members in the Joad family have torn and worn out clothing. Tom of coarse has a suit on in the beginning which shows that he is the man of the family now. The agent in the town making sure that people had gotten off the land was a white male wearing a fedora and a suit. The agent isn’t rich, but is obviously higher class than the Joad family because he does not have to move. He also has a sheriff accompany him when they tell the Joad family they have to be gone from their home and farm. The Joad family has an old beaten down station wagon without enough seats for everyone in it. Most of the family has to sit in the back of the station wagon. Another time that class is shown in the movie is when the Joad family is when the family is having dinner and they are using metal bowls to eat out of. This is another sign that they live in poverty because they do not own plates. The Joad family is also in poverty because even though they find jobs in California they are still manipulated by corporate people that have control over the police as well as over them. In The Grapes of Wrath these things aren’t obvious to the viewer because there are very few people that are wealthy in the movie. Being poor and not having a job as portrayed in both this movie and the Great Depression itself was a bad thing. In the movie this was a constant barrier between the rich and the poor because the rich always tried to take advantage of the hard times to maximize their profits.
In the 1997 movie the Titanic however this idea of being poor was a bad thing was challenged. The two main characters in the movie Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater are from polar opposite social classes. Rose is from a very wealthy high class family, while Jack is from a lower middle class family. The obvious barrier between the two classes is that Jack is in third class and Rose is in first class on the Titanic. The idea of being poor is not good was challenged in this movie multiple times. The first example although it is unclear is at the beginning of the movie when Rose, her mother, and fiancé are boarding the ship and she says that she was being taken to America in chains. It doesn’t directly state that being poor is a bad thing, but the common person today would think that being rich would be the greatest thing on Earth. This sets the path for the rest of the movie to follow. When Rose and Jack first meet it is at the stern of the Titanic where Rose is about to commit suicide. Jack then saves her by pulling her back over the rail. This relates to class because it would normally be the rich person helping the poor person instead of vice versa. The night when Jack has dinner in first class with Rose, her mother, and rich friends he is asked by Rose’s mother how the accommodations were in third class. Jack says “Some of the best I’ve seen, hardly any rats.” This is meant to be humorous in the movie, but it does bring a harsh stereotype of lower class people living with rodents like rats. Throughout this entire movie Rose the fiancée to an extremely rich Pittsburg Steel tycoon’s son is falling for Jack who literally says he has nothing to offer her. Jack is a good man and all, but Rose is also trying to escape this life and future of being wealthy and rich. The movie portrays Jack being poor and traveling around the world as being free. It makes being rich seem much less appealing to the normal person because Rose is so unhappy with living the life she has been in. It also gives a sense of freedom to being poor, for example when Jack and Rose are talking about going horseback riding on a beach, drinking cheap beer, and ride a roller coaster; Rose seems so excited to do that and to break away from her family. Ultimately Rose is able to break away from her wealthy family and almost live the life she wanted as we all know Jack died. It is as if Jack was punished for trying to be with Rose who is wealthy or vice versa. Regardless this movie shows that social class doesn’t matter as much as it did 60 years ago.
All in all, movies change over time for good or bad. In the two I have analyzed Titanic and The Grapes of Wrath it has at least made being poor more palatable to people. Now what I mean by that is that people have come to accept it more in movies as being okay. In The Grapes of Wrath it was a horrible thing to not have a job and be poor. Fast forward nearly 60 years later and Titanic portrays being poor as not necessarily a bad thing as well as having more freedom.
The two films I chose to review were the 1997 Oscar winning Titanic directed by James Cameron and The Grapes of Wrath directed by John Ford in 1940. These two films have their similarities and differences in terms of violence, race, and class. I am going to focus on how they are similar and or different in how they portray class. In the way I am going to talk about class in these two films will be in terms of social standing in society. Comparing two classic movies that were made nearly 60 years apart shows just how much the lines between social classes have changed over time. Even though the social class in modern movies has become more obvious, close analysis reveals that they are less of a barrier now than they once were 60 years ago.
In The Grapes of Wrath the examples of class were not as obvious and you had to dig to find them. The main character Tom Joad returns to his home to find that his family has been kicked off of their land because of the dust bowl. They are poor farmers with little money left. Like many Americans at the time they are living in poverty and out of work. The men in the movie have the most power over the women in the Joad family. In the beginning of the movie there is a scene that shows the people with caterpillars going across the plains tearing down anything in their way. The farmer and his family try to stand their ground but can’t because they don’t have the authority over the government. This shows the lack of power that Tom and his family had. Many of the family members in the Joad family have torn and worn out clothing. Tom of coarse has a suit on in the beginning which shows that he is the man of the family now. The agent in the town making sure that people had gotten off the land was a white male wearing a fedora and a suit. The agent isn’t rich, but is obviously higher class than the Joad family because he does not have to move. He also has a sheriff accompany him when they tell the Joad family they have to be gone from their home and farm. The Joad family has an old beaten down station wagon without enough seats for everyone in it. Most of the family has to sit in the back of the station wagon. Another time that class is shown in the movie is when the Joad family is when the family is having dinner and they are using metal bowls to eat out of. This is another sign that they live in poverty because they do not own plates. The Joad family is also in poverty because even though they find jobs in California they are still manipulated by corporate people that have control over the police as well as over them. In The Grapes of Wrath these things aren’t obvious to the viewer because there are very few people that are wealthy in the movie. Being poor and not having a job as portrayed in both this movie and the Great Depression itself was a bad thing. In the movie this was a constant barrier between the rich and the poor because the rich always tried to take advantage of the hard times to maximize their profits.
In the 1997 movie the Titanic however this idea of being poor was a bad thing was challenged. The two main characters in the movie Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater are from polar opposite social classes. Rose is from a very wealthy high class family, while Jack is from a lower middle class family. The obvious barrier between the two classes is that Jack is in third class and Rose is in first class on the Titanic. The idea of being poor is not good was challenged in this movie multiple times. The first example although it is unclear is at the beginning of the movie when Rose, her mother, and fiancé are boarding the ship and she says that she was being taken to America in chains. It doesn’t directly state that being poor is a bad thing, but the common person today would think that being rich would be the greatest thing on Earth. This sets the path for the rest of the movie to follow. When Rose and Jack first meet it is at the stern of the Titanic where Rose is about to commit suicide. Jack then saves her by pulling her back over the rail. This relates to class because it would normally be the rich person helping the poor person instead of vice versa. The night when Jack has dinner in first class with Rose, her mother, and rich friends he is asked by Rose’s mother how the accommodations were in third class. Jack says “Some of the best I’ve seen, hardly any rats.” This is meant to be humorous in the movie, but it does bring a harsh stereotype of lower class people living with rodents like rats. Throughout this entire movie Rose the fiancée to an extremely rich Pittsburg Steel tycoon’s son is falling for Jack who literally says he has nothing to offer her. Jack is a good man and all, but Rose is also trying to escape this life and future of being wealthy and rich. The movie portrays Jack being poor and traveling around the world as being free. It makes being rich seem much less appealing to the normal person because Rose is so unhappy with living the life she has been in. It also gives a sense of freedom to being poor, for example when Jack and Rose are talking about going horseback riding on a beach, drinking cheap beer, and ride a roller coaster; Rose seems so excited to do that and to break away from her family. Ultimately Rose is able to break away from her wealthy family and almost live the life she wanted as we all know Jack died. It is as if Jack was punished for trying to be with Rose who is wealthy or vice versa. Regardless this movie shows that social class doesn’t matter as much as it did 60 years ago.
All in all, movies change over time for good or bad. In the two I have analyzed Titanic and The Grapes of Wrath it has at least made being poor more palatable to people. Now what I mean by that is that people have come to accept it more in movies as being okay. In The Grapes of Wrath it was a horrible thing to not have a job and be poor. Fast forward nearly 60 years later and Titanic portrays being poor as not necessarily a bad thing as well as having more freedom.