Movie Review: Norma Rae

Movie Review: Norma Rae

Norma Rae is a 1979 drama film that takes place in a small town in North Carolina. The story depicts the life of woman who fights for her rights as a textile worker. The film stars Sally Field as Norma Rae, her husband Sonny played by Beau Bridges, and Ron Leibman, who plays the union organizer Reuben Warshowsky. The film shows Norma, a minimum-wage worker in a cotton mill where the horrible working conditions have taken a toll on her family's health. Her mother is becoming deaf due to the loud machinery, and her father has developed a weakened heart due to the strenuous labor. They are exploited; working very long shifts, almost no breaks, and not getting paid enough to get by, even with 3 paychecks coming in. Very early in the film, Reuben Warshowsky, a union organizer, appears and Norma joins him in the fight to establish a labor union. Norma Rae goes through a lot to succeed, from, neglecting her family, to being humiliated, to even losing her job and getting arrested. But through it all, Norma Rae and Reuben finally succeed in getting a labor union started.

I thought this was a very interesting film. Although I thought it was going to be somewhat boring in the beginning due to how old the film is, after I began to watch it I was pretty much glued to the screen. I liked the whole idea of the "independent woman" although she didn't always do it the correct way. In the beginning we I caught a glimpse of prostitution in a way, which I immediately connected to faith, reason, and justice. Then we saw exploitation and unjust labor which also took me back to the class. Overall, I like the outcome of the film. The fact that in order for Norma to achieve what she wanted, she first had to suffer injustice was quite remarkable, but in the end, everyone got what they wanted and it ended up being a "happily ever after" type of movie without the whole cliché ending. I think this film is a perfect example of Faith, Reason, and Justice.