On the Waterfront

On the Waterfront

          I chose this movie due to the nature of it. I was more interested in the plight of the longshoremen then Casablanca. I enjoyed the movie, I would give it a “Thumb’s Up” if asked. Reading the articles related to the movie, I would not have guessed the political nature with associations of the director and the communist party. There are often reasons for film-making that the casual observer does not understand. In chapter two of our text, the main talking point is theme and that is what I am going to discuss today.

          The theme of On the Waterfront is the fight for human dignity. The union bosses have made the workers their slaves in effect and ruined their spirit. But, the director showed how the different longshoremen were bonded together. There is a jacket that was worn by one of the characters that was killed early on. This jacket was passed to another person, until their demise, and finally to Terry who was wearing it in the final scene. Charlie also became noble and sacrificed himself for Terry by not killing him or being able to convince him from talking.

          The union boss was shown to be a ruthless person. He threw out a man from his bar early on for keeping $50 from the workers. The boss controlled his crew through fear and the easy money. This money issue was exploited by the unions to control the workers. The priest said it best, “Love of a buck is more important than man” when he was administering rites in the “hole” of the ship. The boss treated each of his workers as individuals, and therefore was able to play them against each other. In the end it was the community of the longshoremen who were the downfall of the boss.

          The plight of the longshoremen is still relevant today. We are able to identify with Terry when we stand up for injustice. Terry was not a bad person, just misguided. Charlie demonstrated that there is redemption. Charlie also displayed that community (family) was stronger than the promise of money, health, or the good life. I enjoyed the movie and was interested to see that there is the fight for the humanity of each person still today. On the Waterfront has a theme that will stand up to the test of time and be useful anywhere.