I just re-watched Norma Rae from 1979. I remember renting it as a kid because my mom looks like Sally Field and my grandmother once worked as a seamstress. It’s such a stellar portrayal of the gusto, humor and heart of Southern women. Sally Field won the Best Actress Oscar but more importantly, she perfectly depicts a small town factory worker without labor laws in 1978. It’s a true story based on Crystal Lee Sutton from North Carolina and apparently the last scene of Sally Field in the factory (shown below) is verbatim to what actually happened. It’s an all time favorite of mine; it’s perhaps one of the best portrayals of the diversity and independent spirit of this country.
I have mixed feelings about labor unions now, and wonder where the manufacturing industry in the US would be if they had not been around to fight for high pay and fewer hours? Would we have lost 2.5 million manufacturing jobs in the last decade to overseas workers? It's an impossible dilemma.
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| Crystal Lee Sutton |
