The film Cinderella Man in my opinion was a great
representation of the mentality of the era of the Great Depression. It seems to
be very well thought through all the way from costumes, to hair and makeup,
technology, and casting. Many of the actors had a distressed and rustic look
that complimented the mood of the film. I think it is a great idea to use this
film to teach about the 1930s because it depicts the culture differences from a
society nearly 90 years ago: be it fashion, accents, technology, etc.
While many may argue that the film
overplays the dramatic aspect and sadness of the era it makes since that a
filmmaker would do so because it is hard to depict that widespread emotional
disturbance when the film simply focuses on just one family. In order to convey
the widespread hardships using a narrative that only follows one family to
makes perfect since to include many hardships for the protagonists. One of the
best portrayals of societies’ values was when Mae tells Jim that she sent the
kids away to her sister’s house. Jim proceeds to blame himself for the
hardships even though he has a broken hand and is nearly incapable of working.
He even goes as far to get a job even though he is injured. This was a great
way for the film to highlight the mental standard of accepting your hardship as
your responsibility in the 1930s.
Additional examples of this
mentality are when Jim goes to take his money out of the bank and displays
being ashamed because he doesn’t want to look weak. He shows further shame when
he asks for money from former colleagues. While many may be confused why people
were so concerned with their image during such a troubling time it makes since
considering the Depression occurred right after the 20s an era with
self-indulgence in which appearance was a major part of society. This self
indulgence is portrayed at the beginning of the film and juxtaposes later
hardship of those who were once successful to show that this event happened to
many people of different social economic backgrounds.
The most important point the movie
portrays is the struggle an enormous amount of people experienced. Other than
showing the desperation many had for obtaining a job and staying warm along
with providing food (seen through both stealing food and wood in the film) the
film includes shots of very large groups surrounding radios. The film
accurately portrays the community aspect associated with the radio and the
hyper interest families had toward the simple device. It’s important to show
how many people in this era coped with their depression and showing groups
focused on radios is a great and accurate way of doing so. The negative effects
of the Great Depression were also seen as men and women broke up and were
abused, it seems for many alcohol contributed negatively toward situations
being that it is a depressant.
Aside from documentary photos I
would certainly support using this film to portray the many hardships a family
had to overcome and withstand to survive in America. By using a powerful and
successful figure such as Jim Braddock and showing how such a traumatic event
could affect a successful man the reality of the hardships is conveyed. The
film also does a great job of showing the mental strain the Depression had by
using Mae’s paranoia and fear along with foreshadowing.
