The film is depressingly prescient with regards to our Trump era malodorous schism in the way the es
The film is depressingly prescient with regards to our Trump era malodorous schism in the way the establishment pits black against white in the name of power and money. Smokey is marked as the more troublesome and aware of the trio by the corrupt union bosses and is isolated and killed off in a horrific paint shop “accident,” asphyxiated by a faceless killer, a literal victim of the machine. Zeke is offered and takes up a position as shop steward, assimilated by the beast. Jerry turns into an FBI snitch, tasked with feeding them info on Union malpractice, leading to an inevitable and depressing bust-up with Zeke on the shop floor. Racial slurs rise to the surface as their co-workers stop and look on, the camera panning across their faces before the final freeze frame punch-up. Schrader said, “In their minds, and in the minds of a lot of people in this country, the union, the company, and the government are synonymous… (but with) different logos… Everyone’s trying to outmaneuver his fellow worker, and the easiest way to create tension in the workforce is through race, because everyone has this big button called racism mounted on their chest, so… you just reach over and push (that) button, and people start fighting amongst themselves.” Patsies, every single one of them, chewed up and spat out. The American Dream as sweaty, toxic nightmare.Lives On the Line: The Grubby Politics of Paul Schrader’s ‘Blue Collar’ -- source link
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