John Sayles' Movie, Matewan
Writer and Director John Sayles movie Matewan, portrays the town of Matewan, West Virginia during their historic struggle out of feudalism in the 1920's. Because a single large company owned everything in Matewan, it was nearly impossible to rise out of the feudal relationship, especially since preaching the ideals of capitalism could easily result in losing all of one's property and material possessions. While feudalism can easily be written off as a economic and social structure of the past, this notion is easily proven false in Matewan; the people of Mingo County had no choice but to follow the orders of The Stone Mountain Coal Company. Hence, when the ideals of capitalism were introduced to the Matewan people by Joe Kinnehan they were stunned and shocked by what he was suggesting. Of course, The Stone Mountain Coal Company were more than shocked, they were outraged and adamant about not letting the workers of Matewan be part of any union.
What do the feudal and capitalist economic systems represent? The Webster dictionary defines capitalism as, "an economic system characterized by open competition in a free market and by private or coperate ownership of the means of production and distribution." In Matewan, the idea of capitalism was first introduced by communist and union man himself, Joe Kinnehan. He urged the coal miners to realize the choices they could make and not to let a coal company make the decisions for them. He explained that this would entail all joining together and standing as one while demanding higher wages and better worker conditions. Not until the citizens of Matewan comprehend the feudal system they are living under, can they hope to change. The story of Matewan West Virginia portrays the struggle that an entire town underwent before they could release themselves from the grip of The Stone Mountain Coal Company.
The coal miners of Matewan were bound in a feudal relationship and had no choice but to stay in it because The Stone Mountain Coal Company owned the entire town. Without continuing to work for the coal company, the residents of Matewan were sure to starve.
The film Matewan brings to life the workings of a small West Virginia coal-mining town in the 1920's. Stone Mountain, as the town was called, existed for mining exclusively. Every resident of the town worked for the Stone Mountain Coal Company. The company was the dominant force in the community, acting as a feudal lord. It owned all the land, residential areas and restaurants. In this particular town residents had no other choice than to work for the Coal Company because it had monopoly control over all the resources thus creating a feudal economic system. The miners were forced into a bondage contract with the company, because of the lack of choice they had regarding their employment, which is a fundamental element in a feudal system. The owners of the Stone Mountain Coal Company who profit from the coal generated never actually stepped foot on the Stone Mountain mine land. They had no idea who worked for them and what their situations were. The workers never knew their employer instead the owners sent two representatives to ensure the excavation of the coal happened. The representatives became a third force necessary for the existence of feudal economy in Matewan. They were sent from the company to manage the organization and production of the mine. The representativesÕ primary job was to enforce the rules that the company had established in order to maintain power of the town, mine and essentially the workers. They used threats to induce fear in the miners as a way to stimulate and motivate them to work, because the miners had little significant reason to work besides basic survival.
Maintaining feudal conditions through violence and intimidation, the army holds the populace in a constant state of fear. Guaranteeing that the peasants stay ill and in need furthers the necessity that they work to stay alive, but prevents them from doing so. This is the paradox of the poor worker, but one the army does not see. The army blindly kills anyone who tries to help the peasants, murdering all the doctors and priests that enter the villages. They do so to keep the peasants in need and in ignorance, to prevent them from learning another way of life. Lacking knowledge of the outside world ensures that the peasants will remain in the plantations, because fear of the unknown is stronger than fear of the known. Acting as feudal knights, the army forces people into the feudal plantation relationship using fear and intimidation.
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Culturally, the Stone Mountain Coal Company is able to maintain control over the residents of Matewan by promoting ignorance and fear of the unknown—“strike breakers,” races, and unions. Pitting Matewan’s resident workers against the incoming strikebreakers allows the Company freedom to raise competition levels for jobs that all the workers need to live, while lowering the amount of mone...
... during the Great Depression and after. The town’s people that had money, those people were the government officials of the town. They controlled the town in a Socialistic environment. This benefited the town greatly as town’s people being a mock government of the United States during hard times. The town’s people had health care, welfare, and were about to take out loans with horrible credit history. Thanks to Socialistic characteristics the town of Cannery Row continued without catastrophic problems.
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