October Sky: An Uplifting Film

October Sky is an uplifting film directed by Joe Johnston. It is a true biographical story of how Homer H. Hickam, Jr., went from being a coal miner’s son to NASA engineer. The setting takes place in Homer’s home town of Coalwood in West Virginia. Homer (played by the talented Jake Gyllenhaal) starts out as being sort of an unpopular kid in his high school. In his town, kids were destined to either earn themselves a scholarship from sports or do what most families did and work down in the coal mine; Homer was seemingly resistant to both scenarios while his father had only one of the two in mind. It isn’t till one starry night when the town hears news that the Soviet Union’s rocket launch of Sputnik 1 will be visible from his town that Homer

Although Homer’s experience in the mines weren’t all that bad. He liked working with his dad. The mines just seemed like the furthest place from the stars whenever he looked up riding the elevator shaft deep into the earth. Quentin eventually comes to him with a case that could prove the boy’s innocence and in time the boys find that the cause of the fire was not one of their rockets but a flare from a nearby airfield. This allowed Homer return to building rockets and enter the national science fair. With the help of his initially reluctant father, homer is able to make it the faire and show the world his rocket that is capable of achieving 30 thousand feet. At the end of the movie the director puts in a couple slides talking about where the boys went later in

It was very inspirational and captures some of the main ideas we have learned about the Appalachian migration. At its core, the film presents viewers with a town in Appalachia that is essentially going nowhere. The coal mine wasn’t supplying the town with money like it used to and there isn’t really any other work driving their economy. People are on the verge of poverty and there is seemingly no way out but leaving. Homer could be seen as someone who acknowledged this fact and dreamt of doing something better with his life. He sought work that suited his interests and didn’t limit himself to working where he was born. What he did isn’t easy for most individuals; abandoning your home and heritage is not something humans naturally seek out- this could perhaps be a major reason for why most thought he was strange. Before world war one and during the depression individuals who stayed in these towns faced hard times migrating to cities in search of work. The skills they had developed in their home towns didn’t translate to rural, suburban job fields. Education wasn’t a priority in Appalachia, learning a trade and helping your community was most Appalachian peoples’ goal in life. This film took place in 1957, around 10 years after World War 2. As far as I know, we haven’t delved too deeply into this time period, so I am not completely sure how different Appalachia was then in comparison to the pre/post world war one Appalachia we have been recently