Analysis Of The Film Giant

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During the 20th century, there was a lot of difference of opinions over White and Hispanic relationships, Yankee and Texan relationships across regions, old money vs new money, generational differences, and role of women in politics, religion in politics, and the impact of oil industry. The film Giant takes place between the 1920s and the 1950s, and it is in this time that the Hispanics were not recognized as equals to the white people. (Producers Stevens and Ginsberg & Director Stevens, 1956). According to Maxwell, Crain, Jones, Davis, and Flores, (2015) “Latinos were relegated to the lowest-paid jobs, as either service workers or farm workers” (p. 17). In Giant the Benedict’s family had many Hispanics farm workers who provide helpful hands …show more content…

Jett strikes oil and goes to proclaim to the Benedict’s family that he will have more money than them (Producers Stevens and Ginsberg & Director Stevens, 1956). Maxwell et al. (2015) stated, “Since the discovery of oil, the Gulf Coast has experienced almost continuous growth … the various energy booms of the late-twentieth and early-twenty-first centuries” (p.8). Discovery of oil dramatically impacted Texans’ lives. The Texas Almanac states, “When oil came gushing into Texas early in the 20th century, the changes were even more profound. Petroleum began to displace agriculture as the principal engine driving the economy of the state…” (Ramos, 2000). The discovery of oil was life changing for the growth of Texas. Today, we use oil for almost everything: making the roads, transportation, electricity and heating. The discovery of oil in the Giant, leads to a conflict of new money versus old money. Rink came into money and is classified as “new money” were as the Benedict family was born into money and would be classified as “old money” (Producers Stevens and Ginsberg & Director Stevens, 1956). This provides a reason behind why Rink gets caught up with purchasing materialistic items, he is trying to ‘catch up’ to the Benedict’s wealth. During the discovery of oil, many people were financially impacted. As more and more people came into wealth from the oil industry …show more content…

However, many women did not take advantage of their new right mainly, due to the fact that in the South it was socially unacceptable for women to voice their political opinion or play any role in politics. There is a prime example of this in the film, Jordan Benedict is discussing politics with a group of men and as his wife Leslie enters in the conversation, Jordon encourages her to leave the conversation and becomes frustrated when she refuses (Producers Stevens and Ginsberg & Director Stevens, 1956). Men in the south did not think it was proper for a lady to discuss or even listen to politics. There were even a generational differences that influenced women’s minds about voting. The women of the older generation, which had gone without voting the majority of their lives, did not feel confident or capable of making such a decision. This was controversial due to the fact that the younger generation had fought during the Women’s Suffrage to gain the freedom to vote and then after the many hardships the younger generation endure, women were still not using their new found right to

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