We are the people!

Rating: 10/10 (2 August 2005)

Released when we were just coming out of the Depression, "The Grapes of Wrath" showed conditions during that wretched period in our country's history. Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) and his family abandon their Oklahoma farm to move out to California, seeing the misery and despair wrought by the Depression. When they finally arrive in the Golden State, they find that even it isn't so golden.
At a time when Hollywood was mostly making happy-go-lucky musicals, this must have been a pretty bold movie. Not only did it deal with unionization, but it openly indicted capitalism and big business. Now in George W. Bush's America, it remains ever significant. As they remind us in one scene: "We are the people!"