Though we might like to believe that the United States of America promotes a class less society, the reality is otherwise. Despite the societal Puritan ethic that adheres to the notion that hard work pays off, that success is a sign of spiritually moral behavior, this film illustrates the difficulties of the working class when pushed up against the power of capitalist corporate owners. The film does much to explain how unions arose in the early part of the 20th century. With regard to gender, women are often the silent sufferers in the midst of such oppression. Several of the mothers in the mining camp are also notable.
Religion becomes a secondary connection in the film.
You work, they don't. That's all you get to know about the enemy. Throughout the 20th-century West Virginia continued to struggle economically. Ironically, the movie was actually filmed in a ghost town, Thurmond, in central West Virginia about 150 miles from Matewan. This page written by Dawn Duncan and maintained by Jonathan Steinwand .