In many ways Labor Day is a celebration of the workforce and what it’s done throughout the years to keep the economy from dying off altogether. It hasn’t always been perfect but it’s been steady enough most times that America has been able to keep running strong and find its way back to a fairly even keel after a while. Today it’s seen as another holiday that we use to congratulate ourselves on being able to withstand the jobs that we go to and the struggle that we go through each and every day to support our families and ourselves. In some cases it might seem like just another day to many, but the idea of it is that we can say thank you to the many workers and in some cases to ourselves for daring to endure the daily grind we all go through from time to time.
Here are a few movies you might enjoy on your Labor Day.
5. Norma Rae
Sometimes to get the equality and the kind of working conditions that we want we have to fight for it and the fight can downright hard, not to mention nasty. Those in charge that are truly in tune with their people and want the best production out of them will pay heed and listen rather than making it harder and harder for their workers to exist and even survive on the floor. Norma Rae might have been questionable in her love life at the time but she was a very strong-willed woman that took a stand and finally helped in a big way to make a difference in her workplace. So let bosses and corporations take heed, it only takes one voice to get the fire burning.
4. Clerks
It doesn’t matter what level a person works at or what they do, if they’re working then they’re earning what they get. This is true for those that are in the service industries in a way that lot of people don’t seem to understand. When you’re serving people you’re telling the world that you’re willing to take some of the lousiest conditions, the most aggressive and loudmouthed people, and stand there while they verbally abuse and embarrass you when things don’t go their way. The customer isn’t always right if you haven’t heard, but in a service job you have to act like they are occasionally.
3. Hoffa
Jimmy Hoffa was liked by some and reviled by others since he was kind of a loudmouth and didn’t really care whose feelings he was stomping on as he went on his merry way. The movie doesn’t exactly do his story justice since it takes a lot of aspects and switches them around, but it does provide a decent look at Hoffa and what the guy was like. Why anyone would have wanted to work with this guy is hard to say, but he did know how to get results from time to time and he was a very aggressive businessman. The only trouble is that he was so aggressive that even being near him was kind of a chore sometimes.
2. Swimming with Sharks
Ever have a job where you did all the legwork and got none of the credit? Where you had a boss that would gladly work you like a dog and then maybe, just MAYBE, pat your head, metaphorically-speaking, and tell you that you’d done a good job? Guy is that, um, guy, and his boss is just one of the worst that thinks he can motivate people by yelling at them, belittling them, and basically making them feel like dirt the entire time he’s in their presence. He’s the kind of boss what will take something that’s not his and put his name on it just to get the credit and make himself look good. Yeah, the kind of boss you’d have no problem seeing disappear.
1. Office Space
This movie is kind of a stereotype, as well as kind of a spoof on real-life office buildings, but it’s hilarious. It’s especially funny since Milton was the main character that inspired this film and yet he’s one of the characters but not one of the most well-pronounced characters. Still, when he starts being demoted you can’t help but feel for the guy since he’s done nothing wrong, he’s just the kind of guy that doesn’t fight back right then and there and is an easy target. The fact that he was fired and no one told him about is pretty messed up, but hey, he gets his revenge in the end since no one would ever suspect Milton of torching the place and stealing the money that Peter and his friends stole in the first place.
So Happy Labor Day in a few days to all of us workers, we’ve definitely earned it.
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