Harlan County: Tragédia Americana

What this outstanding documentary shows is that the grassroots can supply their own leadership when struggling against uncaring employers. It's also a reminder of why unions were so instrumental in creating an American middle-class. As the movie shows, only militant collective action can lift working people from poverty in an economy where production is first and foremost for profit. These lessons are especially topical in our period now that wages have fallen drastically compared to productivity, and unions have been replaced by off- shoring.

Sure the documentary's one-sided since it shows the vibrant Appalachin coal-mining community struggling in the face of the coal company, strike-breakers, and law-enforcement allies. After all, I guess competing footage would have to be from a company executive session where profits and power are discussed, not indoor plumbing and a living wage. Clearly, the topic sorts itself for the average viewer.

Then there're the faces. You don't get life in the raw like this from a casting call on Hollywood and Vine. The men and women are indelible and a permanent record of the nation's real fabric. True, I don't have much ear for the down-home music that's such a strong narrative part, but I do have a new appreciation for what the artistry stands for. Thanks Barbara Koppel for going where movie-makers seldom go, and recording what many of us seldom see. Sure, that's been 40-years ago, but I dare say the lessons are as topical now as they were then. Maybe more so.