Rise Up?

The movie Bread and Roses tells the story of Maya, an illegal immigrant who becomes a janitor at an office building in Los Angeles. The working conditions for Maya and the other janitors are less than ideal. Since some of the employees at her job are also illegal immigrants, the mangement takes advantage of this because they know that without a job, these people cannot survive. One day a labor acitivist, Sam, comes to Maya’s job and tries to get the janitors to unionize. This is great and all but I felt as if this movie played very much into the savior complex. It is great to want to help people rise up and better their situation. However, I think the best way is to empower these marginalized groups and allow them to make their own decisions accordingly. I feel as if this movie was more like, “I’m Sam, and we are going to do it my way.” Whether or not his way works or not, it makes him the “savior of the oppressed” and I do not think this is the best way to make a lasting change in any issue.

One thought on “Rise Up?

  1. I totally agree with you that there is a common theme in films that the minority group always needs a leader to come save them in all of these films. It would be a refreshing change if the group came together to confront their boss without someone telling them to. On the other hand, for the purpose of a story it is convenient to have name actors such as Adrian Brody play the role of the hero who can help these people. It also helps sell the movie because people like to feel good after seeing a movie and watching a hero that you can relate to does exactly that.