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James Westphall
Dr. Kells
ENGL 320
9/11/15
Salted Earth
Salt of the Earth is a film loosely based on real events that occurred in Silver City, New
Mexico. It revolves around a group of miners that are basically used as indentured servants by a
mining company that controls the industry and the town where the miners live. There was a
great deal of controversy surrounding this film, and it met with fierce resistance when it was
released as the female lead was accused of being a communist. She was, in fact, deported back
to Mexico before the ending of the film was shot. Due to this fact, the final scenes for her
character had to be shot in Mexico. This knowledge is a gift given to me by Dr. Anthony Melzer
of UNM Valencia campus and his amazing New Mexico history class.
The film itself covers a group of miners living in a company town and dealing with the
oppression of not only their culture and heritage, but with the fact that they have no running
water or indoor plumbing. Their wages are barely livable, their incomes are very low, and there
fate is directly connected to the whims of the mining company for which they work. As a result
of their poor living conditions, they rise up in an attempt to force the company to provide them
with the essentials required for a decent life. The film highlights the different class systems in
place at the time, and plays highly on the gender roles of males versus females in the Hispanic
culture of the workers. It also highlights the disparity between the white men that are running
the company and the plight of the Hispanic workers that cant afford to do anything about the
conditions of their work.
During the course of the film several meetings are held, and during those meetings the
women provide food and drinks, which fits the gender roles set out to them by their male
counterparts. As the film continues several clashes occur between the Hispanic workers and the
white overseers, which finally concludes in a court case in which an injunction is placed on the

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workers. They are no longer allowed to picket and disrupt the day to day activities of the mine,
and doing so will bring the law down on them and cause them to be imprisoned.
Seeing how the mens hands are tied, the women band together and alter their gender
based role. Rather than serving food and drinks and seeing to the families the women take up the
cause where the men can no longer picket. As the injunction that exists is between the men, and
makes no mention of the women, they take over as picketers and interfere with the business of
the mine. Of course, this has dire consequences, as the Hispanic foreman of the mine (the male
lead) is fired and his home is taken from him.
In a final act of defiance the people of the town rally around the male lead. As the men
come and take the things out of his home, the townspeople squirrel away the items to save them
for the family. The loss of the job, the home, and the way of life is rough. On top of that the
marriage between the male and female leads has suffered tremendously under the strain caused
by both the company and the womens decision to take up the mens work.
Unlike the actual story, in which the miners are given running water and indoor
plumbing, this film is more of a story of the triumph of community rather than the winning of a
court battle. It also highlights the changes in gender roles in which women take a more forceful
and upfront role, which allows them to become more powerful and dynamic. The story itself is
powerful, regardless of the troubles at the box office and its tenuous connection to communism
during a time when the Cold War was raging and the womens liberation movement was gaining
momentum. This is a powerful story and should be regarded as a cinematic success.