Made In
Dagenham (directed by Nigel Cole, 2010)
it is based
on a true story – it is set in Britain in the 60's – it's about a group of
women, factory workers who go on strike to demand equal pay - they are
considered as unskilled workers although the work they do (they are sewing
machinists) requires great skills, they are paid less than men and are
discriminated against.
The film
ties in well with the notion of power:
The women
who go on strike challenge the power and authority of male-dominated groups and
institutions: the trade union, the government, and the heads of Ford Industry. They are led
by a brave and bold woman: Rita O'Grady who is a worker in a Ford car-making
factory
Rita's
Speech
In the first
scene we watched, Rita is making a speech in front of her union delegates, who
are all men:
Monty, their
leader is patronizing and disdainful: he considers that women are asking for
too much, too soon, he doesn't take them seriously , Then it is Rita’s turn to
make a speech; it is interesting to note that the other male delegates are
willing to listen to her, they are more open-minded than Monty, they encourage
her to speak up. At first, Rita is very nervous, she is not used to making
speeches. She urges the union delegates to back up the women's demands because
it's a matter of principle, she insists that they all belong to the working
class that men and men and women must fight together for what is right and as
she says “equal pay for women is right”. The men in the audience listen to her
carefully and respectfully and seem to be on her side (except Monty and the
older men)
so in this
scene, there is a shift in power: a new, younger generation is taking over; the
old generation has been defeated; women are beginning to assert themselves,
they are gaining power
They
challenge the form of power embodied by the older generation of male trade
unionists
