Blind Obedience; This Ain't No Way to Make a Living: Finding The Courage to Distinguish Between Charity and Justice in the Fight for Gender Equality
After taking a trip to Minnesota, borne through the silver screen into a tale based upon the pivotal true story of the first major successful sexual harassment case in the United States of America, known as Jenson vs. Eveleth Mines, one may never observe women and debate surrounding women's equality in the workplace and beyond through quite same shade of lenses so comfortably worn heretofore. Now, returning to reality, lost in a moment, with a swiftness and a capacity for enlightenment of heavenly proportions, through looking directly into the eyes of that girl, whether she is significant in one's personal life bubble or otherwise, affords a glimpse that sufficiently warrants at least a small degree of tender, passionate optimism for the notion that she, without question, deserves to know equality. That girl, whether she be one's mother, one's wife, one's partner, one's sister, one's daughter, one's co-worker, one's friend, or nothing more than just one's fellow human being, deserves to know justice. Justice in such a way that is graciously granted, without being attached, in any manner, to the expectation of lucrative returns, which might often be said to ostensibly enhance but all too often ultimately corrupt acts of charity in all of their guises. For the two concepts, justice and charity, in this instance, are indeed not the same thing. If just one movie could be said to all but guarantee a shift in attitudes towards such matters, even more effectively than the still fairly recent picture exploring similar, ceaselessly current themes, Suffragette (2015), while of course remaining an entertaining and well-crafted film, then that movie, without dispute, is North Country (2005).
A courtroom drama seamlessly weaves with plenty of briskly-paced, at times emotionally turbulent flashbacks and, in doing so, gradually raises the stakes so high for the genuinely charismatic protagonist that the cause for which she stands appears ethereal. That is to say, her declaration that all she wants to do is go to work and make a living like everybody else appears to be an impossible outcome, caged in by determined oppression from all sides into the traditional domestic sphere, for not infrequently do even those closest to her at least betray her faith in a fashion not dissimilar to that breaking of trust written of in holy scriptures between Peter and Christ.
Now that the movie is over a decade old, its star-studded ensemble that includes Charlize Theron, Jeremy Renner, Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sissy Spacek, Richard Jenkins, Michelle Monaghan and Sean Bean, all at least once illustrate during the feature that they were all inevitably going to enjoy long, prosperous careers and remain current in Hollywood's mainstream cinema for years to come. The last of the aforementioned cast, revealed without noteworthy risk to ruining the total engagement in the film by audiences, does not perish - hopefully a relief for those wishing that his often brutal departures from stories told through the moving image should be made illicit, particularly after Game of Thrones (2011-Present). Better still, while playing more of a supporting role in this adventure, his presence, like most of his fellow dramatic players, is no less felt in the protagonist's struggle for a final, ideally peaceful resolution, which might hopefully end or certainly ease the trauma felt by so many before and and after her in similar circumstances, both in America and around the world.
It is written that many of the horrific acts of harassment and abuse depicted in the picture actually happened at least in part within the true story acting as the film's source material. These actions that may not quite scar but definitely demand a permanent place in the long-term memory of the collective psyche of those in society who witness them. In the wake of such a shocking viewing, temptation suggests a need to focus solely on issues like sexual harassment in the workplace and domestic violence as if they experienced by women alone. Yet, by the film's conclusion, it becomes about so much more than that, as it goes on to demand that a genuine state of sonder be willed from within by all in the inevitably uphill skirmishes against those in positions of absolute power claiming to be beacons of righteousness while behaving, often in the darkest, coldest of shadows but sometimes even more boldly under the brightest rays of burning sunlight, in a manner that highlights beyond reasonable doubt an all but total lack of empathy and a complete disregard for those around them, especially the little people, men and women alike, whom they seem to thrive on torturing, unchecked and unchallenged, for profits of varying kinds. Even with all of the laws, rules and regulations put in place to end issues like sexual harassment in the workplace, recent reports in the mainstream media suggest that they remain as current as ever. North County offers, through a superbly-made, entertaining work of drama, no clear answer. However, there is at least one clear, intriguing starting point, even if not a terribly eloquent one with great depth to it at first. As one character out of new-found courage asserts at some point in the movie - "What are you supposed to do when the ones with all the power are hurting those with none? Well, for starters, you stand up. You stand up and tell the truth. You stand up for your friends. You stand up even when you're all alone. You stand up."
A courtroom drama seamlessly weaves with plenty of briskly-paced, at times emotionally turbulent flashbacks and, in doing so, gradually raises the stakes so high for the genuinely charismatic protagonist that the cause for which she stands appears ethereal. That is to say, her declaration that all she wants to do is go to work and make a living like everybody else appears to be an impossible outcome, caged in by determined oppression from all sides into the traditional domestic sphere, for not infrequently do even those closest to her at least betray her faith in a fashion not dissimilar to that breaking of trust written of in holy scriptures between Peter and Christ.
Now that the movie is over a decade old, its star-studded ensemble that includes Charlize Theron, Jeremy Renner, Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sissy Spacek, Richard Jenkins, Michelle Monaghan and Sean Bean, all at least once illustrate during the feature that they were all inevitably going to enjoy long, prosperous careers and remain current in Hollywood's mainstream cinema for years to come. The last of the aforementioned cast, revealed without noteworthy risk to ruining the total engagement in the film by audiences, does not perish - hopefully a relief for those wishing that his often brutal departures from stories told through the moving image should be made illicit, particularly after Game of Thrones (2011-Present). Better still, while playing more of a supporting role in this adventure, his presence, like most of his fellow dramatic players, is no less felt in the protagonist's struggle for a final, ideally peaceful resolution, which might hopefully end or certainly ease the trauma felt by so many before and and after her in similar circumstances, both in America and around the world.
It is written that many of the horrific acts of harassment and abuse depicted in the picture actually happened at least in part within the true story acting as the film's source material. These actions that may not quite scar but definitely demand a permanent place in the long-term memory of the collective psyche of those in society who witness them. In the wake of such a shocking viewing, temptation suggests a need to focus solely on issues like sexual harassment in the workplace and domestic violence as if they experienced by women alone. Yet, by the film's conclusion, it becomes about so much more than that, as it goes on to demand that a genuine state of sonder be willed from within by all in the inevitably uphill skirmishes against those in positions of absolute power claiming to be beacons of righteousness while behaving, often in the darkest, coldest of shadows but sometimes even more boldly under the brightest rays of burning sunlight, in a manner that highlights beyond reasonable doubt an all but total lack of empathy and a complete disregard for those around them, especially the little people, men and women alike, whom they seem to thrive on torturing, unchecked and unchallenged, for profits of varying kinds. Even with all of the laws, rules and regulations put in place to end issues like sexual harassment in the workplace, recent reports in the mainstream media suggest that they remain as current as ever. North County offers, through a superbly-made, entertaining work of drama, no clear answer. However, there is at least one clear, intriguing starting point, even if not a terribly eloquent one with great depth to it at first. As one character out of new-found courage asserts at some point in the movie - "What are you supposed to do when the ones with all the power are hurting those with none? Well, for starters, you stand up. You stand up and tell the truth. You stand up for your friends. You stand up even when you're all alone. You stand up."
