Thus far...

   Firstly, I know I'm publishing this a bit late, but I was ever so busy giving thanks and eating turkey this weekend and simply couldn't tear myself away to blog. Also, I figured everyone else was fairly similarly engaged, and probably wouldn't be lining up to comment. 

   Excuses aside, we have done some thought provoking reading, discussing and viewing which deserves to be commented upon. My personal favorite thus far is the film The Salt of the Earth, which I found enjoyable as a story and interesting snippet of 1950's American cinema. I haven't exposed myself to very much film of that era, and I must say it was better than I expected. Jon mentioned in class that the producers came under fire from the Communist witch-hunting that occurred during the McCarthy Era (Second Red Scare). At first, I didn't notice the distinctly (for the time) Communist flavour of the film, but upon reflection it seems that it would have been fairly radical. 

   Like most of what we've studied so far, The Salt of the Earth is armed with a strong social message championing equality. To me, this begs the question of the ubiquity of the egalitarian theme in all Chicano texts and media, or simply that which we've studied. I think it is an issue which, especially historically, pertains to the lives of Chicano people in North America. The three texts we've studied treat the message fairly differently, but still manage to communicate it effectively.