On the Waterfront

This week we saw the classic American film "On the Waterfront." Brando stars as ex-boxer/longshoreman Terry Malloy. The story is ripe with symbollism, cultural reference and controversy.
The articles directly point out the connection between Kazan and his associates, and the House Un-American Activies Committee hearings. It could be said that the story of Terry Malloy is a direct representation, and in fact an illustration of defense for "ratting" on people with whom he'd been affilliated, and shared Stalinist views and sympathies. This reflects other accusations that the story was stolen from Arthur Miller, who vehemently withheld names from the HUAC.
Cultural turmoil aside, "On the Waterfront" was released in 1954 and has since been revered as one of the greatest American films ever made.
The plot revolves around Terry Malloy and his personal struggle between his loyalty to the corrupt power machine he has long been associated with, and his responsibility to do what he knows is right. His trouble starts when he is unwittingly involved in the murder of a neighborhood kid. His sense of right over popular is further humanized by his romantic entanglement with a "good girl" from the neighborhood, who happens to be the sister of the boy he helped murder. Terry's better side eventually shines through when he aggrees to testify against the corruption to which he was once loyal.
The movie's rich symbolism is best represented by Joey's jacket. To me, the jacket represents the burden of righteousness. It's said that no good deed goes un-punished, this seems to be literally the case here, and the jacket is the scarlet letter that represents it. The pigeons are a less revealing metaphor. It could be said that they represent their caretaker, the "stoolpigeon" but I believe they're deeper than that. I think they represent Terry more personally as a caged bird. I don't see the point of this, but it seems evident that he identifies more with the birds than he does with most people. The birds never judge him, take moral sides, or kill anybody to get what they want. I don't think this helps the story, or improves the message, but maybe I'm just missing something.


This week's Movie suggestions:

I said throw down boy, you gonna do somethin or just stand there and bleed?

Cap'n Ron gets gritty in this new classic western focusing on the Earp Brothers, Doc Holiday, and the incident at the OK Corrall in Tombstone, AZ. Movie kicks ass.

Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman are illuminating as prisoners at Shawshank prison with nothing but time to contemplate the really important things. One of my top 5 movies ever.

The essential "story about a story." Crime mystery awesomeness. For the record, I am Kaiser Sosei.

Get ready to root for the bad guy is right. What's not to love about a hooker, a great Dane and a crook who just don't give a hoot what you think. Believe it or not, this is my feelgood movie for the week.