Hollywood and Marx

“Swing Shift” was a movie made in 1984, starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, which presented America in a time of war, and women had to take on the factory responsibility for the men. Prior to the war women were not allowed to work in the factories, and when the war ended the capitalist industry businessmen wanted to kick them out of the workforce again. This is a clear example of Marx’s theory that “labor power, therefore, is a commodity, neither more nor less than sugar” (Marx 659). The capitalist factory owners used the “free labor” market to make their profits of the women, because they did not have enough men to keep up production. The women’s “wage labor” have no “exchange value” before the men went of to war, because it was not acceptable in societies underlying rules for gender categories. Marx had a theory that “we are all situated historically and socially, and our social and historical contexts “determine” or shape our lives” (Marx 644). That completely holds true for the women portrayed in this movie, because the war happened at the time they were alive and allowed for the gender roles to be lifted due to necessity. However, their historical time gave them an insight into freedoms that women before them had no opportunity to witness, so with their new found experience the women were able to fight for more rights. The era they lived in and the society they found themselves apart of, shaped their lives, outlooks on social norms, and determined their course of action.
The movie really showed how much power the capitalist has, but at the same time it revealed the interdependent relationship with the wage worker. As Marx put it, “capital presupposes labor; wage labor presupposes capital. They reciprocally condition the existence of each other; they reciprocally bring forth each other” (Marx 664). The capitalist has the authority to fire an employee at any given point in time, which is apparent when the women are let go after the end of the war. The labor however is extremely necessary for the capitalist and without other people working the factories the business would collapse. The worker have a lot more power than they realize, but the necessity to bring income into the household can hold them back from exercising their power. The worker are being manipulated and exploited by the capitalist, and this movie shows that in its bare truth with the women issue of labor. In the Manifesto of the Communist party, Marx wrote, “for exploitation, veiled by religious and political illusions, it has substituted naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation” (Marx Ch.5). In the movie the capitalist employed the women to work due to patriotism and that their work would not only keep their households alive with income, but that they would be helping the cause of the war. The capitalist, however, just needed people working in the factories in order to keep the products coming and the profits rolling. As long as the work was being done they were happy, but as soon as the men came home the capitalist was ready to drop the women workers, because men were stronger and had a larger “exchange value” for their labor.

Works Cited
Marx, Karl. Literary Theory: An Anthology. Ed. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. 2nd ed. Malden: Blackwell, 2004. p. 643-646, 650-672, Ch.6

Group Presentation

In my psychoanalysis group, we presented information on Freud's and Lucan's theories. I aided the group in developing the Dating game, including: the questions, the profiles for the women, and the reason why it connects to Freudian concepts. We worked together to pose questions to the class, and discuss which topics were important to touch on. Together we viewed the clips that were presented and split up the information to be covered in the presentation. I think we worked well together and made the activities interesting to our fellow classmates (and teacher), while at the same time making the information we read in the textbook come to life. Also as a group we discussed the possible answers our classmates would give for our questions, or questions they might themselves have. That enabled us to be prepared for anything that came our way, and also guided us in understanding the material on a higher level. This presentation was a group effort, and I was there from beginning to end working with my group mates.

"Last Resort" and Freud

Freud was an extremely important man in the psychoanalysis field and his theories could be applied to many various aspects of life. Even a rock song heard frequently on the radio could be analyzed in terms of Freudian concepts and ideas. The song “Last Resort” by Papa Roach is a perfect example of how a song can fit into the boundaries of the Freudian theory of the Oedipus Complex.
The singer of the song is a male and the song is sung in the first person, so it can be assumed that the persona being presented is of the masculine gender. The man is completely distraught about life and is “contemplating suicide” (Papa Roach). The life of the man is pure turmoil and he admits that “It all started when I lost my mother /No love for myself/ And no love for another” (Papa Roach). That statement clearly shows that he never passed the Oedipal stage of his life and was not able to form the healthy “identification with the father” (Freud 439). Freud believed that when a child was in the Oedipal stage, the boy would associate himself with the mother (mirroring), receive comfort from her, and desire her love and affection. The persona in the song could not handle the death of his mother, so all of his ability to cope with life and desires were buried with her. The man does say that “Im losing my sight/ Losing my mind /Wish somebody would tell me Im fine” (Papa Roach). He is inside searching for support, but because he was never able to pass the Oedipal stage, he does not know how to formulate healthy loving relationships outside of his connection with his dead mother. Freud gave an example of “someone who feels great animosity toward a cold and distant mother may convert that feeling into its opposite, a fantasy that all women are themselves hostile and therefore unworthy of love” (Freud 390). In this case the mother does not appear to have been cold, but her death made the man shut out the rest of the world. The persona lost all capability to function in society to the point where he wants to end his own life. This song shows how Freud’s idea of the importance of the mother and son relationship is relevant, and how truly vital it is to be able to move past the Oedipal stage.
The Oedipal stage might have been escaped, but the death of the mother made it stagnant in time. All the desire the man had for the mother, only escalates due to the fact that he could never have her. The mother gets even more idolized and no human being could compare to the emotional attachment the man had with his dead parent. “Nothing’s alright” (Papa Roach) for the man and that is because he does not have the skills to formulate relationships with people around him. This is a sad song and it shows how terrible life can turn out if a child does not develop good, healthy relations with both parents.



Works Cited
Freud, Sigmund. Literary Theory: An Anthology. Ed. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. 2nd ed.
Malden: Blackwell, 2004. p.389-396, 431-446

"Papa Roach/ Last Resort." Lyrics Freak. 28 Feb. 2009
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