The Bicycle Thieves, On The Waterfront

A Marxist critic would definitely be able to point out the social and economic factors that the proletariats face in the films The Bicycle Thieves and On The Waterfront. In the film The Bicycle Thieves, Ricci waits outside with a big crowd of workers begging for work. You can tell that he man giving out jobs is obviously that of a higher status then the workers because of his attire and the fact that he is on a staircase talking down to the workers, which also shows his status above them. When Ricci is given the job of putting up posters around the city, one worker says that he can do the job but is told that he is a bricklayer and that is different category. Ricci then has to sell his bed sheets in order to afford to buy the bicycle so he can work.

            In the film On The Waterfront, Terry Malloy is a dockworker that goes everyday and waits with all the other workers to be chosen to unload crates for the day.  All the workers are mistreated by there corrupt union leaders and most don’t even get to work. One man had been there for several days and was not chosen. When one of upper status workers is selecting people to work for the day, the workers start to shove him and then scramble and fight on the floor over the tossed change. Edie Doyle struggles with Terry and then gives the money to her father. This is an example of when Walter Benjamin said “he not only offers his labor but also his whole self”. This shows how they are willing to do anything for a few dollars. Terry Malloy is able to get work because the union leader Johnny Friendly is a friend of the family and of Terry’s brother Charley. These films show that it doesn’t matter how good of a worker you are but who you know and you’re type of work.