The Crowd

The Crowd was a film based on the Great Depression. It all started with a young boy named Johnny, he was an outgoing and bright kid. But dreams soon faded away with the death of his father. When Johnny was a little bit older, he set out a journey to New York City to set his mark just like many other young American boys did. Johnny found himself an office job that wrote slogans for advertisement in a big company that worked during 9 to 5. His colleagues were just like him, wore suits, they all worked like an assembly line in a sense. Back then big corporations were like a rising star, people loved it, and government also loved it. It was a time that consumer culture emerged as mainstream. People loved the consumption freedom that they had.

Little Johnny’s fate soon changed after he met a girl named Mary on a blind date, they hit it off right off the bat, as they shared the same passion and interests. Not long after they got married, they moved into a small apartment together, Johnny was getting paid the same as he did before he got married, and the arguments started. I think this tells us that during that period of time, right after WWI that people were busy trying to enjoy the freedom both men and women that they fought hard for. Even though we won the war, but there were huge issues in economic sector that were left behind, Liberty Bonds for one. Therefore, it was hard for economy to recover from that short period of time. Someone might argue it was destined to fail.

I also believe that it was not just a battle against poverty during that period, it was also a battle for class, I remember seeing the Christmas dinner Johnny had with his in-laws, there was no doubt that they did not think much of him, because the apartment he was living in and the wage he was earning. Just like in any period of time, the poor will always get looked down by the higher class. So the in-laws they did not think he was the same class as they were.

My favorite part of the film was definitely the scenes toward the end of it; Johnny lost his job because he could not concentrate on it anymore after losing his daughter in a car accident. They were forced to move to rural area. Mary could not take it anymore so she decided to leave Johnny, but Johnny found a job as a clown that he used to despite on the same day, and begged Mary to stay. I think it showed not just Johnny, an average American worker, but also the character of the whole nation, even though time was tough, but they did not give up the hope, they were willing to fight back.