The Crowd

How does the film relate to Chapter 20 in Foner?
 Chapter 20 in Foner's book reviewed the rise of consumerism in American culture, the source of a persons happiness was no longer from the fulfillment of work but from attaining luxury products. The protagonist John Sims goes to New York to start working his way up the corporate ladder because at the time this was seen as the place to go to get the best jobs, he finds that he has no hope advancing in his white collar desk job.

Why is this film titled The Crowd ?

The film is titled The Crowd because it is about mass consumerism and mass culture which was a growing theme during this time. The Crowd is about how the world requires people to conform and be content, after John Sims loses his child and can no longer focus on the monotony of his day to day work he finds that the world is a very unforgiving place and that going against the crowd makes life difficult and miserable, this is reflected well when he is forced to take the juggler job that he had mocked earlier in the film.


How are ideas about work explored in the film?

Work is not shown as an enjoyable activity, it is not something to be proud of, it is nothing more than means to an end, something unpleasant that has to be done to get what you want. Work is monotonous and boring in this film, viewers see rows and rows of people shoved into tiny desks in a large room grinding away at paperwork day after day. Throughout the film we never see John get rewarded for staying in that company, he never moves up the ladder, he just stagnates. 


How are ideas about success represented in the film? Include in your discussion: how are the issues of upward mobility, the Protestant work ethic, and the meaning of what constitutes a good life depicted in the film?    

At the start of the film John's view of success is climbing to the top of the corporate ladder and be wealthy possibly even become president if he works hard enough. During this era there was almost very little possibility for upward mobility, there was a large gap in the distribution of wealth between the classes and chances for people to move up were almost non-existent because of the vast amount of people scrambling to get the same jobs. After all of John's years of work he only receives a small pay raise and after quitting his job he could find no suitable work.