Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

In after Baud. Damn.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

T R E 4 5 O N

The lights are all blinking red.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

He really is that stupid.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

This chaos was totally avoidable.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

If marriage is the equivalent of selling yourself into slavery, women with self respect should reject the offer.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / “Blue Collar” (Minor Bleg)

“Blue Collar” (Minor Bleg)

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The confluence of the blogospheric discussions of Nixonland and labor unions made me think about Paul Schrader’s film Blue Collar, which I remember as amazing (and angry-making) but haven’t seen since it first came out in theatres during the rise of the Reaganaut “morning in America” apparatchiks. (Pause while half of you exclaim, “Wow, I hadn’t even been born yet when that happened!”)

Unfortunately, it’s not available on Netflix, the ‘DVD-R on demand’ versions available through Amazon get lousy quality ratings, and the used copies are pricey. Anybody want to give an opinion on this movie from a more recent viewing… or maybe recommend a reliable source for a copy of the 2001 reissue?

Reader Interactions

41Comments

  1. 1.

    Zifnab

    (Pause while half of you exclaim, “Wow, I hadn’t even been born yet when that happened!”)

    Oh, don’t be like that. I remember seeing that back when I was 2.

  2. 2.

    beltane

    I rented it on VHS about 20 years ago. Excellent movie. My husband and I just last night were talking about how since the 80’s Hollywood stopped making movies or TV shows that reflect or dignify the reality of American life. Turn on the TV and everyone has a beautiful kitchen and nice things.

  4. 4.

    Yossarian

    It’s a great, great movie. I’m not sure Hollywood would have the courage to make it today.

    I got it on Comcast OnDemand. Finding a DVD copy is going to be a bear — no idea why they don’t re-release it.

  9. 9.

    stuckinred

    A review. Dudes work in a auto plant. They get fucked up and fucked over constantly. Richard Prior, who grew up in Peoria home of Cat, is a funny motherfucker. Yaphet Kotto is a bad motherfucker. Thank you Samuel L Jackson.

  10. 10.

    Michael

    @beltane:

    My husband and I just last night were talking about how since the 80’s Hollywood stopped making movies or TV shows that reflect or dignify the reality of American life. Turn on the TV and everyone has a beautiful kitchen and nice things.

    Every time I see “Slapshot” or “Rocky”, I’m struck with how the filmmakers did a great job of capturing the abject scruffiness of lower middle-class homes.

  12. 12.

    newhavenguy

    Great agitprop film. Pryor, Khoto and Keitel have great on screen chemistry, though I seem to remember hearing that they hated each other.

    Bought the VHS on E-Bay or Amazon from someone in the UK a few years ago for an exorbitant price— $35 or something— but well worth it.

  14. 14.

    stuckinred

    Review from IMDB

    Ever worked in a sh***y car factory?Ever been on strike?Ever been f***ed over by your boss AND your union?No?Well,writing as someone who has experienced all the former,let me tell you that BLUE COLLAR is the truest story of car making,sweat drippin’,metal bashing,production line workin’ anger your gonna see.I’m writing this 28 years after its making,and I can honestly say that at no time before have I ever seen the frustration of working class men so accurately and painfully displayed.I find it hard to comment on this film objectively,because,as I have said,I’ve witnessed it for 11 years.From coffee machines stealing money and ball breaking foremen,to friendships destroyed over ambition and men pushed to breaking point,this film is a true reflection of life on “the Track”. For most it will be gritty drama,for others it will be all too familiar…

  21. 21.

    geg6

    @beltane:

    So true. Just saw an interview with Roseanne Barr a few weeks ago and she made the exact same point. And, if you think about it, her show was really the last time we saw a depiction of what a real blue collar/working class family is like. Say what you will about Roseanne, love her or hate her, she got that right.

  23. 23.

    Jack Bauer

    @beltane:

    “The Middle” actually does a reasonable job of it. But the rest of tv, even the ‘reality’ shows are full of rich people.

  26. 26.

    Linnaeus

    I’m hoping that the discussion we’ve been seeing as of late in the blogosphere about labor can be directed, in some way, to more union & worker activism. (full disclosure: I’m a union member and union local employee, though not an organizer or representative)

    I appreciate what Ezra Klein and Kevin Drum have said recently about the importance of labor rights and the importance of organizations that exist to give workers a voice in the workplace and in the political arena. I’m less satisfied with their very pessimistic tone; they seem to metaphorically throw up their hands and decide that there’s nothing to be done to reverse the decline of labor. Don’t get me wrong here; I get that the situation is serious, even dire, and that things for labor will probably get worse before they get better. And it’s certainly not a given that they will get better. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try harder to organize, etc., because we know if we don’t do that, things definitely won’t improve.

  27. 27.

    geg6

    @Linnaeus:

    Over the last three or four years, I have done a lot of grassroots political work with organized labor. I can’t say enough good about them. There is no one you can count on more than the union guys and gals when you need some flyers posted, some doors knocked on, a GOTV effort, or pretty much anything else having to do with political issues that you can think of. Best allies out there, and heads and shoulders above most of the DFHs of the far left who can’t be bothered with pedestrian stuff like that.

  28. 28.

    JenJen

    @stuckinred: As already noted by stuckinred, just looked it up on my DirecTV and the next showing is February 2 at 2:15 am on HBOZ. Set it to record already, I’ve never seen it, let alone heard of it! Thanks for the heads-up!

  29. 29.

    Linnaeus

    @geg6:

    I’m very glad to hear that. Yes, unions have their own problems that need fixing, but when you have to put feet on the ground, they’re among the very best.

  30. 30.

    piratedan

    well if we’re pimping films with a labor bent, I would heartily reccomend Matewan by John Sayles. I have West “By God” Virginia roots and as they say down in SW, it’s just over the mountain from where my family comes from.

  32. 32.

    TR

    If you’re interested in “Blue Collar,” that’s another reason you should go with Cowie’s Last Days of the Working Class over Perlstein’s Nixonland — he covers it beautifully.

  34. 34.

    Rufus

    Paul Schrader is a great filmmaker and it’s a wonder that the Criterion Collection hasn’t done a Schrader boxset by now. I watched Blue Collar on youtube and it’s probably my favorite Richard Pryor performance. Everyone in it’s good though. And the Captain Beefheart theme song is just icing on the cake.

  35. 35.

    Janus Daniels

    @geg6: One of many reasons to like the well reviewed, sometimes brilliant, and short lived Veronica Mars TV series: the lower middle class lives of father & daughter, and the little apartment they lived in.

  36. 36.

    Steve LaBonne

    @geg6: The DFHs of the “far left” are exactly the ones who want the Democrats to stop crapping on unions and do something to help them ([cough]EFCA[cough])

  37. 37.

    Tokyokie

    I think I’ve got a copy of it on laserdisc, of all media. Guess I should watch it again, but I loved it when it first came out.

  38. 38.

    geg6

    @Steve LaBonne:

    Well, when I see them actually doing any of the work on the ground, I’ll give them credit. Bitching about it or forwarding petitions on the Internet really isn’t helpful as shown by how successful their tactics have been with getting the EFCA passed.

  39. 39.

    Anne Laurie

    @TR: Stayin’ Alive looks good — I may buy it myself — but it’s not available in paperback & it’s too recent for used copies to be widely available. Let’s hope the BJ Book Group will be around long enough to share the paperback version!

  40. 40.

    Rick Perlstein

    Anne, you should see what Jefferson Cowie has to say about “Blue Collar” in “Stayin’ Alive”–not kind: basically it makes the union the villain in a way he found quite offensive and illuminating about New Left prejudice against the working class.

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