Color is for Kids
When I was growing up, I remember thinking I didn’t like black and white movies. I realize now that it’s mostly because black and white movies weren’t often targeted to kids. If a movie was done in black and white, it was usually a serious, grown-up movie. I mean, there’s nothing that would have made me sit through The Grapes of Wrath
I understand the artistic choice to film in black and white, but I also feel there’s a lot of beauty and nature and, yes, color, in the story of The Grapes of Wrath. The land that they reach in California is so green and fertile. I’ve been there, I know. But this long and treacherous road to get there, the bleakness and hopelessness of their situation, is not lifted when they reach that land. They’re still hungry, and they’re still dusty and poor. I guess it’s the richness of Steinbeck’s language in the book that gives it so much color and vibrancy, despite the perils the Joads face on that long road.
Perhaps another impactful approach might have been to take some pointers from another road trip film released one year earlier – The Wizard of Oz
It wouldn’t have taken the Joads that long once they made it to California. But wouldn’t it have been cool to see everything in black and white and then for just a few brief scenes we see the vibrant green and the blue skies of California before it fades to black and white just as quickly as the color appeared? Nah, that’s just silly kids’ stuff.
June 1st, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Speaking of the Joads, I’m reminded of the Hobo Ranch in Rockwall County. This was a haven for the many men “riding the rails” during the depression–just looking for work, or food, or a place to stay. The Zollner family employed between 100 and 200 men. Word of mouth all over the country sent them to the Ranch where they could work for a wage, eat in the mess hall, sleep in the barracks, buy in the commissary, and worship in the little chapel. The men had to write their name and nearest kin for the records. However, some died there and were buried by the creek. When I first went there during the 80’s, it was a place frozen in time. The old 20s and 30s trucks were parked under the shed. Another was for the old farm equipment. The mess hall was eerily like it was with the pots and pans and tables and chairs. I remember the sun shining through the high windows to give the whole place a ghostly look. I could hear the sounds that must been heard during the 30’s. Alas, when I went back a few months ago, not much was left except the little white chapel all lopsided and needing new white paint.
For more information see http://www.zollnerranch.com
Many small farm families “picked cotton” during the depression years. Gene’s Superintendent in Santa Rosa was from Commerce and spoke of travelling in Texas to pick cotton and sleeping in barns or whereever they could. My grandpa, “Dadan”, said he went from Gilmer to Rockwall to pick cotton during the 20s and 30s. He showed us the place - that fertile land down the hill from Ridge Road which is now Lake Ray Hubbard. I wonder if he had heard of the Hobo Ranch.
June 1st, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Thanks for sharing that, Nell. I read almost every word on their site. I’m not quite done with the topic of migrant farm work. It’s definitely part of the road trip journey. The Hobo Ranch seems like something straight out of another Steinbeck tale, Of Mice and Men.
June 1st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
I used the Hobo Ranch for the outline of my romance novel that I wanted D.H. to write. There’s more to this story. One of my best friends, Ben, lives there. He thought Gene was next to God. Ask Dan to share about Ben.
June 1st, 2009 at 8:19 pm
I’ll have to do that. Come November, you should plan to write that novel yourself, see what you can come up with.
http://www.nanowrimo.org/
June 1st, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Oh, and something else the Zollner Ranch reminds me of is John Irving’s The Cider House Rules, which was actually a pretty good book despite being inordinately preachy.