Final answer:
The film 'Salt of the Earth' embodies themes of exploitation within a capitalist system, paralleling historical struggles of Mexican-American communities for land and workers' rights. It underscores important societal themes, reflecting systemic issues around ownership, pay equity, and minority working-class rights in the face of economic marginalization.
Step-by-step explanation:
The film Salt of the Earth deals with themes of resistance against capitalist exploitation and the historical inequity faced by Mexican-American communities. It touches upon critical social issues such as land dispossession, labor exploitation, and the fights for worker's rights and ethnic equality. Specifically, the movie highlights the struggles of Mexican-American mining workers against a large corporation in an era marked by capitalist ventures that often resulted in the marginalization and low-wage employment of the local Hispanic population. Indeed, ethnic and class consciousness serves as a linchpin in the film, portraying the complex realities of race, class, and economic struggles that mirror historical events where large economic interests have historically marginalized peasant communities and indigenous labor forces.
Instances like the Zapatista rebellion in Mexico against NAFTA's effects, the plight of the Joad family in The Grapes of Wrath, Galarza's exposure of the conditions faced by migrant farmworkers, and the civil war in El Salvador highlight the recurrent themes of capitalist exploitation and resistance. The struggle of Mexican-Americans post-Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the anti-vagrancy laws like the Greaser Act that targeted Mexican-Americans, and the resistance movements like Las Gorras Blancas and the Populist Party further exemplify the systemic issues addressed by the film. These historical backdrop elements provide evidence of the persistent struggle between capitalist enterprises and the rural and minority working classes over ownership and control of land, pay equity, and the right to a dignified existence.