Golden Horns 

The History and Lessons behind Norma Rae 

In 1979, the film Norma Rae shared the story of how the titular woman rose up for her fellow workers. Based on a true story,  inspiring and relevant today, showing how films can teach something relevant about the world itself.  This article will begin by going over the historical events that inspired the film, the film's production, theories about the film, selected literature reviews, and my own personal thoughts about the film and true story behind it.

 Crystal Lee’s Origin

In the early 1970’s, there was a woman by the name of Crystal Lee.  She worked in the J.P. Stevens Cotton Mill in her hometown, Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, where she folded towels and prepared gift boxes.  She and the other workers would make about $2 an hour. She could be considered one of the lucky ones, since she was away from the weaving area of the factory, an incredibly hot, humid, loud, and dangerous environment (Toplin 217).  

The owners of the factory cared little for the well-being of their workers compared to production. The mistreatment of workers is further evidenced by the lack of windows in the factory, the company’s insistence on keeping the temperature of the factories at eighty degrees, and humidity at sixty-five percent, in order to achieve the best possible weaving despite the adverse health outcomes of the workers. Some workers even lost limbs to machines. The windowless environment resulted in psychological damage to the workers. Many workers experienced hearing loss, including Lee’s mother, and even death due to either heat stroke or brown lung disease caused by cotton particles in the air (Rein, 1979).