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Lecture 11 was made up of two films on the Dust Bowl. I have to say that I thought it was interesting when Mr. Isern stated the quotes of people who lived through the Dust Bowl. One of the quotes was, "We thought it was Judgment Day." These are very powerful words! They add a lot of drama to the history of the plains. Yet, after watching the two films, I gained an even more dramatic picture of the Dust Bowl and the affects it had on plains people and their way of life. The two films had different perspectives of the Dust Bowl on the plains.
The first film that we watched was called "The Plow that Broke the Plains." The theory of farming techniques "breaking" the plains is very interesting to me. It’s almost as if mother earth chose a specific time to strike at humanity. I say this because during the time of the Dust Bowl, the great depression was taking place. This film had a very pessimistic message as well, due to the fact that it displayed people leaving the plains is despair. Of course, it's understandable that people would do such a thing. If I didn't know anything about the history of this region, this film would give me the impression that this dust storm was the end of the world.
The second film, "Rain for the Earth," had a message of optimism which therefore pushed for people to embrace the plains. I feel that this film was more optimistic because it showed people living their lives, instead of collapsing in despair. For example, it showed people socializing and whole families working together to make ends meet. If anything, this film displayed hope for the plains. Also, this film raised the theory that the plains were meant for animals, not crops. Ironically, this film showed more animals than the first film, yet again displaying more life on the plains.
Yes, the Dust Bowl proved to be a very hard time for the plains. These two films showed two different perspectives of the situation. The first film showed the dark side and the second film showed that there was a possibility of recovery. Personally, I liked the second film more. - Dain Sullivan