The Movie Newsies Movie Analysis

The late 19th century consisted of rigid work hours for children, the growth of strikes, and the use of yellow journalism. It was a challenging time for anyone below the upper class to live in. This is demonstrated throughout Newsies, a Broadway Musical displaying the challenges from this time period. Child labor, a major part of the movie, was the way of life and consisted of young children doing hard work as a vital part of the nation’s economy and income of families of the time. Another part of the movie, strikes, were the people’s way of refusing to work as a result of not getting their desires. An additional issue relevant to the movie is yellow journalism. This was the publisher’s way of bringing public attention to important matters

Newsies shows how child labor impacted the way of life for many people in major cities around the country during the 19th century. The first way the movie demonstrates this is by showing how child labor kept companies in business and kept them

To start off, publishers did not tell the public what they did not want them to know, and they also persuaded opinions. From an article titled, “Joseph Pulitzer,” it reads, “Yellow journalism on the part of both papers helped inflame public opinion in favor of war against Spain in 1898” (McGuire and Leslie). This is a demonstration of how yellow journalism persuaded the public to all think the same way. By doing this, the publishers hoped they could lead everyone to think the way powerful people thought. This would help to avoid arguments and disagreements. In Newsies, this is done when stated, “If it wasn’t printed, it didn’t happen” (Reporter, Newsies). These go hand in hand because it is again exhibiting how the publishers controlled the public’s minds. Furthermore, more dramatic headlines sold more, and publishers would do anything to increase their profit. From an article titled, “Yellow Journalism,” stated is, “Trying to boost their readership, papers known for yellow journalism printed front-page stories about the lurid, often unconfirmed acts of important politicians, businesspeople, and socialites” (“Yellow Journalism”). In regards to the truth, publishers did not care as long as they were making money, and their papers were selling. For the Newsies, it did not matter either, as when the headlines were more intriguing, they sold more papers as well. This is demonstrated