The aphorism ‘the rich get richer and the poor get poorer’ truly illustrates the message put forth by D.W. Griffith in his film A Corner in Wheat. Set in the early 1900’s, this film highlights the development of capitalism in the United States of America. Griffith parallels three different perspectives in the film by presenting the viewpoints from a farmer, a successful businessman and the owner of a bread shop. This techniques helps illustrate the rise of the populist movement and the increasing divide between the upper class and lower class. With these contrasting views a Corner in Wheat offers a populist interpretation by utilizing the experiences of these three characters. Three specific scenes that support this populist interpretation are the scene with the farmer and his family, the scene in the pit and the scene in the bread shop. These events make up the film and set the populist atmosphere and criticize the unfairness of imperialism. Another factor that helps support the populist vision A Corner in Wheat presents is the fact that this film was released in 1909; around the time of the uprising of the populist movement. In class we talked about the formation of the Farmers Alliance in the 1880s a major social movement in which farmers fought against the developing imperialism of America (Lecture, January 30, 2014). Along with the formation of the People Party in 1892 that gained the attention of many impoverished Americans as they fought against the growing divide between rich and poor (Lecture, January 30, 2014). More importantly, these groups and movements helped further develop the 3rd Party Movement with the idea that the bedrock of culture is labor (Lecture, January 30, 2014). With these historic events D.W. Griffith produced a film that helped support these populist visions and laid out a film to show the true unfairness of imperialism and the doom that it can transpire. Through three different perspectives A Corner in Wheat is able to illustrate the intricate process of the production and distribution of wheat and the disconcerting truth beneath it. In the opening scene the audience sees the farmer and his family disappointed with the meager amount of grain they have to sell. This emphasizes the image of the laborer; that even through all the strenuous work the farmer and his family go through to harvest the grain they don’t produce the satisfying amount needed to support their family. Farmers are portrayed as the hard working labor culture through the little they have in contrast with the large amount of work they have to go through. The next important scene is the bidding war between rich white men in ‘the pit’. One man comes out rich earning his wealth through the bidding war while another man falls to the ground in distress having lost everything. The Wheat King becomes incredibly rich through the luck of winning in the pit while the other man loses everything. This scene shows the real injustice of winning and losing in the pit and how easy it is for people with lots of money to gain even more. It then goes to show the domino effect it will have on the everyday lives of Americans and eventually back to the farmers. The most powerful scene in this film, that truly supports the populist movement, is when the price of bread rises in the bread shop and families who normally are able to buy a loaf of bread can’t afford it anymore. In contrast with the Wheat king’s success and endless riches, a woman and her daughter are turned away from the bread store not being able to afford the 4% increase on the price of bread. This example that D.W. Griffith uses can be applied to every common good that Americans use and that is what makes this message so powerful. The rich people are able to control the price of consumer goods for all Americans and as they get profit from it, the lower class suffers. Griffith was able to successfully describe the threat of imperialism and supported the vision of the People’s party through the events put forth in his film. He also used many techniques to dramatize the underlying message that is the increased difference between rich and poor citizens in America. He did this by contrasting the different views of the farmer, baker and Wheat King. The quick scene changes between the poor farmers to the rich people at a dinner party was a purposeful technique that helped illustrate the divide between the rich and poor and highlighted the unfairness that imperialism would bring to the United States. This film also displayed the commodification of goods and services such as farming. As a result, Today in the United States of America, only 2% of Americans are farmers (Lecture, January 30, 2014).