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Analysis Of The Poem ' Goodbye At Factory Towns ' By Maynard Seider

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“Farewell to Factory Towns” is an award-winning documentary directed by Maynard Seider. It focuses on the town of North Adams, Massachusetts, and explores what occurs when former factory towns try to get back on their feet after dealing with deindustrialization. Seider focuses on the impact that the closing of factories had on the economy and society of the town. The film begins in the 1970’s and shows how truly dominated the town was by large industries, mainly the Sprague Electric Company. This company, despite it’s low wages and benefits, supplied members of the community with steady work. However, as a result of World War 2, many industries, including Sprague Electric, started to go bankrupt; once operations in North Adams were closed, many individuals lost their jobs and unemployment soared. In order to try and revive the town, the former Sprague industry was turned into a museum known as MASS MoCA. The idea behind bringing art and culture into North Adams was that visitors and artists would stimulate the economy and possibly attract related businesses. The documentary views how successful MASS MoCA truly was and shows that, although the museum did help boost the economy, the town still struggles with issues such as unemployment and poverty today. Towns that intend to get back on their feet again after an economic downfall can be found across the globe and such situations can most definitely, and should most definitely, be looked at in a sociological way. One can

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