John Sayles illustrates a feudalistic society in 1920 in his film, Matewan. Matewan is a mining town in West Virginia dominated by the Stone Mountain Cole Company. The company creates most of the labor opportunity in town, providing positions for unskilled laborers as miners. Sayles shows how the company acted as a feudalistic lord.  The Stone Mountain Cole Company controlled housing, food, spending and debt of its workers. The company paid the miners per tone instead of an hourly wage. In addition to the tonnage, the company provided the workers only with script, instead of actual cash, limiting the workers to purchasing items from the company store. The Stone Mountain Cole Company demanded the workers to sign a contract which instituted restrictions for the miners beyond work. The life of a miner in Matewan was spent working not only to earn a living, but also to pay off the debt instituted by the company before the miner began working. The company not only owned most of the town, but also the morals and thoughts of its workers. The company convinced its workers what was "morally right" and what was "morally wrong" (i.e.. unions). When Jo Calahan came to town, bringing his ideas of unions and communism, he was obviously negatively received. Jo's communistic beliefs threatened the feudalistic society of Matewan.

Joe provided the people of Matewan the ability to stand up for their rights.  He taught the workers that one single worker held little influence, but collectively, the miners were empowered.  Joe preached the coming together of all people to form a union.  His union looked beyond the racial boundaries of the 1920's, and asked whites, blacks, and Italians to work together.  Joe's aims were classic Marxist ideas found in the Communist Manifesto.  When the workers went on strike and lived in a little community by the woods, they were creating a communist society.  Blacks, whites, and Italians came together, and shared the living space.  In one instance in the film, one white woman offered an Italian mother food to feed her children, when previously the white woman had nothing but negative reactions towards her.  The miners (proletariat) came together and formed their own class, in hopes to lesson the power of the cole company (bourgeois).  By the workers all living on the same land, they were abolishing existing private property, enforcing central communistic ideas.  

The formation of the union in Matewan created a society that upheld strong communistic beliefs.  A capitalistic society uses financial capital to gain access to resources.  In Matewan, there was no gaining of financial capital for the workers. Though the workers were trying to enhance their capital, it was not accomplished in the movie.  Another characteristic of a capitalist class process is a greater reliance on economic incentives.  Again, this was not achieved in the film.

Sayles provided a very interesting economic and class discussion.  The town of Matewan was a feudalistic society before the implementation of the union.  Though the future ideas of the workers might have been capitalistic, the reality of the movie showed a very communistic society.  Matewan was a very interesting film that touched on three very prominent societies in our world today.