Climbing to a higher plateau: Advancing miners` safety in the 21st century
It is an unfortunate, but undeniable, fact that the coal industry has possessed an unflattering image over its history in the United States. The reasons for this are many. Some may be purely psychological. To some leaving the sunshine and fresh air to enter a tunnel or cave may seem unnatural, an act which restricts the person to an environment which is dark, uncomfortable and possibly hazardous. This psychological uneasiness, however, does not explain the persistent, negative stereotype that mining has in our popular culture. In the 1840s Charles Dickens wrote movingly of the {open_quotes}dark, Satanic{close_quotes} mills of England, but no one in Hollywood makes movies about them anymore. Coal on the other hand still seems to provide an evocative symbol for many film makers. Matewan, a film of questionable historical accuracy released about five years ago, provided a depressing story of labor management strife in the 1920s. Germinal, a somewhat more distinguished French film released last year, told a similar story set in late 19th Century France. Only Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs seems to portray mining positively, and as I recall Doc and his companions were mining for diamonds, not coal.
- OSTI ID:
- 269097
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9508117--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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