I have always been the type of person who insistently does what I have been told not to do just to show that I can accomplish what could not be done by other people. I have always taken on difficult tasks with an open mind and remained objective toward controversial topics. Needless to say as I grew up, I became attracted toward topics that tended to raise eyebrows and cause people to speculate that I was some sort of troubled youth when I was merely trying to gain a sense of understanding that I felt was heavily one-sided. The brief overstatements about politics that I received as a middle school student were unsatisfactory so I decided to explore these subjects on my own time. While my classmates spent their “silent-reading” time scanning “The Babysitter’s Club” or browsing through “Hot Rod” magazines, I spent my time close reading Das Kapital and The Communist Manifesto that, ironically, were found in the school’s poor excuse for a library. After reading these texts, my view of the world broke out of it’s tunnel vision and I made it my intention to study the world and create my own interpretations just as countless revolutionaries and intellectuals had before my time. My first observation came after I had returned the books to the library post-reading; they were never put back on the shelf again.

In spite of the school faculty thinking I was some sort of troublesome communist, I had no intention of organizing student strikes or overthrowing classrooms. I was not interested in spreading the message of Communism. I was only interested in expanding my own intellect. After all, the effectiveness of Communism’s practice after it was conjured up has been less than idealistic. The Soviet Union was subject to decades of corruption before dissolving as a union and giving up Communism. Cuba, China, Vietnam, and other Communist countries have also had less reputable bouts with the system. As impressionable as I was, it seamed apparent that Communism was doomed from the start, at least according to the United States.

I had briefly heard that there had been a Communist party organized in the U.S. With my knowledge of the McCarthy era, I deduced that Communism was the pipedream of a handful of radicals who were more Anarchic than Communist. It took college level courses about political history to change my interpretation about U.S. Communists.

The movie Reds is a biopic on the life of John “Jack” Silas Reed. During my personal political investigation, I had never come across an American who was as devoted to the spread of communism. As I learned more about the social and political attitudes of the country (and also the world), I found that radical ideas were being formed to improve the living conditions of people’s everyday lives. Workers were unionizing against their oppressive bosses. Citizens were growing disillusioned with ineffective or otherwise corrupt politicians. The urge for the advancement of the lower class became one of the most prevalent thoughts through the Industrialization period as more and more people began to become aware of their physical states.

So why would anybody in these conditions not be drawn toward communism? As the movie effectively shows, there was an enormous degree of dissent among the lower classes who felt that the current political system was highly ineffective and did not, or would not, care for the conditions of these people. As my knowledge of early-century labor unions increased, the ideologies of these unions were not unlike those of the American Communists found in Reds.

What interested me was how “Jack” could apply his theories to influence labor groups and workers. In the earlier scenes of the movie he is not speaking in front of Communist Party members, but with groups of labor workers hoping to help unionize the group and fight for better conditions. At one point, he even displays aloof support for the Progressive Party presidential candidate Eugene Debs whose ideas were in support of many of the political practices of Communism. He then goes on to tear down the actions of President Woodrow Wilson who, until watching the movie, had an aura of greatness placed on him throughout many a history class.

Not only was it a shock for me to find this alternate view of American politics, it was also difficult to grasp the thought that an American was even around when the Communist Revolution in Russia took place. To be a journalist in the heart of a revolution is like a dream come true, but when “Jack” began to diplomatically discuss to aspects and aspirations of Communism with politicians like Trotsky and Lenin, he moved from political sympathizer to political figurehead within American Communism. There is something to be said, after observing years of U.S. attitudes toward communism, to know that “Jack” Reed is the only American to be buried in the Kremlin.

The story of “Jack” Reed is one that should be known by anybody claiming to be a revolutionary. As I watched the movie in class, I began to think of my first encounter with the movie, Reds. I remember taking a trip to the local, non-commercial video store a few years back. As I walked through the door, I became drawn to a table set up near the front door with piles of movies for only a dollar each. Never able to pass up a deal, I immediately started sifting through the piles of old, sun bleached movies boxes. I came across a black case with two VHS tapes inside. On the cover was a faded, indistinguishable picture of a “Bonnie and Clyde” looking couple and red letters, faded now to pink, spelling out the name of the movie which was the same as the letters’ original coloring. As I held the movie in my hand, I briefly debated whether it was actually worth a dollar. Unable to recognize Dianne Keaton and Warren Beatty, I put the movie back in the pile and proceeded to search the rest of the store for a different movie.

You can rest assured I won’t make that mistake again.