This was written by Vera, one of our students. The opinions expressed herein do not reflect those of Civitas other than respect for the value of open dialogue.
In the early 20th century, the chemical element radium was starting to become a key component in a variety of fastly growing industries: health and wellness, skincare and cosmetics, houseware, and jewelry items. Radium was believed to be a miracle cure of sorts, with the potential of preventing bone cancer due to its calcium properties. But while the craze of radium spread throughout the nation, the women working on the ground floor, tasked with painting watch dials for the United States Military, were starting to experience the dangerous effects of radium and its handlement.
The 2020 motion picture Radium Girls, tells the story of these women. Specifically, two sisters, Bessie and Josephine Cavallo. Having worked in the radium factory starting in their early teen years, radium was infiltrated in almost every part of their life. Not only did they consume the toxic element daily (dampening their radium infused brushes with their mouths while painting), it was ever present in their homelife as well, utilizing its luminescent glow as decoration around the house. Both sisters had dreams for their futures, to leave factory work behind to pursue Hollywood stardom or a career in archeology, but of course they were unable to anticipate the toll that radium would soon take on their lives, as its dangerous effects would begin to sink in. As Josephine started to exhibit the damaging and fatal symptoms of radium poisoning, the two sisters began their fight for justice, facing off against a corporation determined to silence the voices of the women that they had wronged.
As the film progresses, you are able to watch as the Radium Girls grow in number, more and more women joining the fight of the Cavallo sisters as they begin to come to terms with the horrific effects of radium on their health and the wrongful deceit of the radium corporation towards their employees. Radium Girls beautifully portrays these women’s stories through a myriad of talented actors and a devotion to historical accuracy. It may be argued that through zeroing in on two characters, the film neglected to tell a complete and well-rounded story of the women’s fight against the Radium Corporation, contrary to the nonfiction book: Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women. However, the indepth portrayal of the Cavallo sisters’ lives, allows the viewer to see the emotional hardships caused by their radioactive poisoning. Depicting civil unrest, a grand coverup, company malpractice and the beauty of sisterhood, Radium Girls is a timeless tale of finding justice in a world of injustices.
