Argumentative Themes In Hollywood Film

The list accused 151 writers, directors and performers and claimed they were member of the Communist organization during World War II. The blacklist against Communists would make it significantly more difficult for a person to find employment in most industries and most likely would get a person fired just for even being interrogated or being any form of a suspect of Communism. Even a person who worked with a person accused of Communism had significantly less chance to be able to find a job. Ten stars that were most famous for standing up for themselves and pleaded the 5th amendment when asked to name Communists were known as the Hollywood ten. Their names were Herbert Biberman, Albert Maltz, Lester Cole, Adrian Scott, Samuel Ornitz, Dalton Trumbo, Edward Dmytryit, Ring Lardner Jr., John Howard Lawson and Alvah Bessie. The ten did not defend themselves because they were prideful Americans who saw their rights and the rights of others being harmed and decided to do something about, no. They were already asked if they were Communists when they went on a trip to California and they did not want to get charged with perjury. Some Americans did take action and saw that their rights were being put into question and decided to protect themselves, for example Alger Hiss who was accused and in order to solidify the fact that he was a Communist lawyers used his day to day schedule in full detail to solidify that his behaviors were that

People that worked in the army or were part of the movie industry had to answer to this question (McCarthyism).

People lost their jobs and careers went bad and even imprisonment occurred. McCarthy held hearings called the Hollywood Blacklist, which had to do with The House Committee on Un-American Activities and anti- communist activities with the FBI.

As a child I enjoyed going to amusement parks. I enjoyed spending the weekends and afternoons with my family going to an amusement park. Amusement parks are something magical full of fascination and excitement for kids and grown ups. But there are some things that ruin that moment of enjoying a day in the afternoon in our favorite amusement park. Disneyland is greater than Universal Studios Hollywood because of their rides, waiting times, the prices.

Moreover, this was believed to be one of the reasons why Miller came under the committee’s scrutiny. This hunt was very unfortunate on writers, and entertainers. Many were labeled as communist sympathizers (PBS.ORG). Some were put in jail while others had their passports taken away. Those who were accused of communist

The federal government’s action during the Red and Lavender Scares following World War II would promote the hero-heroine relationship with a large portion of the American people. Joseph McCarthy, the figure head of these two scares, crystalized on the anxieties of the public that communism posed a threat to their freedom and democracy when he boldly declared in 1950 that the State Department was infested with communists. He then spearheaded the Internal Security Act (ITA) which would require member of communist organizations to register with the government and eventually made it illegal to even affiliate with any communist organization (Lecture). In addition, McCarthy connected this fear of communism to the gay community by stating that “homosexuality…was the phycological maladjustment that led people toward communism” Johnson 192). As a way to keep homosexuals, communists, or a mix of the two from “threatening” American freedoms, the federal government used acts such as the ITA and Truman era bans on homosexuals working in the government to ease the fears of the American people (Lecture). By using these tactics, the federal government asserted themselves in the lives of Americans, namely those who differentiated from societal norms, and forced them into submission or silence for fear that they would be punished. This act of

During the "Red Scare" of the early 1920s, thousands were deported for their political views. During the McCarthy period, the infamous blacklist ruined lives and careers. Today, the creators, producers and distributors of popular culture are often blamed for the nation's deep social problems. Calls for censorship threaten to erode free speech (American Civil Liberties union).

While HUAC’s actions were not laudable, it paradoxically had the best interests of the American public in mind, including protecting American civil rights. Insofar as Communism seemed to threaten the American way of life, HUAC’s attempts to root out Communists reflected a concern for American civil rights. The authoritarian nature of the Communist Party, as described by some, seems to support the idea of a Communist threat to American ideals. As a friendly witness before HUAC, for example, former Communist Party member Elia Kazan confessed that he left the party because “I had enough regimentation, enough of being told what to think and say and do, enough of their habitual violation of the daily practices of democracy to which I was accustomed” (406). In his testimony, Kazan portrays the Communist party as a suppressor of civil rights (“daily practices,” such as the right to “think”

The purpose of the HUAC was to “search for Communists” (HUAC). They wanted to pin point the Communists working for the federal government and film industry. The Hollywood Ten refused to answer questions and then they were sent to prison. This is an prime example of creating false accusations toward people because the people did not have answer questions that they did not want to. This is also referred to as the Blacklist. The HUAC “pressured witnesses to surrender names and other information that could lead to the apprehension of Communists and Communists sympathizers.” (gwu.edu). Innocent people were punished because they would refuse to answer such questions that they did not wish to answer. The government then proposed false accusations that put many behind the bars. The government was abusing their powers by framing people for questions that they do not want to answer. The series of false accusations threatened many people because if they did not tell the truth or say information that led to Communists, they would then be arrested. This was a violation of their

The United State’s Capitalistic and consumer driven way of life sat in contrast to the Soviet Union’s Communist and government centred economy. So much so, that the fear of Communists living in America began a panic known as the second Red Scare. Americans attempted to weed out Communists, with programs like the loyalty program which required government workers to state if they have ever been a communist; as well as the Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO). “...[The] (CIO) and United Auto Workers froze Communists out of leadership positions...” (Goldfield 805), along with this there were numerous trails and people assured of being a Communist. McCarthyism was another main reason the American public began exiling those assured of Communists; McCarthyism created a fear of these people, which allowed those accused to be black balled in their professions. One such example where the Hollywood Ten, which was a group of movie directors accused of being too soft on Communism.

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s America was overwhelmed with the concerns about the threat of communism. According to an PBS.org article it states a young Senator named Joseph McCarthy made a public accusation that more than two hundred “card-carrying” communists had infiltrated the United States government. Though eventually his accusations were proven untrue, and he was censured by the Senate for unbecoming conduct (PBS.org). People suspected of communism were put on a Blacklist and if you were on this list you were despised and lost your job. Also after the whole thing was over it was still hard for people to get jobs, because they were at one time on the Blacklist.

During the late 1940’s and throughout the 1950’s, there was a great fear of Communism in America and abroad. The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) was created in 1938 as a means to investigate and weed out Communists and Communist supporters from American society. Its first major attack was on the Hollywood film industry. Blacklisting of Hollywood writers, actors, producers, directors and others suspected of Communist affiliations began with the committee's hearings in October of 1947, and flourished throughout the 1950s. Senator Joseph

“As anti-Communist liberal screenwriter Philip Dunne said, If there is one thing about the blacklist that angers me more than any other, it is that we were all deprived of the movies Ring Lardner was not allowed to make” (Buhle). This shows that even anti-Communists were annoyed with the fact that blacklisting not only affected the people but also the movies and that some people including Ring Lardner were not allowed to make the

As the Cold War continued to drag on, came the rise of McCarthyism; where Americans ranging from the public to politicians accused one another of being a communist. For politicians being called a communist or being labeled as “soft on communism” was very detrimental to careers. Unsurprisingly Democrats and Republicans would use the label of “communist sympathizer” as a way of steering voters away from their opponents. Though McCarthyism would die down as Joseph McCarthy lost all credibility and his importance in the political and public spheres waned, this method of accusing others of being friends of the communists would come back full force during the Vietnam War to discredit those who were opposed to U.S. involvement.

Nowadays it is not possible to avoid speak of the apocalypse. YouTube offers loads of thousands of videos that warning viewers approximately their fate and advocate them how to live to tell the tale. And Hollywood has been cashing in with blockbuster apocalyptic movies that explore everything from plagues, nuclear and monetary struggle to extraterrestrial beings and zombies.