Change In Film

Despite this trend towards escapism type films, important social issues continued to be addressed through film. Many films focused on problems of romance, family, gender, and sexuality. These are all parts of life radically changed by the social revolution of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Old fashioned screen romances and Cinderella stories like an Officer and a Gentleman and Flashdance, respectively tried to avoid these social changes and were huge box office draws. But many other popular films focused on such serious questions as the conflict between family responsibilities and personal needs. Examples of these films include An Unmarried Woman (1978), Kramer v. Kramer (1979), and Desperately Seeking Susan (1985).

Both Laura Mulvey and bell hooks describe the idea of the “gaze” in film. In both of the theories presented by Mulvey and hooks, the “gaze” is the way in which viewers are subjected to a particular perspective because of their social standing. In Mulvey’s case, she argues that the “gaze” in which the audience is forced into is that of the “male gaze” while hooks argues a more nuanced “gaze” including the “oppositional gaze”. While some of Mulvey’s argument is accurate, hooks argues that it leaves out important other factors, in particular, race. Both arguments have many similarities and differences, and can be seen exemplified in many films, such as Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It.

As political climates change, so do the themes found within cinema. The 1960s and 1970s were a time of change for America. Feminism, civil rights movements, and gay rights movements were all progressing, and liberal values were becoming more and more prevalent among the younger generation. For conservatives, the 60s and 70s were seen as a time of decline; as a low point in American history, and a time of regression in American society. The progressive and liberal values were not positive changes for all Americans, but the changes were coming about nonetheless. However, in the late 1970 's and the 1980 's there was a dramatic shift in the themes found in American cinema that reflected the neo-conservative political changes. With the

The magazine article describes the stark contrast in the portrayal of female sexuality between pre-Code and post-Code movies. Pre-Code movies are flagrantly sexual; although some contemporary film critics believe that women were simply embracing their sexual freedom through these pre-code films, the marketing for many of these brazenly sexual films often included derisive comments from males, suggesting that the intent of overt sexuality in films was more crude. Post-code films often used screenwriting strategies to stay within bounds of the Code. Denby argues that this censorship actually created a net benefit for women, who were given stronger personalities and more interesting plot lines instead of simply being sexual objects. The article suggests that censorship led to the inception of the screwball comedy genre, which was forced to “create sex without sex.”

1955 marked the year in which Nicholas Ray's film Rebel Without a Cause was released as the latest Hollywood success. With its revolutionary acting and modern style, Rebel Without a Cause proved to be an ideal example of progressive, contemporary cinema. Amidst these factors is the intricate screenplay regarding a rebellious adolescent and his troubled relationships with his family and new found friends. Unfortunately, this was a film that was produced in the mid-1950s, a time when the self-censorship board in the U.S. did not permit certain political and societal issues to be addressed in films. As a result, various controversial matters could only be suggested or implied, opposed to directly dealt with. One such issue that Rebel

Through the movie’s gender, race, and class representations, Boyhood is a criticism on modern America’s ideals and desire for conformity.

“The Pathos of Failure,” is Thomas Elsaesser’s diagnosis of an ideological trend that occurred in mainstream Hollywood in the 1960s - 1970s. During this time, the American film industry saw an unprecedented, revolutionary detour in stylistic experimentation, and thematically, a focus on “the somewhat sentimental gestures of defeat,” (Eleasser 234). This shift represented a departure from Classical Hollywood’s idealized vision of America, the films of which reproduced aspects of dominant American ideology subject to increasing contempt among audiences. Interesting parallels can be drawn between The Graduate (1967) and The Parallax View (1974) in relation to Elseasser’s analysis. ‘The Pathos of Failure’ is felt acutely in both films, not only thematically, but also in the craft of the films themselves: non-linear, episodic, unresolved narratives and complex, counter-cultural, marginal male protagonists, whose goals are ill-defined and ultimately unattained (Hehr 85). Perhaps the allure of these films was that they required a degree of critical engagement from the audience, reflected by wider society’s growing cynicism towards “American institutions and their basic pillars,” (Hehr 31). There is a certain comfort, I will argue, in honestly acknowledging both internal conflicts and greater societal defects through the medium of cinema. Where the Classical Hollywood film would typically offer a solution to the problems established, the Hollywood Renaissance film, via irresolution

How are we made aware of the filmmaker's attitude towards change? Refer to three specific episodes from the film. (excl. concl. stages)In Pleasantville, the filmmaker, Gary Ross, conveys his attitude towards change through the characters of David and Jennifer who are transported into the 1950s sitcom "Pleasantville". He doesn't necessarily demonstrate change to bear a positive result; rather, he addresses that change is essential to the development of society and self and that it is important to understand and accept change. Ross contrasts the ignorance and mindlessness of the unchanged people of Pleasantville with the hunger for knowledge that the changed (or coloured) people possess, communicating to the viewer that change and knowledge

In a society where it is so prevalent that you have to do what the public thinks you have to do, it is the people that defy these norms that make progress in the world. Everyone that has helped further society has gone their own path and not worried about what the public thought of them. Since the beginning of time when people not only got scrutinized by their views but often persecuted as well. These same people that have been humiliated are the same ones that have furthered our culture and helped the world thrive. By examining how people defy the social norm and make progress in movies I will show that it is important to follow your own path in life and not worrying about what others think.

The 1950’s were a very crucial time period that had an abundant amount of different situations going on, one being the growing conflict between parents and their adolescent children. For example, parents were beginning to get divide from their children and losing connection with them, allowing for the children to enter a rebellious state. Another growing conflict that was occurring during this era was the tensions between different races. For instances, during this time there was a lot of different civil right movements that had began to take action, which helped build momentum towards equality and desegregation for different races. In the following paper two different movies, Blackboard Jungle & Rebel Without a Cause, will be critiqued and the similarities and differences between

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is one of the most popular movies of all times. It’s reach spreads across generations and countries. At first glance Rocky Horror, as it is commonly referred to, can seem like a crude movie that’s sole purpose is to shock the audience with it’s foul language and sexual content. This is not the case; Rocky Horror brings attention to the gender roles placed on women and men in society. This message is still important today because more than ever women and men feel limited in their own bodies.

In this essay, I have chose to talk about the movies, American Beauty and Thirteen from group #1. The two topics discussed in this essay from group #2 are identity and difference along with sexuality. The cinematic elements from group #3 that will be discussed are cinematography and costume use. In many ways, both these films portray similar content in terms of characters fighting battles with themselves and society in order to fit in. In American Beauty, Lester Burnham tries to free himself from his boring life and depression. On the other hand, Thirteen shows the struggles of Tracy Freeland, who tries to fit in at school. This results in her to go on a self-inflicting rampage with her supposedly

Attitudes towards cross-dressing, transvestitism and transsexuality have changed greatly since the conformity of the 1950’s. Today, the drag queen RuPaul sells cosmetics and a female character with a penis can become a sympathetic addition to a prime time drama such as Ally McBeal. These transgressions from normative gender roles are frequently employed by filmmakers to examine the complexity and fluidity of modern masculinity and femininity. The roots of these explorations can be seen as far back as 1959’s Some Like it Hot, but only in the 1990’s were directors able to use these sliding identities to their fullest extent. By examining Billy Wilder’s, Neil Jordan’s and Kimberley Peirce’s use of

The year is 1959 and America is going through one of the most pivotal moments of its cultural history: when rock gave birth to the Sexual Revolution. Grease, considered by some to be “A fantasy of the 50’s” (Canby) and “50s nostalgia fun” (Boyle), is in fact a direct parallel and excellent representation of America’s turbulent graduation from the 50s to the 60s, from repression to freedom, from calmed to riotous. This hour-and-fifty-minute roller coaster of a movie inspired by a rowdy, concupiscent, and altogether brilliant piece of Broadway theater rejects the stereotypes of the time for musicals and attempts a purer experience to reveal the underlying truths of American culture.

The dawn of the twentieth century ushered in popular entertainment on a scale for the masses that was unprecedented. The new medium of picture show entertainment evolved during the first half of the 1900s. Penny arcades, nickelodeons, and vaudevilles led a path for cinema movies that would later be consumed by the growing American masses. Earlier forms of pictures shows attracted lower classes because they were cheap and convenient for the working class. Older shows focused simply on broad themes and morals. However, as picture show entertainment expanded across the country and diversified in subject matter, more people from different classes, races, and genders became regular movie-goers. This break from social norms from the past led many to question this newer form of entertainment and called for censorship of the material, while the younger generation seemed to enjoy the questioning of social morals in these films. Never before has the beliefs of America been questioned country-wide and to such a large audience. This modern form of changing the status quo scared many moralists throughout the country. Ethnicity, class, and gender played a major factor in what people thought about the behavior that actors portrayed in these films and how it was effecting the American society. This bafflement of the American people led many to question the growing film industry and create controversies over the movies being produced.