Robert Zemeckis’ American Exceptionalism
“If you put your mind to it you can accomplish anything” – Robert Zemeckis. Back to the Future is an American Classic that is on the minds of people around the world with images of Doc Brown’s shiny time travelling DeLorean. In 2007, The American government acknowledged the importance of the movie Back to the Future and its relativeness to American culture by introducing it into the National Film Registry. This award officially certified the movie in being a “culturally” important work that will be preserved for all of time, there by deeming it as a significant non-traditional “cultural media” in American society.
Marty McFly is a teenager living in lower middle class suburbia. In addition, his family is not the kind of family he is proud of. His brother has a stupid job, his mother is an alcoholic, and his father does not have a spine. Marty’s friend Doc Brown, an eccentric scientist, created a time machine in which is contained inside a DeLorean and sends Marty to the year 1955, the year his parents fell madly in love. Marty finds his father, and then finds himself struck by a car in place of his father. This is the movies first turning point where he endangers his futures very existence by preventing his parents from meeting. The movie is focused on Marty trying to solve this problem. He helps his father by showing him how to stand up for himself and helps his parents fall madly in love once again, but this time it is at the high school dance where he introduces rock and roll music. The ending of the story shows how Marty’s actions had changed the future. Marty’s family has converted into an upper middle class family, which is the complete opposite of the family status that Marty had ...
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...ile the 1950’s aspect of the film forms a sense of nostalgia for the past. This nostalgia is consistent with Reagan’s 1980s political outlook. Reagan had a 1950s conservative rhetoric, as he promoted gender roles and traditional values. However, 1950s Lorraine rebels against these ideals by being assertive, smoking, and drinking. People of that time rebelled against Reaganite politics by referring to the rebelliousness parts of 1980s teen movies. Thus producing a visualization of American rebelliousness challenging authority and power. Overall, the movie prefers to promote newness and youngness. For example, the school dance is a critical part of the movie where Marty has to make his parent fall in love. Americans prefer to collaborate themselves with those ideas. The movie demonstrates America as a place of renewal by putting teen culture right in the spotlight.
The first thing about this film that caught my eye from a sociological perspective is that the society in the film is not depicted as a “perfect society” as most films do, instead it shows the real conflicts that society had back then with certain subjects. The film shows us the prejudices, and misconceptions that people had about things like sex, and homosexuality at the time.
My reception of this film was so positive because of my knowledge, experiences and values. I have always enjoyed learning about the 1960’s and admired the political activism and change that occurred in that time period. I grew up in a very liberal home, where we were freely able to discuss controversial topics and form our own opinions.
Skip Martin as the conservative because he doesn’t even want to hold hands with Mary Sue when they were first hanging out at the malt shop where Mr. Johnson works. After he shares this experience with his basketball teammates about what happened, they also start having sex with their girlfriends. Mary Sue then continues spreading her “wisdom” and teaches her mother who is a conservative on how to fulfill the gratification by herself. On the other hand, Bud introduces Mr. Johnson who desires to be an artist to their mother. Mr. Johnson falls in love with Ms. Betty and they start having a relationship such as kissing and sleeping together, he also draws a huge nude portrait on the window. Mr. Johnson used to be a conservative and we can see it from how he feels lost and anxious when Bud is not around to do the usual things to assist him, then he begins to turn liberal after Bud telling him that he can actually do all these things on his own. He starts to see colors and feels bored about the never-changing regulations such as window decorations can only be done in Christmas time. He also realizes that painting is what he desires, that’s when he starts seeing colors from a painting book Bud gives him. Teenagers in Pleasantville are used to be conservatives, but after Mary Sue
The 1950 and 60s were a time of the “red scare/communism”, anything which sounded like opposition to the government or frowned upon anything which basically sounded "out of the ordinary/ unusual" was branded communist and this was shown in this movie. One would think that film writers would not be under much scrutiny, but many were called communists for their portrayals of what was
This movie focused on teenagers and family life because the ideal image of the 1950s family was a perfect family consisting of a mom and dad with two children. Everything with the family appears to be great and full of happiness. The father went to work and provided for the family, while the mother stayed at home and tended to her children and maintaining the home. This thriving period can be described as the golden age of family because the 1950s stereotype of the perfect family life instigated this suspected boom of happiness of the American family. However, A Rebel Without A Cause expresses that the times were not as perfect as they were depicted. Dysfunctional families that led their young adults to rebellion shape the movie.
There exists a lot of controversy over the term “American Exceptionalism.” Not only was this debate prevalent many years ago, it also exists today. There are many aspects of American culture that can make it seem like the most superior country in the world, but also there exists many that make it seem otherwise. The term American Exceptionalism is a term that is used to strengthen a country. In times of peril and chaos, the most important action a country can do is to come together as one. Exceptionalism is not only a term for leaders to live by, but also is a term that equates to a sense of pride for the entire country.
...ily of your own, you’ll understand.” Gabriel: “When I have a family of my own, I won’t hide behind it.” This exchange of words sums up the plot of the movie well. Martin is fearful of war, for the atrocities he himself had committed during the French and Indian War. He is afraid his family will suffer those same atrocities as payback for the sins he had committed. Throughout the film we see him falling back on those memories but instead of falling back he finds his family there to support him, which reinvigorates him to fight for the greater good, American Independence. The film is a great story about the American Revolution and the events that would lead to the establishment of the United States of America. Although the story is one made for the big screen, the back drop of the Revolution is very real. The Americans suffered greatly to achieve their independence.
On the first day of class, I wasn’t so sure what the term “American Exceptionalism” meant, but by the end I have figured it out. American Exceptionalism is the notion that America is uniquely different from the other nations. The reason America is “uniquely different” from the other nations is because, the world expects America to lead, have values, pursue freedom, be diverse and open, and also practice democracy. Being a democratic nation makes us the city upon the hill. America is like a big brother, other nations look to us for help, guidance, and prosperity. The values and beliefs about politics and the government shape our American culture. The stress on a distinct national identity is appropriate within an increasingly diverse nation state and ever globalizing world. I agree upon this statement, because America deserves to be known as the “it” nation. America is more accepting, we are like a melting pot of different cultures and ethnicities.
In this film we see many typical high school behaviors such as cliques, cattiness, and popularity (or lack there of) issues. Many scenes in this movie have an array of stereotypes. Sometimes they are clearly stated and others just seen through attitudes of the actors/actresses character. Also through out we follow the main clique “the plastics” and they have this image they have to uphold. Be perfect, skinny, the best at everything, and in sync with everything they do; or they wont uphold their status. I chose this film because I think it shows a lot of what we have learned in this course and how it is in real life. Clearly the film is exaggerated but much of
One of the more prevalent themes of this movie is racism, and how prejudicial mindsets ultimately lead to one’s own demise. The movie outlines how racism, among other things, can adversely affect someone’s judgment. After the father died, we see how the family gradually deteriorates financially as well as emotionally after Derek (the older brother played by Edward Norton) turns to a neo Nazi gang for an outlet, which eventually influences his younger brother Danny (played by Edward Furlong) to follow down ...
This movie is a wonderful production starting from 1960 and ending in 1969 covering all the different things that occurred during this unbelievable decade. The movie takes place in many different areas starring two main families; a very suburban, white family who were excepting of blacks, and a very positive black family trying to push black rights in Mississippi. The movie portrayed many historical events while also including the families and how the two were intertwined. These families were very different, yet so much alike, they both portrayed what to me the whole ‘message’ of the movie was. Although everyone was so different they all faced such drastic decisions and issues that affected everyone in so many different ways. It wasn’t like one person’s pain was easier to handle than another is that’s like saying Vietnam was harder on those men than on the men that stood for black rights or vice versa, everyone faced these equally hard issues. So it seemed everyone was very emotionally involved. In fact our whole country was very involved in president elections and campaigns against the war, it seemed everyone really cared.
Have you ever had one of those days that were so bad that you desperately needed a night at the ice cream or candy store? The 1970’s was that really bad day, while the night of self- indulgence was the 1980’s. Americans love to escape from our daily stress, and of all the products that allow us to do so, none is more popular than the movies. Movies are key cultural artifacts that offer a view of American culture and social history. They not only offer a snapshot of hair styles and fashions of the times but they also provide a host of insights into Americans’ ever-changing ideals. Like any cultural artifact, the movies can be approached in a number of ways. Cultural historians have treated movies as a document that records the look and mood of the time that promotes a particular political or moral value or highlights individual or social anxieties and tensions. These cultural documents present a particular image of gender, ethnicity, romance, and violence. Out of the political and economic unrest of the 1970’s that saw the mood and esteem of the country, as reflected in the artistry and messages in the movies, sink to a new low, came a new sense of pride in who we are, not seen since the post-World War II economic boom of the 1950’s. Of this need to change, Oscar Award winner Paul Newman stated,
Almost everyone in America today has seen one of John Hughes’ iconic 1980’s teen movies. From Pretty in Pink, to Ferris Buellers Day Off, these iconic 80’s hits are still viewed as pop culture even two decades after their release. None of John Hughes movies has had as great an impact on society in America as The Breakfast Club. The 1980’s in America were filled with nuclear threats from the Cold War, President Reagan’s war on drugs and an increasing gap in wealth distribution. Even with America experiencing these heightened tensions, American teenagers were able to be more carefree, in a large part due to the draft being over, and worry about “teenage” problems. The Breakfast Club was able to capture this newfound freedom among teenagers as well as the feelings of anxiety, fear, and drama that came with high school. The film showed that one’s parents don’t determine your life, that breaking out of a label is possible, and that the emotions and issues that take place during this period of life aren’t any less important than the ones you face later on. The Breakfast Club by John Hughes was so impactful on 1980’s American culture because it gave hope for social class mobility, fought against the conservative politics of the era, and was one of the first movies to be shot from an accurate teenage perspective.
American exceptionalism is a belief that the United States is different from other nations around the world and as such superior; the term was coined by Alexis de Tocqueville in 1831, yet the philosophy of American superiority can be traced all the way back to the days before the United States was even an idea. They saw their new culture as “A city upon a hill” and sought to achieve moral and spiritual perfection. With this moral superiority the colonists, later Americans, saw a duty presented upon them by God and nature to instill such superior values into other cultures and the world. One such example can be clearly seen in the work of St. John de Crèvecoeur in Letters from an American Farmer where the narrator “Farmer James” states his belief
Back to the Future Part II has one of the most iconic representations of the future, though taking place in 2015, technology such as flying cars, hoverboards, and robotic gas stations. While some predictions are realized as entirely incorrect, ideas such as video calling and tablets, which seemed so distant, are relative to everyday use. A more recent film, WALL-E offers a different take on the future, in the year 2805, in which the Earth is entirely garbage with a smokey brown aesthetic. Both takes on the future are quite different, as are opinions from person to person, making this such a unique concept. I watched both of these films as a kid, basing my early thoughts and inspiration off of