Every film can be related back to socially significant issues that occurred during the time it was released. It’s a snapshot of the issues during that time period. Film is not created in a vacuum. As described in our textbook, film “Conveys “the temper of an age of a nation” as well as that of the artists who produces it” (Belton 22). Films tend to reflect current society, country ideals or beliefs in order for the audience to relate. Some of those techniques used include, the American dream, family, corruption, divorce, and crime. If a director decides not include current social issues than it becomes harder for an audience to relate to the film because they will not be able to connect to the characters and get into their shoes. One film that encompasses all of these current social issues is American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013). This film is a melodrama because of the context and social issues this film deals with. American Hustle has a social significance to today’s current culture, society, beliefs and social issues through the use of the American dream, corruption, divorce, crime and family. One of the most important things that Americans hold true to is their beliefs. These are the things that we stick to our guns when we are challenged by others, and they show up in American Hustle. The American dream comes to light in the movie and plays a major role in the story line. The film takes us through the story of a mayor named Carmine Polito. The film describes his father emigrated from Italy and nothing with him, and made something out of him. His son Carmine, made something out of himself by working hard to become a powerful person and a man of wealth. Another American belief that becomes evident in the film is family. As A... ... middle of paper ... ... to have one throughout the movie. A social issue that shows up in the film is corruption. Both in the film and now society is always dealing with corruption. Current culture is also reflected in the film through divorce and crime. Divorce has been a common trend currently and in the movie. Crime can be seen across all spectrums of generations. Scholars would view us as a society with some negative thoughts mainly due to crime, corruption, and divorce, but would view our value of family and of the American dream as a good side of our current society. Without the film American Hustle current society would not be reflected accurately. Works Cited Belton, John. American Cinema/American Culture. Fourth ed. New York: McGrawHill, 2009. Print. Russell, David O., dir. American Hustle. Writ. Eric W. Singer and David O. Russell. Columbia Pictures, 2013. Web. 2 Apr.2014.
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.
Motion pictures have been utilized throughout history to bring forgotten world events and issues to the attention of the viewer. Filmmakers utilize real life scenarios along with unique dialog, lighting, and camera angles to give the viewer a life-like depiction of the many real struggles people face around the world. Movies like Straight Outta Compton and Menace II Society both depict the ongoing struggles and tribulations that are widely present in many black communities. Both movies use mise en scène in a entertaining and powerful way in order to display certain contexts and emotions to the viewer.
The so-called American Dream can be defined as the belief in the freedom that allows all citizens and US residents to achieve their life goals, enjoy the choice between different lifestyles, have equal access to economic wealth, and pursue shared and beneficial for both the individual and society objectives. The origin of the pursuit of the American Dream can be found in various causes; one of these is the lack of opportunities in their home country, ie, cannot achieve their dreams in their own country. This results in selling the few belongings they have: their house, their little bit of land, and in most cases the great treasure of all is human, his family. Another cause is the facility available to reach the United States ranging from mounted on a "yola", leave as merchandise on boats to buy a famous machete, which have to impersonate someone else and throw their identity on the floor. As a result the vast majority are deceived again and again, others return home as deportees and prisoners condition; Finally, in the worst case, they die trying to live the American dream reality that it has sold.
For this particular assignment I have chosen the movie Django Unchained, which is a fantastic movie and I recommend it to anyone who has not yet seen it. I chose the movie Django Unchained because I believe that it exhibits the sociological theories we have covered in many different ways; and I believe that every person would apply these specific sociological theories in their own ways. The two sociological theories that I plan to apply to the movie Djano Unchained are, social conflict theory and symbolic interaction theory.
The theoretical frameworks can be applied to movies, like The Blind Side, in order to show how the media portrays people of different social classes. Films also send cultural messages about social class to the audience, thus, reinforcing stereotypes. This essay will analyze how Kendall’s frames depict a lens that will then be applied to John Lee Hancock’s 2009 movie, The Blind Side, which features African American actor Quinton Aaron as Michael Oher, the homeless high school boy with the potential to become a football star, and white actress Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy, the wealthy upper middle class wife of the football coach. When Leigh Anne is driving home with her husband and sees Micheal walking on the side of the street, she pulls her car over and asks him if he needs a place to stay and takes him in. Throughout the movie, Leigh Anne helps Micheal realize his full potential as a student and a football player. By analyzing scenes in The Blind Side using Kendall’s theoretical frameworks of how the media portrays class, we can see that the media negatively stereotypes the poor in
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.
The capitalist ideas so prominent in the Reagan / Thatcher era are as clearly instilled in the youth of the 1980s films as their, usually middle class, screen parents. Only “Pretty In Pink” (and indirectly, “The Breakfast Club”) actually confronts class differences; in the other films, the middle class way of life is accepted as default. Almost every John Hughes film is set in affluent suburbia with the repetition of certain imagery (the big house, gardens and tree-lined quiet streets, and often a wood-paneled station wagon) with a certain population (rich, white families), which is reflected in the body of the attended, well-equipped schools.
Today, The American dream is not fully represented in the same way as the ideas were initially raised. The ideas were primarily fabricated in the very beginning of our country. The propagandist role of any medium has changed just as much as the times have since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In contemporary America, film is the leading component of the propagation and detraction of the American dream. The film The Pursuit of Happyness (2005) supports the idea of the American dream our founding fathers set out. Wall Street (1987) on the other hand, supports and acts as a detractor of the true American dream and leads people to believe, what a lot of people already believe, that it is a dream to become monetarily successful. Propaganda through film has been a vast advocate for this change in ideas of the American dream in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
One major one that sticks out is discrimination. That was by far the most influential social problem in the movie. Everything revolved around discrimination in the movie. Not only was the main character a minority, due to his skin color, he was also mentally disabled. The opening scene is of him walking down the street in his down, and everyone veers away from him with looks of disgust. He never harmed anyone, ever, but people saw him as different, and therefore threatening. Also, later on in the movie, Radio was discriminated against by a new, local cop. It was Christmas time in the movie, and Radio had received many, many gifts from townspeople. He had decided that he didn 't need all of them, so he had loaded up a shopping cart, and was hand-delivering them to everyones porch step. The cop drove by, and noticed this ‘suspicious
The novel argues despite the social class of one’s family/ pedigree an individual can overcome social barriers to be successful. With sufficient hard work it is possible for even the most unlikely members of society to enjoy the comforts of wealth. This novel in distinctly American because of the setting of the story, the structure of the society, the profound self made success story and enduring perseverance, the fundamental root of the American Dream.
Through the analysis of the films, The Pianist, Pleasantville, Crash, American History X and Cry Freedom, the dynamics within societies are shown. These dynamics can be viewed according to anthropology, sociology and psychology. Each film emphasizes the effect social change. The themes displayed in every film including discrimination, family structure and breaking social barriers are all a part of social change. Furthermore, social change displayed in American History X, the Pianist, Cry Freedom, Pleasantville and Crash all deals with revolution and movement towards change.
Recently, there is a spike of historical films being released lately. One of the films is an Academy Award nominee for “Best Picture,” Selma. The film, Selma, is based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches. The film shows the struggles of the black community face with the blockage of their voting rights and the racial inequality during the civil rights movement. Selma is about civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. heading to the rural Alabama City, Selma, to secure the voting rights for the African American community by having a march to Montgomery. It shows the struggles from what the African American community had to endured during the 1960s. Selma shows a social significance to today’s current events, specifically
“The wolf of wall street.” Dir. Martin Scorsese. Perf. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill and Margot Robbie. Paramount , 2013.Film.
American ideals come from the concept of “The American Dream”. This dream includes ideals of freedom and opportunity, success, and social mobility. These American ideals are supposedly available to every American citizen, however reaching this dream is not easily accessible to everyone. Human beings yearn to be accepted socially and acceptance typically comes from being successful. It is the materialistic comfort, job security, and personal happiness that overall creates this idea of success. In Huckleberry Finn and Charlie Chaplin’s Modern times, we see that these American ideals are not exactly realistic. In Huckleberry Finn, Huck comes from a broken home, with a drunk for a father. The life style he comes from makes it hard for him
The timing of this film was a significant factor in the story line. In the middle of the Great Depression unemployment and poverty were a major