The 1950s are said to have been some of the most prosperous times in American history. It is completely reasonable if one looks at our current economic state, the “50s” was a more lucrative time for Americans however our safety was not as secure. “The Red Scare,” a time that everyone knows as a time when a war with Russia was likely and security measures were as serious, if not more, than today’s antiterrorist initiatives. Through Good Night and Good Luck audiences are able to view today’s issues through past events, and the music involved in the film plays a prevalent part in how the story is told. Dianne Reeves sings most of the songs in the film and has a decidedly soothing and “50s” style voice that contributes to the form of the scenes that her songs take place in. The film starts off with “TV is the Thing This Year” and continues throughout the movie with “I’ve Got My Eyes on You” as well as “How High the Moon.” Each of these songs has some sort of significance in the film that assists in fashioning the mood behind the scene and a feel of the real 1950s.
Good Night and Good Luck starts of with Edward Murrow (Strathairn) giving a speech in front of, who the audience finds out to be, his friends and colleagues. Then the audience is hurled back to the early 1950s where Edward Murrow begins his assault on Joseph McCarthy. This first scene has Natalie (Borstein) and Millie (Abdoo), two secretaries for CBS, walking into the news studio with the song “TV is the Thing This Year” (Reeves) blasting in the background, while information regarding the search for communists is being presented. While the film is all in black and white this open scene with the upbeat music to compliment it give the feel of prosperity, which proves to be s...
... middle of paper ...
...ughout the film Good Night and Good Luck, music is a defining quality in how the movie progresses in the fight against communism, and McCarthy, and helps in the development of characters as well as the emotion that the audience is meant to feel. With the country’s safety being put into question America needed an advocate against unnecessary accusations and Murrow was that advocate. These three songs presented give an acceptable representation of the growth of media, the fear of having not only an enemies “eyes” on you but having friends “eyes” on you as well, the instability that the country has faced over the years and of 1950s America.
Works Cited
Good Night and Good Luck, Dir. George Clooney. Perf. David Strathairn, George Clooney, and Patricia Clarkson. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2005. Film.
Dianne Reeves. Good Night, And Good Luck Album. Warner Bros, 2005. CD.
The film had showed the conflict between television journalist Edward Murrow and the United States senator in the states of Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy. Edward Murrow through his nightly news program "See It Now" to expose the scrutiny and criticism of McCarthy’s “red scare.” Murrow and his colleagues caused by the actions of a great disturbance at the time, and became the United States history of most according to the legendary moment.
One Night the Moon (2001), is based on the events that took place in the harsh Australian outback in the early 1930s. The film evolves when a young girl, Emily, goes missing into the mountainous terrain of the Australian outback one night to follow the moon. Her family, European settlers, though desperate to find her, fail to employ the skills of a local Indigenous tracker, Albert Riley, due to their own racism. Perkins uses many literary elements such as camera angles, music, dialogue and editing to shape meaning and to influence her audience. One Night the Moon, introduces song into the Australian landscape, Indigenous people have always used song to talk about the land, and song itself has always been one of the central means of land management. One Night the Moon has been described as “A beautiful, seemless film with the ability to transport the audience.” Perkins endorses the idea that White settlers have failed to learn anything from the original inhabitants of this land and to support this statement, she layers the literary elements to highlight the racism, connection with the land and also contrasts the two male protagonists in the film.
A Documentary History (Paperback). Oxford University Press, USA, 1996. Scott, Peter Dale, Deep Politics, University of California Press; Reprint edition (June 22, 1996). Mitgang, Herbert Lillian Hellman's FBI File, Dangerous dossiers: exposing the secret war against America's greatest authors, New York: D.I. Fine, 1988, retrieved from a href="http://www.writing.upenn.edu/afilreis/50s/hellman-per-fbi.html">http://www.writing.upenn.edu/afilreis/50s/hellman-per-fbi.html/a>. Ted Morgan, Reds: McCarthyism in Twentieth-Century America, New York: Random House, 1st edition, 2003.
On October 23rd, 1998 Janet R. Maslin, an American journalist, best known for being a movie a book critic for The New York Times, wrote a review on the film Pleasantville. This film offers juxtaposition between two worlds: the life the characters desire and the life they actually have. David was an unhappy teen living with a promiscuous sister and a divorced mother in a very modern, almost unorganized household. Thus he viewed his life as one lacking structure and stability. David used the sitcom Pleasantville as a way to escape his reality and enter into a word of stability. Pleasantville depicted a life of perfection for him with an idealized image of a pleasurable life. In fact, almost immediately we see the juxtaposition of the current life versus the desired life when the film begins.
In the beginning of McCarthy’s political career, he was already walking on thin ice. He launched a series of charges against the government. The first charge was against the communist global apparatus. McCarthy said that the organization had made a sustained attempt to penetrate the United States government and attempt to subvert its foreign policy decisions. The second charge was against the United States government itself. McCarthy said that the official defenses against foreign penetration ranged from weak to nonexistent. The third and final charge was against the government of America, ...
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.
As seniors in 1957, they then started writing their own songs in the Everly Brothers' rock and roll style. The famous duo wrote and composed many number 1’s and were one of the most popular groups on the 1960’s. They worked together until the 1970’s when Paul Simon’s began his own solo career. The song “7 O'clock News/Silent Night”, was a great success, and made a statement about the 60’s. The song begins with the group singing the Christmas carol silent night accompanied by a simple piano melody.
Rock n - roll In the 1950s rock-n-roll established its own mark in history. It spread throughout the decade in a thrilling, substantial, and even livid manner to those Americans trying to get rid of all sorts of conflicts and challenges that occurred during this time period. As exciting as this music was, the novel “All Shook Up” portrays how rock-n-roll brought many changes to the American culture and later to the sixties. It expresses many concerns such as race relations, moral decay, and communism, but in ways that are partially true.
Director Stephen Frears chose, when filming this movie, to use traditional 35mm film for the scenes featuring the Royal Family. He chose to use traditional 35mm film to reflect the traditional views of the Royal Family. The syntax analyzed the language provided by the syntax helped understand the Royal Family traditional culture. The Royal Family at the beginning of the film had deep traditional roots and don’t agree with the progressive members of the society at large. After Princess Diana’s death the Royal Family believed that the arraignments should be kept as a private matter of her family. The Royal Family strongly believed that the Princess Diana was no longer part of the Royal Family since her divorce to the son of Queen Elizabeth II. Their traditional culture did not approve of Diana’s actions therefore they clashed views with the modernized government and Tony Blair’s suggestions to attend a public funeral for Diana, speak to the nation about Diana, and fly a Union flag at half-mast. The Queen and the Royal Family when adviced with these suggestions think it is a...
Kennedy is telling the audience that in Frost’s great life he accomplished a lot for this country. Kennedy gives a lot of praise to Frost for his accomplishments as a poet. The “special significance of Robert Frost” was that “he brought an unsparing instinct for reality to bear on the platitudes and pieties of society” and “his sense of human tragedy fortified him against self-deception and easy consolation,” (lines 19-22). John F. Kennedy admires how Frost has a realistic look on life and he shares this outlook with the rest of the world so they can also receive the benefits of this outlook. President Kennedy gave praise to this poet for knowing “the midnight as well as the high noon” and understanding “the ordeal as well as the triumph of the human spirt” because that was what “gave his age strength with which to overcome despair,” (lines 24-26). Frost was a man who understood all sides of the world and how it works. He shared this knowledge with his readers and was able to give them any necessary strength to overcome their own
The song “When It’s Sleepy Time Down South”, may possibly portray Holiday’s sadness and experience during the Great Depression. The line “Homesick, tired, all alone in a big city” can be ...
Music can be traced back into human history to prehistoric eras. To this day archeologists uncover fragments of ancient instruments as well as tablets with carved lyrics buried alongside prominent leaders and highly influential people. This serves as a testament to the importance and power of music, as well as its influence in society. Over its many years of existence, music’s powerful invocation of feelings has allowed it to evolve and serve many purposes, one being inspiring change. American journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson once said, “Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of fuel. Sentimental people call it inspiration, but what they really mean is fuel.” This fuel is the very things that powers the influence of Rock ‘n’ Roll on American society, that author Glenn C. Altschuler writes about in his book, “All Shook Up – How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America.” Between 1945 and 1965 Rock ‘n’ Roll transformed American society and culture by helping to ease racial integration and launch a sexual revolution while most importantly developing an intergenerational identity.
As Floyd is falling down on the stage, my heart is teared apart resonating with miserable life of African-American people in 1940s Pittsburgh. I have seen how people struggle with their assigned and unfair destiny and how the brutal reality smashes their dreams and humanity; I have seen that there were a group of people singing, dreaming, fighting, loving and dying in the red-brick house, which I might pass by everyday, all in this masterpiece of August Wilson. It is always difficult to reopen the grievous wound of the dark period during America history; however, the hurtfulness would be the most effective way forcing people to reflect the consequence of history.
The Fifties were a good time to be a white middle class American These years brought an UN-thought of prosperity and confidence to Americans who barely remembered the Great Depression. Popular music of the early fifties mirrored the life of mainstream America: bland predictable and reassuring. Which didn't seem bad after the depre...
I would say the target audience for this film would be people who enjoy musicals, no matter their age. The time lag would only have much of an effect for younger generations who do not remember the 1960's and the discrimination and the political actions that were being taken during that time period. The film is still a classic I would say because of all of the wonderful costumes, dancing, singing, acting, and clever story telling through songs. I can definitely see why this film was a popular success then as it still is today.