Human history has been kept alive through a variety of mediums over the centuries. Throughout much of time, stories were told verbally to younger generations while written records and artifacts enhanced the story’s authenticity. In the late 19th and early 20th century, technology revolutionized story-telling with the invention of the video camera. Rather than hearing anecdotal stories about historic events, people could now see images of events happening all over the world. In addition, motion pictures were created to present fictional and non-fictional stories for education and entertainment. The United States, and specifically Hollywood, became the center of the film industry world-wide. The widespread social and political changes which occurred in the mid-20th century shaped the country we live in today and Hollywood began creating films about events at the time. A few common themes for this time period include racism and civil rights, communism, youth culture, musical trends, and the Vietnam War. The film’s director was largely responsible for the accuracy of a movie and, because of freedom of speech, directors were open to presenting these events in the manner that he or she wished. The worldwide audience and popularity of films made it an attractive medium for directors and actors to convey a variety of plots and viewpoints. As a result, film began to play an important role in how social issues, political issues, and military conflicts were perceived by the viewing public. Perceptions of historical events changed between the time immediately following the event and decades later. This is true of current issues such as the AIDS health epidemic and the military conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and the Middle East. Perhap...
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...tnam War: Three Films Hollywood Made With Honor. Retrieved November 25, 2015, from The Chicago Tribune: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-04-28/entertainment/8501250766_1_vietnam-war-commercial-feature-films-vietnam-era
Stone, O. (Director). (1989). Born on the Fourth of July [Motion Picture].
Stone, O. (2009, December 4). The Journal - Bill Moyers Journal - Oliver Stone. (B. Moyer, Interviewer) Public Broadcasting Service.
Suid, L. (n.d.). Film Comment. Retrieved November 25, 2015, from Hollywood and Vietnam: http://filmcomment.com/article/hollywood-and-vietnam
Toplin, R. B. (1991, December). The Historian and Film: A Research Agenda. Journal of American History, 78(3), 116-1163.
Wetta, F. J., & Novelli, M. A. (2003, July). "Now a Major Motion Picture": War Films and Hollywood's New Patriotism. Journal of Military History, 67(3), 861-882.
Films are necessary in our time period because the human eye can articulate the message intended through sight allowing visual imagination to occur. In the book, world 2 by Max Brooks, he creates a character by the name Roy Elliot who was a former movie director. Roy Elliot manages to make a movie titled “Victory at Avalon: The Battle of the Five Colleges” and some how it goes viral. Similarly, Frank Capra’s film, “Why we Fight” expresses a sense of understanding the meaning of wars. Films do not inevitably portray truth because they display what the film director views as important and beneficial for people to know.
In conclusion, the main point of The Green Berets was to convince its audience the Vietnam War was essential; conversely, the Ugly American attempted to berate it. However, it is also clear that both had a common goal; one that expressed the cruelty war can have. John Wayne’s defeat-all-communists approach was becoming a less popular opinion by the time the movie was released. Instead, the ideals The Ugly American conveyed were the most popular. Unless these two styles of thinking are reconciled, the countries of the world are destined to be trapped in a prolonged war.
In “The Thematic Paradigm,” University of Florida professor of film studies, Robert Ray, defines two types of heroes pervading American films, the outlaw hero and the official hero. Often the two types are merged in a reconciliatory pattern, he argues. In fact, this
Beginning the mid 1920s, Hollywood’s ostensibly all-powerful film studios controlled the American film industry, creating a period of film history now recognized as “Classical Hollywood”. Distinguished by a practical, workmanlike, “invisible” method of filmmaking- whose purpose was to demand as little attention to the camera as possible, Classical Hollywood cinema supported undeviating storylines (with the occasional flashback being an exception), an observance of a the three act structure, frontality, and visibly identified goals for the “hero” to work toward and well-defined conflict/story resolution, most commonly illustrated with the employment of the “happy ending”. Studios understood precisely what an audience desired, and accommodated their wants and needs, resulting in films that were generally all the same, starring similar (sometimes the same) actors, crafted in a similar manner. It became the principal style throughout the western world against which all other styles were judged. While there have been some deviations and experiments with the format in the past 50 plus ye...
Suid, Lawrence. "The Pentagon and Hollywood: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)." American History/ American Film: Interpreting the Hollywood Image. Eds. John E. O'Connor and Martin A. Jackson. Boston: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1979.
[1] Within the last few decades, we have generated a great number of “historical” films reaching the American public. With these “historical” films come the question of whether or not the film portrayed history in an accurate manner; if not, why were the facts manipulated the way that they were. Unfortunately, this question is usually answered in the negative, and the audience is left with a fictional account of a factual happening, thereby giving the viewing public mixed messages concerning the issues raised within the film. Film used in this manner can be a dangerous tool in the hands of powerful people with agendas and ulterior motives.
Jacobs, Lewis. “Refinements in Technique.” The Rise of the American Film. New York: Teachers College Press, 1974. 433-452. Print.
the right cast. The war film was a popular genre to produce during the war
"History and the Movies: The Patriot and Glory by Mackubin T. Owens." Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs at Ashland University. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. .
Before the Second World War began Hollywood’s purpose lied within entertainment for the American people. After the war started, the main focus shifted to wartime propaganda. Film was used to display the war in a way that did not show its true colors—including the censorship of soldier causalities and other negative connotations that are a simple fact of war. There was even a time in which some actors became better known to America than politians. Through films, Hollywood began to make a statement of their anti-Nazi beliefs. They began to make motion pictures for American recruitment into the Army as well as many that supported the war effort, and intended to make other Americans more aware of the war’s effect on the United States, and how people can get involved. Many European countries banned these Hollywood films, as they began to affect not only America but many other countries that were involved in the war as well.
...ctual roles, or adding in exciting events that revise the storyline. These changes are beneficial to producers because they engage a large audience and generate massive profits. In contrast, they do not always have a positive effect on viewers. Although they are entertaining which is an important aspect of theatre culture, they also are often misguiding. Many spectators take movies at face value, without considering that they may not exactly qualify as primary source material. Even when an historical event is fabricated to teach or enhance a moral message, it still doesn’t compensate for bending the truth. Moviegoer’s may have a positive experience and gain some skewed historical perspective, perhaps better than what they knew before the movie, but they loose out on the truth and therefore, a genuine understanding of the historical event, and its significance.
An Interview with Cecil B. DeMille.” Film History Vol. 3 No. 2 (1989): 139-140. Print.
...he ground troops or “grunts” who actually fought the war, and their struggle to survive in this very ugly war. Top Gun starring Tom Cruise was also released in 1986. This patriotic display of our best fighter pilots once again winning supersonic air battles against “bad” foreign powers was incredibly important because it showed that the mood of the American people had changed and that they were ready to accept the United States military back into their hearts.
Stanley, Robert H. The Movie Idiom: Film as a Popular Art Form. Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc. 2011. Print
In this paper I will offer a structural analysis of the films of Simpson and Bruckheimer. In addition to their spectacle and typically well-crafted action sequences, Simpson/Bruckheimer pictures seem to possess an unconscious understanding of the zeitgeist and other cultural trends. It is this almost innate ability to select scripts that tap into some traditional American values (patriotism, individualism, and the obsession with the “new”) that helps to make their movies blockbusters.