Hollywood's America: Social And Political Themes In Motion Pictures

Description

American motion pictures still dominate the world market with an impact that is difficult to measure. Their role in American culture has been a powerful one since the 1930s and is a hallmark of our culture today. Though much has been written about the film industry, there has been very little systematic attention paid to the ideology of its creative elite. How does the outlook of that elite impact on the portrayals of America that appear on the screen? How do their views interact with the demands of the market and the structure of the industry to determine the product that is seen by mass audiences?Hollywood's America is a marvelously rich and careful discussion of these questions. It combines a meticulous systematic content analysis of fifty years of top-grossing films with a history of the changing structure of the industry. To that mixture it adds an in-depth survey of Hollywood's creative elite, comparing them to other leadership groups. The result is a balanced discussion of unique breadth and depth on a subject of national importance.Placing the film industry in the context of American society as a whole, the authors point out that Hollywood's creative leadership impacts the larger society even as it is influenced by that society. The creators of films cannot remove themselves too far from the values of the audiences that they serve. However, the fact that films are made by a relatively small number of people, who, as the authors demonstrate, tend to share a common outlook, means that, over time, motion pictures have had an undeniable impact on the beliefs, lifestyles, and action of Americans.This study contributes to the debate over the role and influence of those who create and distribute the products of mass culture in the United States.The book also contains a devastating critique of the poststructuralist theories that currently dominate academic film criticism, demonstrating how they fail in their attempt to explain the political significance of motion pictures. Cover Half Title Title Copyright Dedication Contents List of Tables Preface 1 Studying Hollywood Assumptions The Study 2 Hollywood's History and the Politics of Motion Pictures The Studio Era The Transition The New Hollywood Hollywood in the 1980s Conclusion 3 The New Hollywood Elite: A Profile Creative Control and the New Hollywood Elite Self and Society The Evidence of Systematic Surveys Power and Personality: The Thematic Apperception Test Conclusion 4 Hollywood Views the Military The Study Motion Pictures, Public Opinion, and the Military 5 Crime, Violence, and the Police The Rising Tide of Crime and Violence Conclusion 6 Religious Decline? Biblical Tales and Other Movies from 1946 Through 1965 A Content Analysis The Eclipse of God, 1966-1990 Conclusion 7 Hollywood's Class Act Changing Representations of the Rich in Hollywood Movies Conclusion 8 The Politics of Gender Men and Women Characters from 1946 to 1965: In the Tradition Men and Women Characters from 1966 to 1990: After the Revolution The Hollywood Elite and Feminism Conclusion 9 A New Deal for Minorities? Early Minority Representations: 1946-1965 Whites and Minorities Compared New Patterns or Minority Representation: 1966-1990 Conclusion 10 Box Office Hits: 1990-1994 Supercops and Psycho-Robbers Mad Dogs in the Military Wealth and Power Supernatural and Science Fiction Stories Gender Wars Minority Roles Conclusion 11 Hollywood and the Moviemakers The Larger Context Television, Motion Pictures, and the New Sensibility The Transformation of the American Civic Culture Appendixes: A. The Poverty of Film Theory Film Theory, the Formalist Legacy, and the Idea of the World as Discourse Contemporary Film Theory: Readings Politics, Film Theory, and the Ghost of Walter Benjamin Conclusion and Prospectus B. The Interview Sample Sample Questions Asked of Elite Groups Questions Loading on Each Factor C. The Movie Sample and Content Analysis References About the Book and Authors Index