Film and Reflection of Society and Culture - Essay Example

Film and Reflection of Society and Culture Introduction The film industry has transformed the society the society in several ways. This has introduced a critical question on whether films offer a reflection of the culture prevalent in a certain society. Other people are for the view that culture and society are reflected in films while films also exert a level of impact on the culture and society. I conform to this view. This essay will seek to analyze how different films have been able to reflect on the culture and society in different historical periods. In addition, I will consider, how the Hollywood film industry reflects the American society and culture. Hollywood films have received recognition as some of the culturally influential productions. These films are known to reflect not only the American culture and societal values, but also a diverse range of imagination based on cultures across the globe. The increasing rates of liberalization of trade in the different regions of the globe make Hollywood films accessible to different people in the globe. Moreover, an advance in technology and easy access to the internet that has emerged in the recent past makes it easier for people to access American films. This only means that the cultural aspects of the American society exhibited through films exerts impact on different sections of the globe (Miller 23). Without doubt, American films reveal much about the societal ideals and the mainstream culture as well as the leading social issues. Hollywood films have been associated with fast spread of American ideals that are central to the society such as individualism, capitalism and commercialism. There is evidence that the film industry also exposes principles that govern different sectors of the American society such as food hygiene, health care and educational provision. Hollywood films also have a significant display of the cultural attitudes exhibited by Americans towards honesty, tolerance and other ethical values. I am convinced that one reason why films have to reflect the culture of a certain society is because it needs an identity. In the example of Hollywood, Americans provide a great percentage of the audience that has access to its films. The American society needs to experience a level of cultural identity as reflected in the films and in the real lives (44). From a close analysis of several Hollywood films, it is evident that they have been leading promoters of the capitalist ideology that defines the American society. These films place emphasis on the existing class differences and the perspectives that govern the upper and lower class. In addition, individualism has been highly reflected by the film industry as producers place emphasis on individual interest that are accorded a higher priority to societal needs. Commercialism, which is a key contributor to the American economy is also highly reflected by different films. These three ideologies are defining aspects of the post war America and they have been promoted in the movie industry (77). A close analysis of many film producers gives the conviction that the main objective of many film producers is to tell a thrilling story or develop a movie that exhibits a social, political or cultural theme. Therefore, films often reveal the specific attitudes and beliefs that define a certain society. After considering the contents of Hollywood films, I can ascertain this aspect because the films reflect multiple aspects of the American identity. In addition, through several films that I analyzed, contemporary issues that are given a priority or that cause concern for a certain society just as Martha Wolfenstain and Nathan Leites argued that, “the common day dreams of a culture are in part the sources, in part the products of its popular myths, stories, plays and films” (207). One of the outright examples I highlighted in Hollywood is the September 11, 2001 terror attack that triggered numerous perspectives of Americans to the political cause of the attack as well as other religious factors surrounding the attack. As a result, several movies such as Fahrenheit nine/11, United 93, and World Trade Centre. Although this was an event related to the American security, the film industry has focused on exposing the diverse range of reactions exhibited by the American society. From the movies, one can understand the complexity surrounding the attack. In the American society, the film industry has served to reveal societal ideals since the beginning of the 20th century. For example, the director name Griffith produced the movie titled The Birth of a Nation in 1915. The movie revealed outstanding social and cultural complexities that defined the earlier decades of the 20th century. It reflected intense battle scenes that revealed how the American society had participated in a complex war that defined its birth (109). In my opinion, Griffith revealed his expertise in reflecting a typical day of an American in his era. Similarly, the earlier decades of the 21st century were defined by the emerging resistance to immigrants because of the scientific theories that had been proposed to explain the trait differences between races. This aspect was emphasized in the films produced in that era. The Birth of a Nation has earned itself recognition as highly significant in revealing core aspects that defined the American societies and culture in the earlier days of the 20th century. The movie reflected certain aspects such as social inequalities, ratio differences and the historical events that defined the emerging American society. Many critiques of the film have appraised it for its evident reflection of core attitudes that defined the American people. For example, during this era, racist attitudes dominated the mainstream culture while the minority group such as African Americans faced a level of discrimination. This film had exhibited such intense racist attitudes. Some critics highlighted that the movies had revealed too much about the society to a point whereby it did not deserve a place in the theatres (120). After World War 1, the film industry played a critical role in reflecting the fascism that defined America after its involvement with European countries in the war. The subject of the war prompted the development of several studios that produced films that exposed Americas stand during the war. Some of the films revealed the patriotism exhibited by the Americans and their main objective was to illustrate the confidence as well as the pride that Americans experienced after the war. In my opinion, it emerges that the film industry was critical in reflecting the confidence that the society had developed after the conquest in the war (140). A different movie titled Why We Fight by Frank Capra was produced in 1942 and served to reflect the message directed to the American army as they participated in war. As the war progressed, the filmmakers focused on revealing the real sentiments exhibited by Americans towards the ensuing war. After the 1950s, in the postwar era, there emerged a counter culture defined by youths. The youths exhibited a conviction that their perspective of life differed from that of the mainstream culture defined by adults. The emergence of the youth culture appears to me as one of the outstanding cultural and social changes during the post war period. Therefore, it is of little surprise that the film industry focused on reflecting this issue. The emerging youth culture highlighted its dissatisfaction with the existing social values and constructions of the older generation. A clear example that I identified is the movie titled The Graduate. This movie proved successful in exposing the resistance and dissatisfaction that governed the younger generation. Moreover, during the Vietnam and the Korean wars, the baby boomer generation developed. This generation comprised of youths who were dissatisfied with the social constructs of the older generation (274). The film, titled Bonnie and Clyde is one of the outstanding films that proved intriguing and that served to reflect the emerging youth culture. Despite the stringent and conservative culture that had defined the American society, the emerging youth culture focused on promoting a liberal view of different aspects such as drugs, sex and even violence. In the same year, a different film titled Mid Night Cowboy served to reflect the liberalized attitudes towards sexual content. The explicit reflection of this issue leads to the film’s ban. In addition, it is evident that the film industries emerged to support and promote certain attitudes exhibited by the American towards different events. For example, America’s participation in the Vietnam War led to the production of several movies discussing that subject. The film producers sought to highlight the attitudes exhibited by the Americans to their government because they saw no justification for the countrys participation in the war. Films such as M*a*s*h and The Deer Hunter revealed negative connotations exhibited by different Americans towards the American army participating in the Vietnam War (290). Additional evidence that I gathered highlights that films reflect the culture of a society is evident after a close analysis of the 1890s and early 1920s. During this period, industrialization, mass communication and its diverse effects contributed to the development of a mass culture. The emergence of the mass culture was one of the significant contributions to the fading away of regional differences. This factor became evident in different films as they exhibited a high level of communication resulting from the presence of mass communication. An additional outstanding cultural aspect that I identified in the American society and that is repeatedly reflected in Hollywood films is the masculine and the feminine aspect. Many Hollywood films have addressed the traditional patriarchal attitudes exhibited by the society in the earlier eras. Moreover, other films have been keen to reflect that changing values of the American society in relation to the way they understand masculinity and the emerging constructions of gender roles. The feminist movement has been very vocal within the American society a factor that is evident in many films. The film industry has also highlighted the changing ideals of the American society towards same sex relationships and bisexual orientations. Hollywood films have depicted the diverse range of opinions exhibited by many Americans. The complexities defining these issues in America are well brought out in many films. After the critical analysis of many Hollywood films, it has come to my realization that films serve as an appropriate reflection of the society and its culture. This conforms to the words of Deming, who highlighted that, “it is not as mirrors reflect us, but, rather, as our dreams do that movies most truly reveal the times” (208). Conclusion Without doubt, the films serve as an evident reflection of a certain society as well as its salient culture. In the case of Hollywood tackled above, American films have over the last century been reflecting some of the outstanding cultural aspects and societal ideals that have been defining the American society. A close analysis of the films I analyzed to develop this paper served as evidence of the fact that the film industry offers a reflection of a society’s ideals, values, identity and perspectives. Work Cited Miller, Toby, and Robert Stam. A Companion to Film Theory. Malden, Mass: Blackwell, 2005. Internet resource Read More