Jackson Martin
18 April 2016
Film, Power and American History
Professor Steven Ross
Hollywood and the 1960s
For most moviegoers, visual experiences and stories are not only a good time but also leave a lasting impression. Ostensibly, movies create our vision of the past, societal norms and become a gateway to the present. This gives directors a huge amount of influence on our outlook towards society-causing genres, such as romantic movies, to create archetypes of relationships and period pieces to create archetypes for their respective era. For instance, in the iconic 1960s film, The Graduate, Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) is seen peeking through a door with the camera angle fixed through Mrs. Robinson’s leg as she puts on her …show more content…
And, in recent history, no other war was more brutal or portrayed in as many movies as the Vietnam War. Hopefully, these movies are here to remind us of the mistakes we made and how we should approach similar situations better in the future. There should be no reason that a marine sergeant verbally abuses a cadet the way Gomer is patronized in Full Metal Jacket. We should be taking better care of our troops when they return home. Nothing on the homefront is remotely comparable to the constant angst that these military men feel on a daily basis. In America, the war was a reason for pride when America pretended it had won and had heroes. However, it was also a reason to criticize the American military and the government for the lost lives, especially if your beloved son died trying to defend the freedom of another country, not even your own. That's when America has a strong voice against war. Until then, guns are being produced, soldiers are trained and wars are being fought. When you start to draw a line and see how much you have won and how much you have lost, then you start to realize that America is very fond of war and constantly tries to get into a war to defend democracy, freedom and overall, loves to be the world’s …show more content…
Cinematography has also been used as a way to cope with the horrors of reality. In the same way that Hemingway wrote stories like The Sun Also Rises to help the “Lost Generation” of World War I to escape and cope with the atrocities of new war, cinematography has also helped release the stress of the next generation through art, to try and help those numb from experience understand and attempt to move
18 April 2016
Film, Power and American History
Professor Steven Ross
Hollywood and the 1960s
For most moviegoers, visual experiences and stories are not only a good time but also leave a lasting impression. Ostensibly, movies create our vision of the past, societal norms and become a gateway to the present. This gives directors a huge amount of influence on our outlook towards society-causing genres, such as romantic movies, to create archetypes of relationships and period pieces to create archetypes for their respective era. For instance, in the iconic 1960s film, The Graduate, Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) is seen peeking through a door with the camera angle fixed through Mrs. Robinson’s leg as she puts on her …show more content…
And, in recent history, no other war was more brutal or portrayed in as many movies as the Vietnam War. Hopefully, these movies are here to remind us of the mistakes we made and how we should approach similar situations better in the future. There should be no reason that a marine sergeant verbally abuses a cadet the way Gomer is patronized in Full Metal Jacket. We should be taking better care of our troops when they return home. Nothing on the homefront is remotely comparable to the constant angst that these military men feel on a daily basis. In America, the war was a reason for pride when America pretended it had won and had heroes. However, it was also a reason to criticize the American military and the government for the lost lives, especially if your beloved son died trying to defend the freedom of another country, not even your own. That's when America has a strong voice against war. Until then, guns are being produced, soldiers are trained and wars are being fought. When you start to draw a line and see how much you have won and how much you have lost, then you start to realize that America is very fond of war and constantly tries to get into a war to defend democracy, freedom and overall, loves to be the world’s …show more content…
Cinematography has also been used as a way to cope with the horrors of reality. In the same way that Hemingway wrote stories like The Sun Also Rises to help the “Lost Generation” of World War I to escape and cope with the atrocities of new war, cinematography has also helped release the stress of the next generation through art, to try and help those numb from experience understand and attempt to move