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Politics, protest and propaganda in Hollywood's Golden Age
Title
Politics, protest and propaganda in Hollywood's Golden Age.
Creator
Lozada, Robert Edmund., Florida Atlantic University, Lenz, Timothy
Abstract/Description
This Master's Thesis examines movies of political and social significance during Hollywood's Golden Age. Significance is here defined as belonging to those films that have been singled out by historians and critics for their social "conscience" as well as films whose significance I have found in the course of my research and after a lifetime of watching movies. The films of this era included strong social and political analysis, contrary to a tradition of film study which depicts the Golden...
Show moreThis Master's Thesis examines movies of political and social significance during Hollywood's Golden Age. Significance is here defined as belonging to those films that have been singled out by historians and critics for their social "conscience" as well as films whose significance I have found in the course of my research and after a lifetime of watching movies. The films of this era included strong social and political analysis, contrary to a tradition of film study which depicts the Golden Age as either apolitical entertainment or basically a conservative defense of the status quo. The thesis describes how the politics of the Golden Age films began with a critical, anti-establishment outlook in the 1930's but evolved as a cooperative partner of the establishment by the Second World War. This change occurred in part because of the special relationship that Hollywood (led by Warner Brothers Studios) developed with the Roosevelt Administration. I shall further examine the consequences of this evolution for the film industry in the post-war era and cold war eras.
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Date Issued
1996
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15290
Subject Headings
Motion pictures--Social aspects--United States, Motion pictures--Political aspects--United States, Motion picture industry--Political aspects--United States--History--20th century, Warner Bros Pictures--History
Format
Document (PDF)
“Carole Lombard as silent spectacle”
Title
“Carole Lombard as silent spectacle”.
Creator
Kiriakou, Olympia, Sim, Gerald
Date Issued
2012-04-06
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/3350909
Subject Headings
Silent films, Motion picture actors and actresses, Film criticism, Epic films --History and criticism, Motion pictures --United States --Plots, themes, etc., Lombard, Carole, 1908-1942, Silent films --History and criticism, Comedy films --History and criticism
Format
Document (PDF)
Preaching to the choir
Title
Preaching to the choir: the culture war and the box office success of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.
Creator
Kuhn, Rebecca., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description
In 2004, Mel Gibson released The Passion of the Christ, a film that focuses specifically on the events surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. Over a year before its release and well ahead of any studio publicity, the film and its director were at the center of a discussion that sparked criticism from biblical scholars, Jesus historians, and members of the media. In spite, or perhaps because, of this controversy, The Passion was well-received by its audiences if not by its critics....
Show moreIn 2004, Mel Gibson released The Passion of the Christ, a film that focuses specifically on the events surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. Over a year before its release and well ahead of any studio publicity, the film and its director were at the center of a discussion that sparked criticism from biblical scholars, Jesus historians, and members of the media. In spite, or perhaps because, of this controversy, The Passion was well-received by its audiences if not by its critics. This dissertation explores the cultural, political, and economic factors that led to the box office success of Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ and also examines why viewers identified with Jesus, the protagonist of the film. First, this project places the success of The Passion of the Christ in socio-historical and political-economic context of 2004, emphasizing the popularity of neoliberal economic policies, conservative political thought, and Evangelical Christianity. Second, this project explores the specific political and economic arrangements that facilitated the making of the film at Cinecitta studios in Rome. The ease with which Gibson was able to make The Passion outside of the United States is a direct result of neoliberal economic policies that emphasize free trade and, in the process, undermine trade unions and film industry laborers. Third, in addition to a macro- and micro-level political economic analysis of The Passion of the Christ, this project also examines the film as it fits into the horror genre. Horror not only seeks to elicit an immediate visceral reaction from audience members but also manifests the political and economic insecurities of society. Finally, this project connects the film text to these anxieties, including the war on terror, the war in Iraq, and an extended crisis of masculinity.
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Date Issued
2009
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/359922
Subject Headings
Criticism and interpretation, Passion, History of doctrines, Christianity and culture, Motion pictures, Political and social aspects, Horror films, Criticism and interpretation
Format
Document (PDF)
Let's get into character
Title
Let's get into character: gender depictions in the films of Quentin Tarantino.
Creator
Fedderman, Marc R., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description
This study will focus on Quentin Tarantino's three most recent films: Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003), Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004), and Death Proof (2007). These works are significant, in that they present a marked departure from the director's earlier films. Specifically, they offer portrayals of resourceful and powerful female protagonists, in stark contrast to the frequently neglected and marginalized women of Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994). Buttressed by a mixture of...
Show moreThis study will focus on Quentin Tarantino's three most recent films: Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003), Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004), and Death Proof (2007). These works are significant, in that they present a marked departure from the director's earlier films. Specifically, they offer portrayals of resourceful and powerful female protagonists, in stark contrast to the frequently neglected and marginalized women of Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994). Buttressed by a mixture of psychoanalytic feminist and postmodern theories, I will perform a careful textual analysis of these latest films. In particular, I intend to uncover the ways in which Tarantino's films support and/or subvert traditionally oppressive conceptions of gender.
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Date Issued
2009
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/216414
Subject Headings
Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Sex role in motion pictures, Motion pictures, History
Format
Document (PDF)
American national identity and discourses of the frontier in early 20th century visual culture
Title
American national identity and discourses of the frontier in early 20th century visual culture.
Creator
Maldonado, Chandra Ann, Trapani, William, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description
This thesis examines the rise of image culture in the 1920’s and its impact on American national identity. I demonstrate that, perhaps surprisingly, the central figure in these debates was not a past or present prominent American but instead an indeterminate Other which is read in ambivalent ways and for varied purposes. It is the central claim of this project that in order to trace the modern American subject that emerges from the 1920s national rift, one must attend to the ways in which a...
Show moreThis thesis examines the rise of image culture in the 1920’s and its impact on American national identity. I demonstrate that, perhaps surprisingly, the central figure in these debates was not a past or present prominent American but instead an indeterminate Other which is read in ambivalent ways and for varied purposes. It is the central claim of this project that in order to trace the modern American subject that emerges from the 1920s national rift, one must attend to the ways in which a felt need to view and position oneself in relation to “the Other” was essential to defining the nature and future of the nation. More specifically, I argue that the film Grass: A Nation’s Battle for Life (1925) offers a solution to this national divide by providing viewers a popular culture form of “evidence” of the Westerner’s capacity to exhibit both premodern and modern qualities.
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Date Issued
2014
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004214, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004214
Subject Headings
Frontier and pioneer life -- United States -- Historiography, Frontier thesis, Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life (1925) (Motion picture), Group identity -- Political aspects -- United States -- History -- 20th century, Nationalism -- United States -- History -- 20th century, Political culture -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Format
Document (PDF)