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.
Author(s): Stephen P. Powers, David J. Rothman, Stanley Rothman
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 1996
Language: English
Pages: 298
City: London
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
