Discussion Questions
July 11, 2013

  1. Could you argue that  Public Enemy "...brought audience sympathy and along with it a moral question by depicting Tom and Matt's growth into enemies of society as one that was not only economic but social in nature."  If so, how?
  2. The film Public Enemy appears to depict two distinct views of the American Dream.  Is it indeed more than one version or is it simply the same dream but with different means to achieve it?

Continuing Themes and Questions:

A question to be considered after viewing the movies.  This is a question which we will continue to consider after viewing each movie:

According to Gunning, "Fictional films serve as historical evidence in the same way that other representational art forms do -- by making events vivid, portraying social attitudes, and even revealing the unconscious assumptions of past societies....Attitudes about gender, class, and ethnicity, as well as heroism, work, play, and "the good life" are all portrayed in fictional films as they are in an era's novels, plays, and paintings. But as a form of mass visual entertainment, films reflect social attitudes in a specific and vivid manner.". 

However, as Gunning also cautions, "Interpreting Hollywood movies as a reflection of prevailing social attitudes or generalizing from specific films requires great caution. Fictional films are complex industrial and social products and how they are made, distributed, exhibited, and received by audiences and critics must be investigated to fully evaluate their roles as historical evidence. For example, it is dangerous to interpret a few films from a specific period as simple reflections of American society. The attitudes portrayed in a specific film may represent a series of compromises carefully designed to be non-offensive."

 

  1. Based on what Gunning above notes with respect to films and Hollywood, what then can we, as historians, do with the films we have just viewed?  
  2. In what way could the films be used as "evidence" for the past, and what are the problems with its use?  What specifically can we learn from these movies? 
  3. What is the relationship of the content of these movies to the concept of the American Dream?