History 322
Discussion
Questions
June 25,
2013
These questions are taken
from today’s readings. However, most are questions which we will be working on
later in the course as we view our movies. You must keep these questions and
continue to answer them as we work through the course.
- What were the
characteristics which defined the silent films?
- As Larry May argued,
“…the movies began to shed their Victorian moralism, sentimentality, and
reformism and increasingly expressed new themes: glamour, sophistication,
exoticism, urbanity, and sex appeal.” Given the materials from the
1920s, do you think that it was Hollywood leading the change, or following
in the wake of change?
- What was the initial
initiative for censorship of movies? Why did it happen early in the 20th
century, and then why did it re-emerge in the 1930s?
- “Most films of
the depression years were grounded in the social realities of the time.”
Based on the movies you’ve viewed, what were those realities and how were
they depicted?
- “The kind of
movies that Hollywood produced during the depression underwent sharp changes
as the public mood shifted. During the depression’s earliest years, a
profound sense of despair was reflected in the kinds of characters Americans
watched on the screen: a succession of Tommy Gun-toting gangsters, haggard
prostitutes, sleazy backroom politicians, cynical journalists, and shyster
lawyers.” Evaluate this contention with a critical comparison of
Public Enemy and The G-Men, based on specifics from
each movie.
- As Andrew Bergman
has shown, “…the fantasy world of the movies played a critical social and
psychological function for Depression era Americans: In the face of
economic disaster, it kept alive a belief in the possibility of individual
success, portrayed by a government capable of protecting its citizens from
external threats, and sustained a vision of America as a classless
society.” Evaluate this contention with a critical analysis of
My Man Godfrey and The G-Men, based on specifics from
each movie.