Nolan Nadasdy

American Cinematography
26 March 2015
The Reflection of Changing Culture in Cinematography

Since the very beginning of cinematography, film has been

used as a form of communication to audiences everywhere. In the
United States especially, film has become a cultural phenomenon
that attracts all sorts of people. Historically, filmmakers have done
this by appealing to the group that they are trying to attract to their
movie. This group, called the target audience, is most often the
general public of the country, and while many filmmakers have
veered away from this mainstream approach and attempted to
appeal to more niche genres, the vast majority of people are
included into a single group. This group is what has popularized the
vastly utilized style of Hollywood classicism that has become
nationally popular in the United States. Most modern movies in
various genres follow this clear cut style where there is usually a
male hero, a female who is often helpless and attracted to the hero,
and a happy ending with the hero getting the girl and beating
whatever obstacles are thrown at him.
However, just because a single style has remained prevalent
for so long does not mean that has changed. While Hollywood
classicism follows the same standard storyline, it has adjusted
greatly to cultural changes in the United States and the world. This
includes changes in public opinion caused by international events to
changes caused by the influence of film itself. However, attempting

to interpret these films and their representation of mainstream

culture must be done carefully, for several reasons. Specifically in
older films from the 1920s to 1950s many cultural attitudes could
not be displayed because of restrictions and censorships on the
films themselves. Originally, movies were not guaranteed freedom
of speech, and as a result many older movies are not as reflective to
popular culture as they were to the ideals of a board of directors.
After the end of censorship in the American movie industry
during the 1950s, films began to be able to express themselves
more and more. However, this makes it no less difficult to interpret a
films reflection of culture. Often films are now fictional results of an
imaginative filmmakers creative mind, making them much less
clear-cut to societys standards. However, this does not mean that
they have stopped reflecting cultural attitudes, as the primary
objectives of most films are to sell as many tickets as possible. This
means that directors usually still stick the likings of the target
audience which is the general United States population, which
changes with the times. As such, movies must also adjust to meet
this groups needs.
Earlier it was discussed that movies reflect changes in cultural
attitudes from both international events and movies themselves.
These international events include tragedies from World War 2 and
9/11 to the end of segregation in America. Powerful events like
these forced the people of the United States to change greatly and
as a result the movie industry changed as well to appeal to as wide
an audience as possible. For example, before feelings of segregation

had begun to die down in the United States during the 50s and 60s,
it was unheard of for a film to have an African American as one of
the main characters. It was simply against the cultural norm to have
a black person play an important role or to get anything done other
than be comical relief in a film.
A near perfect example of this is the movie Hollywood Shuffle
which was released in 1987 and focused on the life of an aspiring
African American actor trying to land a part to kick-start his career
as an actor. Unfortunately, the main character Bobby Taylor is
unable to get a part as anything but a stereotypical ghetto black
pimp, an example that he does not want to set for his little brother.
This film reflects the racist tendencies of the movie industry set by
the cultural attitudes of the day. While the movie that Bobby was
auditioning for casted mainly African American actors, racism was
still prevalent enough for people to consider such a stereotypical
role to be acceptable and even the norm. This feeling was strong
enough throughout the target audience of most films that directors
were able to sell best by portraying these sorts of characters in their
films.
Of course, as American culture changed to reject racist
tendencies and adapt a more culturally diverse and accepted social
attitude, so did the movies. The widely successful film Mississippi
Masala, released only four years after Hollywood Shuffle, portrayed
both the main characters as minorities. This was a huge step for the
movie industry as a whole as it began to reflect these changing
social attitudes. The film also rejected the popular form of Hollywood

Classicism for a more original storyline that intrigued and perplexed

many viewers. However, this particular film was not completely
perfect. It portrayed many stereotypes such as African Americans as
mostly gangsters in the film, save for the scenes set in Uganda, and
as certain minority groups having extremely strict parents. The film
reinforced these ideas and by doing so influenced a generation of
Americans and their culture.
The idea of strict Asian parents reflected in this particular film
has grown to be very prevalent in our current culture. Many films
reflect this style of parenting in a way that has caused it to be
ingrained into the minds of many people. Mississippi Masala shows
how reflecting certain aspects of American culture can cause them
to be incredibly slow to change. While it is true that in the traditional
cultures of many Asian countries, children are expected to be
completely obedient, this is not the case for most Asian-Americans.
Unfortunately, the movie industry generalizes these two incredibly
different cultural groups to look like a single one. This is but one of
the many unfortunate effects that movies can have by reflecting the
current culture of the American population. Although it must be
clear that in most cases movies did not completely create these
attitudes, they simply borrowed them from the unconscious norm of
the nation and reinforce them to the point where they are
sometimes never removed from the public eye.
This specific example of strict Asian parenting has reached its
way all the way into films made by companies like Walt Disney. In
many Disney films, a studious child is forced to realize that their life

is not all about following rules, and they then proceed to create a life
for themselves. This example is both positive and negative, as it
reinforces the stereotypical idea of strict parenting in AsianAmericans, and creates an image of being able to break away from
this stereo type. In the end, this combination creates the image that
while Asian parents are undoubtedly strict a poor stereotypical
message to send to youth generations children can create their
own path. This secondary message is definitely positive, and is also
a great example of changing cultural attitudes.
Earlier in the 1900s, children in American culture were often
very obedient not out of necessity as shown in the previous
stereotype discussed, but out of respect. Over time, however, a
stronger feeling of independence has been imprinted into many new
generations and has led to a change in the movie industry to reflect
this idea. Many films now portray teenagers leaving home to create
their own adventures, an idea that was not prominent sixty years
ago.
As was discussed earlier and has been shown in previous
examples of films that have portrayed cultural changes, the movie
industry has the influence to change public opinion on many
important matters. Not only that, but the film industry can also
educate people and raise awareness for a particular subject. The
most direct form of this is through documentaries created by
popular channels like the History and Discovery channels. These
features provide information about events that can lead to a change
in public awareness and attitude. For example, in recent years many

people have become very disgruntled about climate change and

what is causing it. This may be because of ideas spread by popular
documentaries dating back to 2006 and earlier such as Are We
Changing Planet Earth? And The Great Warming, both fairly
successful documentaries that helped bring climate change into the
public eye.
As always, many filmmakers use these newly popular ideas as
a basis for their own films. An example of this would be the film
2012, a film that depicts the destruction of the world due to melting
polar ice caps. This film was a great example of the use of changing
cultural attitudes as if it had been make thirty years before, nobody
would have had any idea what was going on in the movie. Thanks to
the widespread public awareness of the subject, the director was
able to take advantage of the whole global warming crisis idea and
create a fairly successful movie off of it. Movies like this one effect
the popular social attitude by reinforcing the idea of climate change
being a serious threat.
However, while the spreading of awareness for climate
problems may not be a specific objective of a film and only a means
of popularizing it, it does not always work as planned. Movies like
The Day After Tomorrow are much less believable and only end up
making the idea of climate change look silly. This is an example of
movies creating the wrong sort of cultural attitude based on what
they attempt to be. In turn, this affects how future films are made
and how the public views this issue as a whole.

While the most efficient way to spread ideas and information

by method of film is most often through the form of a documentary,
that is not the only or most popular way. World War 2 is an
extremely well known event that has helped shape society into what
it is today. Surprisingly, however, it is not only taught through
history books. Many films used this event as a basis for an action
movie, and they have been partially responsible for the modern
widespread awareness for things like the holocaust and the war as a
whole. Movies like Schindlers List, released in 1993, create
widespread awareness about the horrors of these events and feed
future movies who want to use the popularity of events like World
War Two to become popular themselves.
Movies can do more than just inform though; they can be used
to send messages about controversial subjects in a way that is still
stimulating to a normal moviegoer and not just a debate. A good
example of a film like this is the Polish film released in 1988 called A
Short Film About Killing. The film depicts a young polish man who
murders a taxi driver, is found guilty, and hung in plain sight of the
audience. The movie is so raw, brutal, and honest and made such a
monumental impact on people that it is contributed with helping the
death penalty be repealed in Poland, the last use of which was the
year the movie was released and in 1997 the practice was legally
abolished.
This movie is an example of the power movies have to
influence culture in a society that is ever changing, which is part of
the reason a film like this was even made. In the past thirty years

nearly 100 countries have completely abolished the death penalty,

most of which for their own reasons. Polands case is unique in that
while the general population was growing to dislike the practice, this
film was able to utilize that public discontent and convince many
people to go fully abolitionist.
As clearly shown, filmmakers have a tendency to take current
events and build on them in their film. This has led to many great
successes in the industry; however it could never have been done
earlier in the 20th century. This is because when movie censorship
laws were still in effect it was not permitted to create a film
portraying a heated subject, as films were mainly just a vessel for
entertainment. However, great advances were made to allow for
films to be able to express more controversial ideas like the one
shown.
Once again, however, the movie industry was only able to
change because of changing social attitudes and cultural beliefs.
Perhaps the most recognizable of which would be the spark of
religious beliefs in the United States that caused a surge in the
movie industry for religious ideas to be portrayed in films. This
change is still in effect today, and the movie industry is now at a
height of religious films produced than ever before.
This all started in postwar America, when previously deserted
land became used for the explosion of suburban communities. As
people moved out of the cities and into the suburbs, agricultural
areas began to shrink and cities began to industrialize more. Many

affluent people wanted their own homes often away from the bustle
of the cities, and the easy answer was the suburbs. The combination
of these factors sparked the need for highways and infrastructure,
further increasing the popularity of the suburbs. These suburban
areas created a sense of uniformity in their inhabitants.
Then, during the Cold War, people began to band together to
stand against the red menace of communism by becoming
religious, which was seen as a sort of patriotism. Churches began to
appear in suburbs and brought together already strong
communities, which lead to a sharp increase in religion in the United
States during the 50s and 60s.
As the movie industry adjusted to this change, more and more
religious films began to be released. The number steadily increased
from decade to decade and has now become a very common form of
film. With 73% of Americans identifying as Christians, this is the
obvious change for the movie industry to make, and it has made it.
This is but another reflection of how cultural changes affect the
movie industry to change as well.
While usually the aesthetic aspect of the movie industry is
what adjusts to changes in cultural attitudes, it is not the only part.
In recent years, as the internet has grown to be one of the most
popular forms of entertainment and connection there is, the movie
industry has had to adjust greatly. Firstly, privacy concerns of the
movie industry have been created due to the rise in online piracy.
This has created several new safeguards in the filming industry to

prevent filmmakers from losing money on a film. An example of this

would be the newly released movie The Interview, a film that was
not able to be completely released in theaters. The film instead
premiered online, and as a result, faced some of the most
widespread piracy in the history of film, only making a fraction of
what it would have made in theaters. This is why other films have to
take precautions, even when going through a normal release
schedule and not an online one.
On the subject of The Interview, this movie a great example of
the reflection of cultural changes in the film industry thanks to the
rise in public awareness for what is going on in North Korea with
their nuclear weapons programs and things like that. Additionally,
the movie was unable to release in in theaters as most large chains
refused to host the movie after threats were made by hacker
organizations to harm people if they went to see the movie. This is
why the movie had to be released online, as the producers wanted
to make as much profit as they could even though they could not do
a traditional theatrical release. Smaller theaters did still show the
movie, but it was not as popular as it could have been.
While the internet presents some threats to the movie industry,
it also helps greatly in the rise of smaller indie films and things like
that. Many unknown filmmakers are able to get their work out there
and gain popularity through events like film contests, which have
helped grow the indie movie industry in the last few years. Forwardthinking individuals can utilize this new service in many unique
ways, but it is still not a ticket to Hollywood as many filmmakers

wish it could be. Fortunately, the web still presents an atmosphere

of competition to encourage filmmakers to improve their work as
there are so many works available on the web that people have to
make a genuinely good film to stand out among so many other
projects and people. The internet has risen with the changes in
popular culture and with it, the movie industry has too.
As can be clearly seen in multiple instances spanning many
years, the movie industry has been forced the change and adapt to
conform to the changes in cultural attitudes regarding race, gender,
and other things. Through many cultural phenomenon such as the
end of segregation, filmmakers have adapted and changed their
work to match the current societal attitudes creating clearly
distinguishable eras of filmmaking history. While many ideas are still
prevalent today such as the use of religion in films and the use of
Hollywood Classicism, these ideas have evolved based on society
and changed.