Evan Cowdery
Senior Thesis
Herr Martin
October 30, 2009
Senior Thesis Rough Draft
Most people do it every weekend; it’s become a staple in our society. Everyone
likes to go and attend the movies with the new big releases being released very few
weeks or so. Many people take these simply as something they’ll enjoy once or twice,
buy as a DVD, and then it will have no other effect besides being a coaster for drinks. But
people need to really analyze themselves to notice the true effects that movies have had.
On a personal scale, people get affected by movies in small but noticeable ways. For
example, some people may watch a horror movie so scary that they have a fear of the
character or what the character is for ages. I know tons of adults and kids were and are
afraid of the Chucky dolls that hang around Spencer’s so eerily. Me personally, films
have made me want to become a director simply by how masterfully they are created and
the diversity of the films that can be created. But films go past how they singularly affect
people’s fears or rational, films go as far as to affecting an entire society. Small folkways
in society have a very apparent movie base if one were to look closely at it. Movies have
had direct affect on society by changing the population's perspective on life, including
fears, opinions, and popular culture while society has influenced movies shown by movie
plots, characters, messages, and settings changed to take advantage of current events to
draw in movie goers.
1903, the very first “narrative” film was released; The Great Train Robbery. As
the title implies, it was a 12 minute film depicting the events of a train robbery,
traditional cops and robbery type deal with a train and horses. But The Great Train
Robbery didn’t quite affect people till the very end; a shot of Barnes, the lead bandit,
firing his gun into the crowd. This large image of Barnes shooting his gun into the crowd
caused many viewers to actually jump and leave the theatre terribly afraid, the filming
technique being the first of its kind. I use this only as an entrance into the effects that
movies truly have on an audience, a man shooting a gun at the screen being only the tip
of the iceberg.
Summer of 1974, beaches filled, oceans swam in, and most importantly, sharks
viewed the same as normal sea creatures; sure, they were scary looking, but they weren’t
feared that much. The Summer of 1975 would come to change all of this with the release
of Steve Spielberg’s movie based on Peter Benchley’s novel, Jaws. Not only did Jaws
change the film industry, it also changed society in a way that still remains today. When
Jaws was released, it was the first “summer blockbuster” due to it’s innovative ad
campaign that, although added costs to the budget, allowed Jaws to be as successful as it
was. But due to this massive popularity and word of mouth, Jaws went on to be seen by
many, it’s effects hitting everyone who saw it. Jaws would be the sole reason that ruined
the shark’s generally peaceful image, the new image being one of a blood thirsty killer
that lasts till this day. The film had such a strong influence that the beaches and oceans
were practically empty in 1975 due to the image Jaws had created of sharks. Though it
changed the box office for the better, society would never be the same with it’s regards to
sharks.
Some people may view the effects that horror movies have had, fear, distortion of
image, false imagery, as only simple effects or ones that can be avoided. But what about
the ones that have been around for so long, they’ve come to be accepted as norms in
society? I’m talking about the perception of race and gender within society. Stereotypes
hold no ground unless repeatedly demonstrated, reported, and accepted as fact for a type
of people. Cinema offers this opportunity for massive and rapid appeal to people, films
being sent far and wide across the world and to many theatres for people to view. The sad
part is, rarely do people notice this effect due to how long it’s been going on.
This effect starts at a rather young age too, the first signs appearing in innocent of
films as Disney makes. Disney films specifically reach out to those most concerned about
their image to society; girls. In Disney movies, a princess is shown dominantly as thin,
hour glassed, beautiful, and for the most part, white. Boy’s are less effected by how the
prince looks but more in how courageous he is and having to stand up for their love. But
immediately girls are drawn into how society expects them to act and look, thin,
gorgeous, and to act very polite and dainty. Except for the likes of Mulan, the women are
also the ones who are helpless in fighting and are expected for the lead male to take care
of them. For the most part, on both the sides of girls and boys, the villains are normally
portrayed as ugly and out of shape compared to their protagonist counterparts. A child is
most influenced by these things due to their age, and further down the line, these claims
are still supported
Cinema not only supports gender roles, but it also supports roles of race as well.
These ideas too start as early as child hood films. Specifically, the treatment of Native
Americans in film is most always negative. In children’s cartoons they are always
specifically shown as “Indians”, dark brown/reddish skin, tribal markings, and feathered
attire. Children are exposed to the stereotype of Indians and then are corrected in their
teenaged years as “politically incorrect” for the image. How can we as a society try to
defend Native Americans while still allowing this imagery to go about? Film marketing is
also responsible for this division of race as well. Films like “Diary of a Mad Black
Woman” and “This Christmas” are obviously aimed at black audiences while “normal”
movies typically do have a white cast, though other races are mixed in. Whites never
really have specifically “white” movies, but other races do. The sad part is, these
specifically racial movies always pertain to what the culture is known for and supports
stereotypes. It isn’t a coincidence that most black movies deal with guns and thug culture,
as do some Latino films as well. Tyler Perry’s films do a great job of trying to provide
more positive black role models, but in a industry filmed with stereotypes and character
archetypes, it’s hard for those to shine through
Looking at my essay, I realize that this really makes films seem like a horrible
thing that spreads only negativity. This is not the case, as film has also influenced my
innocent items like fashion. Risky Business is remembered for it’s underwear dancing
scene, but where do people think the trend of huge sunglasses came from? Tom Cruise
singlehandedly started two sunglasses trends with his glasses in Risky Business and also
his aviators in Top Gun. Every film market has it’s own trends, many Chinese teens
wearing trench coats that Chow Yun Fat wore in A Better Tomorrow in the late 1980s.
Movies can also singlehandedly change a market, movie’s signature cars becoming
massively popular once the movie is released. James Bond, Transformers, and old movies
like Bullit and Mad Max are some great examples of this type of consumer influence.
The Bond series is a very good example to look at for both societal influence and
for cinema influence throughout. Each Bond film is based off a fear/current event held
around the time the film was released. The earlier films obviously pertain to
Russian/foreign conflicts, Live and Let Die going off of blaxploitation and media interest
in blacks, Moonraker released due to the popularity of Star Wars, a darker tone during the
Timothy Dalton era, and the most recent films having to do with terrorism, weapons of
mass destruction, corrupt officials, and oil. The Bond films are most certainly affected by
society and what viewers are expecting to see.
There is a reason movies love to have “based on a true story/true events” in the
titles of their movies; movie goers love to feel connected to what they’re watching. These
movies try to appeal to it’s viewers in making them feel that the movie has/had more
impact on them then it really may have. Horror movies like to do this tactic in order to
make the fear seem closer to home, as if it could actually happen, and in most instances,
It has. Many of cinema’s most famous killers are based off the deranged like Ed Gein,
Ted Bundy, and William Gacey. If not with horror movies, then people love to see
autobiographical movies or movies based on real events. Feeling as if you’re watching an
actual event unfold due to cinematography and an actor’s performance truly shows our
desire to see cinema and society/real life mold into one.
I could go on forever on how movies and society have influenced each other.
There are such tiny examples, whether it is movie’s characters, trends, titles, film styles,
or society’s slight change in fashion, movie expectations, and fears or even grand
examples like stereotypes and plot devices that are quite more common. Movies have
been around for a very long time and as time goes by, directors and technology are trying
harder and harder to bring movie’s closer to real life through acting and visuals. Whether
we like to realize it or not, cinema and society influence each other very much so and
shall continue to as times progress.