A movie is a work of art, which means its purpose is, simply, to stimulate an emotional response from its viewers. Art in general is an artistic way for humans to express their thoughts and imagination through a visual, sensory or audio medium which will in some way have some aesthetically pleasing and emotional effect on the viewer. In movie making, the director and the actors make use of many forms of art to provide an impression to the audience as to the emotions of the film and its plot line. In the process, the movie gets an uplifting and cathartic effect.
There are many movies of the 1950s that use the theme of love and romance. These include “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, “Grease” and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”. Each of these movies has different elements that set it apart from the others, but each of these themes has an important element to them. For instance, in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, Audrey Hepburn plays Holly Golightly, a glamorous star who has an affair with a rich man.
The other major theme in this film is a romance and passion. She falls for her assistant played by John Aston, who happens to be the exact same man she had seen in her ad in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”. He tricks her into sleeping with him and the two of them go on a trip to New York City. “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” uses several of these ideas including the romantic dinner and the feelings of longing towards the girl.
Another theme would be sex and pregnancy. This theme was quite popular in the early decades of this decade. The entire movie “My Fair Lady” revolves around a character named Baby Doll, who is pregnant. In “Grease” the famous dance number was originally entitled “Whole Lotta Love”. This is just one example of how movies would have powerful sexual themes throughout history.
Throughout the 21st century, films would still use these sexual themes to some degree. The current blockbuster movie “The Hunger Games” for instance, has many different themes in it that parallel the ideals the entire American culture holds. Katniss Everdeen manages to save her family and the country by fighting off all of the different male-based threats throughout the movie. These themes are important to the modern day American society. These are just a couple of examples of how movies would have strong ties to the culture of the United States.
No one can say whether or not “The Social Network” will be successful or not. However, if history was any indication, then we at least could be sure that these particular themes would play a large part throughout history. What do you think?