Portrayal of American society (illusion & reality) in “Our Daily Bread”, “My Man Godfrey”, “Modern Times”.
History and the major events in history have shaped America and its culture. Literature and film often reflect and interpret history. Films by their nature can create a visual recreation of historic events, romanticize history, rewrite history, or make one forget the bad times. This paper will discuss several films that depict the Depression of the 1930’s.
Gerald Mast wrote in his Short History of the Movies that, American movie audiences, escaping from the realities of the Depression outside the movie theater, withdrew inside to see human grit triumph over suffering and human kindness triumph over financial, political, and moral chicanery (Mast 285). The films of the 1930’s tended to strengthen the audience’s belief that eventually good people would make bad times better. The Depression not only affected America, it also affected American (…)
Gerald Mast wrote in his Short History of the Movies that, American movie audiences, escaping from the realities of the Depression outside the movie theater, withdrew inside to see human grit triumph over suffering and human kindness triumph over financial, political, and moral chicanery (Mast 285). The films of the 1930’s tended to strengthen the audience’s belief that eventually good people would make bad times better. The Depression not only affected America, it also affected American (…)