Cinemablography@gmail.com
Cinemablography
  • Home
  • About
  • Journal
    • Pan's Labyrinth
    • A Simple Favor
    • Film Theory Issue 2 >
      • Christine
      • Nocturnal Animals
      • Elle
      • Paterson
      • The One I Love
      • A Separation
      • Hateful Eight
    • Film Theory Issue 1 >
      • Three Colors Trilogy
      • Big Trouble in Little China
      • Melancholia
      • Somewhere
      • The Thin Red Line/Zero Dark Thirty
    • Science Fiction Issue 2 >
      • Signs
      • Paprika
      • Snowpiercer
      • I Am Legend
      • Edge of Tomorrow
      • Never Let Me Go
      • Donnie Darko
    • Manic Pixie Dream Girl
    • Edison & Co.
    • Blobfest
    • The Master
    • Amour
    • Argo
    • Looper
    • Science Fiction >
      • Children of Men
      • District 9
      • Minority Report
      • Moon
      • WALL-E
      • The Prestige
      • The Fear of Disappearing
    • Banksy
    • ThisisItaly
    • Catfish
    • Hugo
    • Pixar
    • Batman
    • Kathryn Bigelow >
      • Opening Scene
      • Supermarket Scene
      • Round Table Discussion
  • Blog
  • Contributors
  • Videographic Essays
  • Our Work
    • Links
  • Contact

Get With the Times: Finding American Culture's Current Values through Animation

10/23/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
By Emmanuel Gundran


American culture’s changing socio-political climate has changed radically over the past one hundred years. These changes have also shaped the way that filmmakers craft their work, whether they encourage the current culture’s trends or challenge them. A film like Zero Dark Thirty (Bigelow, 2012) re-enacts, in gruesome detail, the hunt for Osama Bin Laden in 2011, practically making it a reactionary tale of the events. However, a film does not need to have overt references to real-life events for it to be rooted in a particular time and place in history. It is very clear that Mean Girls (Waters, 2004), from the fashion to the pop culture references and even the technology (or lack thereof), is a product of the mid-2000’s culture. Films such as these preserve culture, like a time capsule of sorts, and show either what filmmakers or audiences at the time valued about their culture. The same holds very true for animated films, and, in addition, it shows what filmmakers at the time wanted to communicate to children, the primary audience for most animated films. Animated films in the 2010’s, by analyzing their culture and content, portray the decade as an era of mass connection, individuality, and emotional vulnerability.
Picture
Ralph meeting with other, familiar video game villains from various franchises.
Due to the growing accessibility and overall usefulness of electronic devices, especially smartphones, American culture in the 2010’s has become more interconnected than ever before. Marshall McLuhan correctly predicted that technology would allow everyone to become more connected with one another, and compares what society has become to “a global village” (63). Films like Wreck-it Ralph (Jackman, 2012) and The Lego Movie (Lord and Miller, 2014) are the result of inter-connectedness in pop culture because of their inclusion of characters that the filmmakers knew their target audiences would instantly recognize. The Lego Movie features Batman (Will Arnett) from DC Comics as one of its main protagonists while other familiar characters like Dumbledore from the Harry Potter franchise, Han Solo from the Star Wars franchise, and Gandalf from the Lord of the Rings franchise play supporting roles throughout the film. Meanwhile, Wreck-it Ralph has the title character (played by John C. Reilly) meeting up with Bowser from the Super Mario Bros games and Zangief (Rich Moore) from the Street Fighter games in a ‘villains anonymous’ meeting. The way that these characters from vastly different franchises are able to crossover with such ease demonstrates how online social media has created a space for fans of all of these franchises to connect with one other. Users on the Internet can post on online forums where they can discuss their favorite games, shows, or movies, create a web of other fans, and even encourage outsiders to join their fandom.
Picture
Merida rebelling against her mother and asserting her right to deviate from her family's traditions.
While American society in the 2010’s has become very inter-connected through online media, it is also very adamant about idividuality and self-discovery. Ever since the country’s beginnings, individuality has been a strong American trait. The Declaration of Independence was written as a means for the country to individualize itself from Great Britain and recognize its citizens’ rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (US 1776).” Brave (Andrews, Chapman, and Purcell, 2012) and Moana (Clements and Musker, 2016) both display through their protagonists that aggressive individuality that American’s have. Merida (Kelly MacDonald) of Brave is a great example of individuality at work, as she rebels against her family’s marital customs to forge her own path using her bravery and skill with a bow. Similarly, Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) breaks with her family’s comfortable, isolationist traditions to explore the open seas and follow the adventurous traditions of her ancestors. Both Merida and Moana do eventually return to their families later on to make amends, emphasizing the importance of family in an individual’s life. However, each of them do so in different ways. While Brave ends with Merida reconciling with her family and strengthening her relationship with them, thus emphasizing a greater need for community rather than isolation, Moana ends with Moana not only returning to her family but also shaping her tribe’s culture through her strength and courage, thus showing that someone can inspire bravery in others. Both films deal with the issue of individuality and one’s relationship to their community in different ways but recognize that one cannot always live in total isolation.
Picture
Joy putting Sadness in a circle in the back corner of Riley's mind, suppressing Riley's negative emotions.
​Finally, there is the idea of allowing one’s emotions to shine through and show kindness to others that is becoming more important to American society. In an interview with The Atlantic’s Julie Beck in 2015, psychologist David Caruso states that American culture has a “relentless drive to mask the expression of our true underlying feelings" ("How to Get Better At Expressing Emotions"). It’s this drive that’s demonstrated in Disney and Pixar’s Inside Out (Doctor, 2015). The film’s main characters are the five basic emotions of a young girl named Riley Andersen (Kaitlyn Dias) who help her through her day-to-day activities. Throughout the film, Sadness (Phyllis Smith) is pushed further and further away from the other emotions when they she causes Riley to have unpleasant moments in her life. This perfectly represents the mask that Caruso says is so common in America. To paint a better picture oneself as a strong, self-reliant individual, one may hide their sadness or other negative emotions behind a mask of happiness or strength. However, Inside Out teaches that sadness cannot be held for long, and that people have an innate need for catharsis, an outlet for embracing sorrow. Before Riley can run away from home on a buss and give in to depression, Sadness is given back control of her thoughts. Thus, Riley runs back home to her parents from the bus and tearfully hugs them both, finally giving her a moment of catharsis.
Because culture is always changing, one has to wonder how films, especially animated films, will change with the times. With racial equality, gender dynamics, and political correctness becoming more relevant issues, perhaps more films such as Zootopia (Howard and Moore, 2016) will come out of the woodwork to address them. Then, who knows how other films will respond to, or even reshape, the culture moving forward? These films preserve the values and challenges of a generation, and will give future generations a perspective of where American culture was and where it is going. ​

Works Cited:
​

Beck, Julie. “How to Get Better at Expressing Emotions.” The Atlantic, 18 Nov. 2015. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/11/how-to-get-better-at-expressing-emotions/416493/

McLuhan, Marshall. The Medium is the Massage. Ginko Press Inc., 1967.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    42
    American Hustle
    Ang Lee
    Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
    Audition
    Blackmagic
    Brad Pitt
    Camera Profile
    Child Actors
    Christian Bale
    Cinemablography
    Coming Attractions
    Comments
    Consumers
    Culture
    David-o-russell
    Design
    Director
    Drive
    Entertainment
    E.T.
    Film
    Film Art
    Film Blog
    Film Blog
    Film Review
    Fourth Wall
    Genre
    Girls
    Henry Thomas
    Italy
    Italy Video
    Jackie Robinson
    Joseph Gordon-Levitt
    Kathryn Bigelow
    Lena Dunham
    Life Of Pi
    Lost Films
    Marc Webb
    Michel Gondry
    Mood Indigo
    Music Videos
    Nick Cave
    Nick Cave The Bad Seeds84d349b97c
    Nicolas Winding Refn
    Omar Sy
    Political
    Prometheus
    Pusher
    Ryan Gosling
    Sab
    Sci Fi
    Scifia50955b463
    Scific61d272476
    Score
    Short Films
    Soundtrack
    Students Abroad
    Theatrical Posters
    The Hunger Games
    The Place Beyond The Pines
    Tiny Furniture
    Trailer
    Valhalla Rising
    Video Of The Day
    Warren Ellis
    Women In Film
    Young Filmmakers
    Zooey Deschanel

    Archives

    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    July 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.