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Film Analysis

Your assignment: analyze a film, picking elements that show how the film reveals contemporary society's morals, obsessions, fears, and/or desires. 2000-3000 words.

What does it mean to be a hero, today? Are women really treated equally as men in society? What really, truly scares us? Our culture's beliefs and values are always changing, and those changes show up in what we say, how we act, and even what we watch. In fact, the movies we pay to see give great insight into our cultural "ideology."

And that’s your job in this paper: interpret today's American values and beliefs by closely analyzing a popular film.

When you think about it, films can be quite complex. The popular Transformers movies (2007 & 2009) were made purely for entertainment. But underneath the surface, the film tells us about America's preoccupations. For example, what does it say about the technological, cyber-driven world we live in? How does the desert setting at the beginning of the film echo America's worries about war in the Middle East? How does its battle-for-Earth theme reflect our concerns about global warming?

Step 1
Go out and catch a flick currently playing in movie theatres. While there, take notes. These can be anything that catches your attention (interesting lines, scenery, characters, plot twists), but in the back of your mind, think about how the notes you're jotting down will help explain how this film relates to our culture.

Step 2: Do some research about real America. If your film portrayed teen pregnancy, research actual statistics on this. If your film focused on crooked cops, find out whether this is common or a myth.

Step 3: Write an essay which details how the chosen film is similar and dissimilar to the real world, then concludes how this film and its reveals aspects of the American culture that produced it.