How do you feel about crime and gun control, the homeless crisis, the AIDS epidemic, or the aging of America? According to Purdue University English professor William J. Palmer's studies "people in mass society get their sense of history from the way it's portrayed in movies."
"How do Americans interpret history? Do they get it from historians? Some do. Do they get if from the news? Some do. Do they get if from movies? Certainly they do. I think one of the main sources of history is movies. I'm not certain it's the best source, but certainly it is a main source."
Even since Clark Gable took his shirt of in the 1934 movie It Happened One Night, it's been more than clear that movies do make an impact in society. Still today, and I believe that more than ever, we see how much influence movies have.
Humongous lines with people dressed like Harry Potter to watch the midnight showing of the new release, count downs and numerous paraphernalia with Ron, Hermione and Harry all over.
Ad agencies have started, for a while now, using movies as an advertising mean. Product placement is everything. What drives Edward is a classic example, so much that not only have they had they share of apperances in the movies Twilight and New Moon, but they are using the movie and characters as a way to reach out to a new audience.
THE REX
Here in Rexburg, Idaho, there are a grand total of 4 theaters. The Rex, Paramount Twin and Holiday Theaters (both "cheap/dollar" theaters, as locals call it) and the recently inaugurated Drive in theare The Vu.
There is not one night where one of these theaters is empty. Movies have always been a big part of society. It's part of life and people want to go to the movies. Despite all the new commodities of home theaters and blue ray players and surround sounds, there is still nothing like the movies.
BIG LINE AT PARAMOUNT TWIN
Not only are we shaped by movies, but movies are shapped by us. As noted on the article entitled Do movies shape your opinions? from USA Today, films reflect the issues of that time. For example "Bad guys (...) can give hints about the decade in question. In the 1970s, villains were corporations, as portrayed in "The Formula," "Chinatown," and the "Godfather" movies. By the 1980s, the villains were terrorists. There was international terrorism ("Nighthawks," "The Little Drummer Girl," "Die Hard"); South American government terrorism ("Salvador," "Missing," "Under Fire"); and drug terrorism ("Colors," "Scarface," "Extreme Prejudice")."
Another example used in this article is that of the Vietnam War. "America has changed its views of the Vietnam War and veterans of that war. Up until 1977, no one wanted even to talk about Vietnam. From 1977 until 1980, a whole bunch of really good movies about Vietnam came out, and suddenly it was legitimate. Now, it's okay to be a Vietnam vet."
We are what we watch, and we watch what we are. From product placement to political brain washing we are greatly influeced by the movied we watch, and probably don't even notice it.
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