Week Four Q&A

Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway in the 1967 film, Hillary Duff in Allure Magazine, April 2008

Each sexualizing violence for a brand new generation!

Modernism

Kramer "Post Classical Hollywood" p69-75

-The bulk of Hollywood centered film criticism concentrated on the systematic critical reevaluation and close analysis of the work of a small group of Hollywood directors (for example, Hitchcock); most of whom had received training and directed many of their important films during the studio era of the 30's and 40's, working mainly in well-established groups such as westerns. This would be comparable to ignoring the 'Back-lot Amateurs' such as Tarentino and Jonez in the 90's in favor of critiquing the work of Spielberg and Coppola (Francis, not Sophia).

Murray "Hollywood, Nihilism and Youth Culture of the 1960s"

-Murray draws the following parallels between the 1930's underworld (as portrayed by the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde) and the 1960's youth culture: an alienation of the young from the standard social conventions, the protagonists are ultimately empathetic because they are rebelling against the system, an 'unmistakable affinity between the euphoria of LSD and the kicks Bonnie and Clyde get from robbing  banks', and the image of the duo as 'rebels without a cause.'

Contemporary Hollywood Cinema p32-34

-Some of the causes of the shift from production code to ratings system were: 

      The late 60's over production cycle (too much money spent on production to turn a profit), the halt in television purchase of film (leaving the theatrical market oversupplied), a fall in exhibition profits, Supreme Court rulings declaring the rights of local governments to uphold viewing standards for motion pictures.

-The consequences of the shift from production code to ratings system were:

       Independent distributors briefly gained wider access to the domestic exhibition market (47% in 1970), the stigma of 'X' ratings (in 1960, 47% of exhibitors refused to play them), the redefinition of an 'R' rating as the age was raised from 16 to 17 so more material could be encompassed within the rating, 1970's exploitation films, the film industry moved from a 'one size fits all' audience to specific audiences and demographics based on rating.