1. Y200 Politics and Film April 5, 2011

2. Interesting Films about Hollywood A Star is Born (1954)A Star is Born Sunset Boulevard (1950Sunset Boulevard The Day of the Locust (1975)The Day of the Locust The Front (1976)The Front The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)The Purple Rose of Cairo Guilty by Suspicion (1991)Guilty by Suspicion Gloria Swanson

3. Recent Films about Hollywood Postcards from the Edge (1990) Barton Fink (1991) Ed Wood (1994) Get Shorty (1995) Wag the Dog (1997) Gods and Monsters (1998) Bowfinger (1999)

4. Important Documentaries about Hollywood Naked Hollywood (1991) Visions of Light (1992) The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies (1995) The Celluloid Closet (1995) Special Effects: Anything Can Happen (1996) Hollywoodism (1998)

5. Books about Hollywood Julia Phillips, You’ll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again Robert Evans, The Boy Stays in the Picture Ian Grey, Sex, Stupidity and Greed Lynda Obst, Hello, He Lied Peter Bart, The Gross Nancy Griffin and Kim Masters, Hit and Run (about Jon Peters and Peter Guber at Sony)

6. The Power of Hollywood Hollywood can reinforce or undermine prevailing myths and hegemonial ideologies (but it usually reinforces them). Hollywood can anoint or suppress new creative voices in society. By granting so much power to a private entity, the United States has made its culture highly dependent on market forces.

7. Political Constraints Legacies of Hollywood History –past censorship the Hayes Commission (1930s) the Production Code –McCarthyism and the “Red Scare” –corporate censorship -- “Citizen Kane” Hollywood ambitions for political influence Continuing criticisms of bias in film-making

8. Culture in the Marketplace Contemporary Hollywood is mostly self- regulated to avoid censorship Hollywood provides content that appeals to both the strengths and weaknesses of mass audiences: –it is anti-elitist, democratic, pro human rights –in the quest for viewers, it erodes norms about depicting violence and pornography and it undermines community and civility

9. Hope for the Future? Growing importance of independent studios in supplying the demand for new films. New film festivals like Sundance that make it easier for independents to hook with big studios for distribution deals. Internet-based video and film operations that provide new ways to discover talent.