Screen's Influence On American Culture

Screen's Influence On American Culture

American Culture and the Screen's Influence

During the 1920s, movies grew in popularity in the United States due to their affordability and availability. This led to a general curiosity about the actors' lives themselves and gave Hollywood a harsh reputation due to all of the scandals that occurred. In the 1950s, movies declined in their popularity and the American public turned their attention toward television. As a result, television became an American staple and TV shows were more convenient than movies, seeing as they could be watched without leaving the house. Now Americans can watch both movies and TV shows at home via DVDs, and are still interested in the personal affairs of the actors and actresses involved. In general, Americans lead ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...During the 1920s, the general public associated Hollywood with immorality. There were scandals like William Desmond Taylor's and Virginia Rappe's murders. Although the two cases were not related, many people correlated the two and other crimes within the industry. Despite this, many Americans found themselves enraptured by the lives the actors led, the more dangerous, the more interesting. Charlie Chaplin, a comedic actor and director, was stopped on the street constantly by "rabid" fans begging for autographs. Now, most actors have or will have these issues once they reach a certain height of fame. Charlie Chaplin was also one of the many actors accused of being a communist during the Second Red Scare. Actors were publicized so frequently and tended to be more liberal than the average person, so they made easy targets for the CIA during this period. Some of the trials could be watched on TV, which also led to Americans questioning their favorite actors' political beliefs in order to be more like them, or just out of general curiosity. Actors' deaths were also seen as American tragedies. James Dean died in 1956 and Americans took it very personally, calling him a "personification of alienated American youth." He represented how teenager's values differed from their parents' throughout the 1950s but did not necessarily shape an entire generation

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