American Civilisation Hollywod

Hollywood is probably the most prestigious movie-making industry in the western world; in global terms, probably the most in demand. For decades Hollywood has exported its films to countries all over the world.

One of my favorite hobbies is to watch movies. I was brought up with American films, soap-operas, sit-coms and all kind of productions that showed me a part of the USA realities. If one day, I visit America, I know I will manage to get along with the people, thanks to the slang I have discovered in the Hollywood productions. For example, New York is the Big Apple, Las Vegas is the City of Lights and Washington is the Diplomatic Capital.

Even though The Lumiére Brothers were the inventors of the cinema, the Americans were the developers and the creators of a huge industry. From Westerns, to Disney’s cartoons and from family shows to SF productions, Hollywood remains one of the most rewarding places of the world. MGM, Warner Bros., Universal Studios, Columbia, 20th Century Fox are legends in the show-biz and are still producing important box-office films.

During the years, Hollywood became a trend setter in almost every aspect of life. Clothing, hair-style, make-up, body shape, cars, houses, everything has to be just like in movies. Audrey Hepburn wore the little black dress in Breakfast at Tiffany’s and made history and also the haircut of Jennifer Aniston in Friends. Her look took off and became known as the Rachel and everyone wanted this haircut because it was the thing to do. A house just like in Dallas I think every Romanian, Hungarian; Polish or German wanted a ranch like J.R.’s, a car like Bobbi’s or a girlfriend like Pamela. Most of us like the lips of Angelina Jolie and the body of Ryan Gosling. We think George Clooney is charming and Scarlett Johansson is a new Marilyn Monroe; we have actors who sing, like Kevin Costner or Liz Taylor and singers who act, like Madonna, Antonio Banderas, Jennifer Lopez and many others. Sometimes, we see a fuzzy world over there, on the Hollywood hills and sometimes we identify ourselves with the stars, trying to copy their outfits and attitude.

In this way, Thomas H. Guback wrote in his book, The American Film Industry that Sidney Kent, general manager of Paramount Publix, once said that “Motion pictures are silent propaganda, even though not made with that thought in mind at all. Imagine the effect on people, who constantly see flashed on the screen American modes of living, American modes of dressing, and American modes of travel”. In the motion picture Cinderella Man it can be considered that American family values are being portrayed in which the man is the dominant figure which protects the family and strives for freedom from being oppressed. The woman is the mother who strives for family protection as well as making sure house chores are being fulfilled. The family unit manages to survive due to an effort to remain together and love each other. American Pie can be said to be a role model of how teenagers should act and interact with their peers. It develops in the mind of teenagers abroad what is acceptable and what is ultimately to be considered as funny. Not to mention the influence on what to wear. These motion pictures export American features of life which could affect cultures abroad. Hollywood is thus influencing foreign cultures as they are becoming “Americanized.” It started in Naples which contains a scene in which Clark Gable teaches a young boy how to make a hamburger. The scene caused a European concern that the Mediterranean cuisine was being assaulted. It is incidents like these that confirm Hollywood has supposed power to influence other cultures. The Hollywood motion picture would show the commodities and just how modern America was. It would teach them the American values in life. This would all result in an “Americanization” of foreign countries. The US Government saw the potential of the medium at hand and used Hollywood's production during the Cold War. Exhibitions were arranged by the Bureau of Psychological Warfare to in some way stop a communist spread.