HISTORY AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

Look at these DVD covers and what do you see? Most will see a collection of movies that they’ve never heard of. Some will recognize a few but not most. 32 movies from different genres. Some will say hey that one’s cool or that one scared me or even that one looks stupid. But you might be missing the biggest thing you’re looking at here. You’re looking at a cultural history of our country.

What, history? That’s right. These and many more movies provide a look at the history of this country as portrayed on film. And now more than ever every single person has the opportunity to learn a bit about our history without even having to crack open a book.

Don’t get me wrong, if you want factual history then a book is the right way to go. But in watching some of these movies it might lead you towards something you never knew about that you would be interested in. Movies have a tendency to touch on just the surface of a story or to make it interesting change up a few details. Take BONNIE AND CLYDE. The real couple were ruthless killers who were unattractive and didn’t lead glamorous lives. The movie version turns them into Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty. If you don’t know who they are that’s more history you’re learning at the same time.

And movies like BLAZING SADDLES or ENTER THE DRAGON aren’t based on history but show cultural aspects of our country as it was when they were released. BLAZING SADDLES broke all sorts of racial barriers when it was released. ENTER THE DRAGON fostered an interest in Chinese made martial arts films as well as increasing people to actually look into martial arts for the first time.

Some of these movies offered bits and pieces of history. SERGEANT YORK tells the true story of Alvin York who was one of the most decorated United States Army soldiers of World War I. He received the Medal of Honor for leading an attack on a German machine gun nest, taking 35 machine guns, killing at least 25 enemy soldiers, and capturing 132. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY is the true story of George M. Cohan who wrote some of the most recognizable tunes we still sing to this day, especially around the 4^th of July. Songs like “You’re a Grand Old Flag” and “Yankee Doodle Boy”.

Some of these movies will allow you to see how film transformed from the early days to where we are now. Had those movies not done so the technical effects you see in movies like STAR WARS would never have been achieved. KING KONG looks primitive in the effects department when looked at through today’s eyes but when looked at through the eyes of audiences in 1933 when it was released, it was terrifying. CITIZEN KANE as directed by Orson Welles created the use of simple things like shooting images upward to make a character seem more important and big. It was one of the first films to actually shoot a ceiling in a movie so that this could be done.

Prior to the release of SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS in 1937 there had never been an entire animated movie in theaters. Without that first step and many that followed from the Disney studios there would be no TOY STORY or FINDING NEMO. And without the amazing effects seen in 2001 much of what is taken for granted in today’s special effects would have never come about or been refined.

Here is the thing. History is at your fingertips with the push of a button, either streaming or available to rent or to purchase. It’s all out there on disc and streaming services. But there are several things you have to do to learn from it.

The first is step out of your comfort zone. Don’t limit yourself to just the latest thing out there. Don’t just think that movies were never around until the day you were born. Don’t ignore a movie because it isn’t in color. Give the movies that came first a chance to find out what they were all about.

The second is to look at these movies through the eyes of the time period in which they were released. A movie like DR. STRANGELOVE might be funny but consider that it came out and the height of the Cold War. What’s the Cold War? There you go, an example of something to look into deeper that affected the country. Watch CASABLANCA and think about what was taking place, WWII, and how it affected people at the time. What were they looking for when they went to the movies? Before JAWS the summer releases were the same as the rest of the year. With its release the search for the summer blockbuster took reign.

The fact is that history, cultural history in particular, can be learned when watching the movies that were made during a particular time. Things that were acceptable in one decade might not be the next. Things that weren’t discussed among people let alone in public were altered when movies brought those topics to the forefront.

So the next time you think there’s nothing to watch, nothing to rent, nothing to stream, take a look at movies made before you were born and see what they might be about. Give them a chance. Give them a watch. And watch them considering that time period rather than thinking about how they look through the eyes of today. Who knows, you might find out that there are thousands of great movies out there that you’ve ignored for far too long.