American movies, portray of american leadership, Hollywood, american films, Citizen Kane
Leaders are generated in small numbers. Some are born to be leaders, while others work so hard that they eventually assume the role of leadership. Nevertheless, most leaders share similar characteristics. Over the last seven decades, several films have revealed the identity of leaders in America. Through these films, a trend in the manner of representing American leadership has been presented. The films, Primary Colors, All The President's Men, Nixon, and Citizen Kane are prime examples of the phenomena. The general trend in the way American movies portrayed American leadership in the last seven decades indicates that United States leaders are scandalous, riddled with greed, manipulative, and forceful.
[...] Within each film, the American leaders utilized force to attain what they desired. In Primary Colors, the presidential candidate used force to secure his win. Stanton's assistant, Libby, sought out a man and made him confess at gunpoint. Additionally, he blackmails the other candidates, and uses additional forceful tactics to secure his position. All The President's Men illustrates a similar scene. The president uses the force of the five burglars and his additional cabinet members to secure his presidency. Citizen Kane forced his way to controlling the New York Inquirer. [...]
[...] Each scenario provides a characteristic portrayal of American leaders as forceful beings. Finally, each film reveals American leaders as manipulative individuals. President Nixon and the character based on Bill Clinton, Jack Stanton, share similar manipulative patterns. Each of the characters almost lost their presidential race. Instead of accepting the outcome, each man manipulated the results. Citizen Kane displayed the same quality. Citizen Kane was not able to manipulate the results of the election, but he did manipulate the public's view of Spanish American War. [...]
[...] According to the films, American leaders are scandalous. Leadership is accompanied with shame and dishonor in the United States according to the movies. Greed is also a characteristic of an American leader according to the films. They relentlessly seek power and are not satisfied until it is attained. These individuals will manipulate others to attain the power they seek. Force is a minor expense in the pursuit for power as well. However, the validity of the implicitly stated accusations may be refuted. [...]
[...] Scandal is also portrayed through the film, Primary Colors. Jack Stanton is forced to cover his tracks during his contention for presidency. Blackmail, pregnancy and threats are all part of the scandals revealed through the film. Citizen Kane involves scandal as well. The American leader, Charles Forester Kane, has an affair and misuses his power. In addition to scandal, films released in the last seven decades portrayed American leadership in a greedy fashion. The American figure revealed as a leader in each movie experienced instances of greed. [...]
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