The paper will focus on the history of the moving image and construction of American sexuality during a specific period of American history. The view will be articulated by seventy-five years of the twentieth century: the years 1920 – 1995. While the paper will focus on this entire period, focus will shift between the time as a whole, and the time in sections. The three sections of time are divided as follows: 1920 – 1960, Section 1; 1960 – 1970,Section 2; and 1970 – 1995, Section 3. Each section is marked by American culture's relationship with/to/of sex. Section One is marked by repression; section two is marked by expression; section three is marked by regression (from expression to repression).
[...] In the history of the moving image in America, most material subversive to mainstream capitalism appears in independent cinema, and now independent television networks and the Internet. There are those occasions, though, where subversive material comes in all-American, mainstream Hollywood packaging. Those examples have more potential to effect change than those from independent sources. Subversion in mainstream form is like hiding plain sight, which is the best way to hide. If audience members are given no reason to believe something is being concealed or that there is something else besides what is happening on the surface at work, they won't; they will accept without questioning. [...]
[...] According to several versions of the MPPDA codes, it is illegal to show blacks and whites in romantic and/or sexual congress onscreen. This film captures an unusually unbiased, human, minimally racist, fairly realistic depiction of this situation, especially for this country during this time (right after the 1950s, high times for high capitalism). Guess Who's Coming to Dinner subversively introduces these topics and issues into repressed sexual America by using some of Hollywood's sweethearts and ethnic characters. Section Three 1970 1995, Regression From Expression to Repression: 3. [...]
[...] The Reagan era began the massive financial cutbacks from public school programs like arts (counterproductive thinking patterns to capitalist mechanisms), sports (activity promotes brain healthy, confidence, and independent thought), and history (widespread access to world histories is highly dangerous to capitalism; only a few must have access to the highest levels of information and knowledge). Reagan, then Bush Sr., really secured the shackles on children & youth (eighteen and younger). Former President and former head of and founding member of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) George Bush Senior, initiated armed conflicts in Kuwait for oil and that effected the economy positively. [...]
[...] The ‘economy' of discourses—their intrinsic technology, the necessities of their operation, the tactics they employ, the effects of power which underlie them and which they transmit—this, and not a system of representation, is what determines the essential features of what they have to say.”[ii] This was a period in history that spent much of its time at war. In the history of America, war is good for the American economy. The Great Depression in 1929 happened in between wars. Capitalist America did not profit from World War I in such a way that the wealth would sustain the country for very long. [...]
[...] “Stylish Masturbation” Sex in Popular Culture Forms 6. “Sexy Postcards” The Eroticization of Innocence, Pain, and Immobility: 7. Mommies” 8. “A.A. Edition” 9. “Broken Arms” 10. “Broken Limbs, Urination” 11. “Disney Capitalist Orgy” 12. “Perfectly Normal” Sources: Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality: An Introduction, Volume 1 (La Volente de savoir).Editions Gallimard, Paris, 1976; Pantheon Books (English Translation), New York The Museum of Sex. Action: Sex and the Moving Image, Gallery www.museumofsex.com. New York www.imdb.com http://en.wikipedia.org www.erowid.org Endnotes: It is not to say that there were no [...]
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