As a followup to my previous exercise of identifying the 200 most culturally relevant films for today's America, I'm starting a new endeavor: filling in my own gaps on that list. I've seen most of the movies on the list, but there are some I've avoided on purpose and some I just never got around to watching for some reason or another.
Before I start this project in earnest, though, I want to set up a framework--a list of objectives, maybe--that helps provide a perspective from which I'll be viewing these films. I won't be watching them for content; the very fact of their cultural relevance means that I already know what they're about, and even know the general plot points of most of them. For instance, I've never seen Pretty Woman, but I know the premise, several scenes, and the overall plot structure. And I'm not going to be watching them for entertainment purposes, though it won't be the worst thing in the world if I happen to enjoy some of them.
What I'm really interested in is why they're culturally relevant. Why did they resonate enough that they became a seemingly integral part of our culture? What values or ideas do they put forth? What function do they serve in our lives, and has that function changed since the moment of their first appearance? These are the kinds of questions that I'm interested in answering, but I'd like to hear some suggestions for other things I should consider.
In a way, I've already started this project. Since I first starting thinking about the topic of culturally relevant films, I've been going out of my way to watch movies that I'd often heard referenced but had never seen. In the past month or so, for instance, I've watched Ghost, Thelma and Louise, Mr. Mom, Sleepless in Seattle, and Good Will Hunting for cultural studies purposes. I have thoughts about each of them, you won't be surprised to hear, but I won't be writing full posts about them because my viewings of them predate the official start of this exercise.
Here's a list of some films from the list (or from suggestions to the list) that I haven't yet seen:
Apollo 13
Beaches
Beverly Hills Cop
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Bridget Jones' Diary
Cast Away
City Slickers
Dead Poets Society
Flashdance
Footloose
Gone with the Wind
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Home Alone
Love Story
Mr. Holland's Opus
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Old School
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Philadelphia
Pretty Woman
Rudy
Saving Private Ryan
Saw
Singin' in the Rain
The Great Escape
The Sound of Music
Titanic
Twilight
So, does anyone have any suggestions for things I should be considering when I watch these movies or for which movie I should see first?
I have to say, there are some that you have on this list here that I've seen and I would gladly reclaim those lost hours of my life, if I could. And I tend to be pretty forgiving when it comes to film as entertainment, so to have disliked something so much I want that time back is saying something.
ReplyDeleteWell, if I haven't seen one of these movies, it's probably because I anticipated disliking it, so I'm not surprised you didn't enjoy some of them, Sara. I honestly don't expect to enjoy many of them, but as I wrote in the post, that's beside the point. Some of these films are touchstones for people, and if I want to really understand their perspectives and the culture at large, I feel like I should watch them. I just hope it doesn't hurt too much...
ReplyDeleteI'm not really sure what else you could be looking for. I guess I would try to figure out the types of themes/character similarities that make these culturally popular movies differ from cult movies or less popular movies. Or is there a difference? Is it just timing? Or how well the movie is made?
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure you will enjoy Mr. Holland's Opus, but definitely not Twilight.
I watched Dark Crystal tonight and I can't quite understand why it has such a cult following. But, I'm sure if I had grown up with it and shared the experience with friends like several others have, I think I would have a different opinion. This is also something to consider watching these movies - the shared experience.
I think Sue touched on a good point. The shared experience of watching a first run movie in a theater with a group of friends and possibly a responsive theater audience may be different than watching the same movie for the first time years later at home.
ReplyDeleteI think you can delete Mr. Holland's Opus. I'm struggling to find the cultural relevance to that one. Not a bad movie, but nothing groundbreaking.
ReplyDeleteI guess keep in mind that for a lot of these films, some of the "best" or most memorable lines have been repeated so many times by fans that they won't carry the same effect they had when they were first heard in the movie.
I don't think that a just because a movie has a particular phrase or a catchy tune makes it a touchstone movie. Macauley Caulkin's face on a promo poster doesn't make Home Alone a cultural cornerstone, neither does the Beverly Hills Cop theme make the movie that important (though I think it does highlight the Eddie Murphy movies).
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