Final Films in Politics

Modeules 9-14

1970s

Cultural and political upheavals—like Watergate, Vietnam, and changing gender norms—prompted films to confront themes of distrust, rebellion, and personal struggle.

1970s reflected in films

A continued push for racial equality during the 1970s, expanding beyond legal battles to focus on economic justice, school desegregation, and equal opportunity.

Changing patterns of film going 1970s

By 1976, younger audiences dominated movie attendance, which led to stories that appealed to their perspectives—more rebellious, critical, or stylized.

Summer movies

Blockbuster-style films released in summer became a trend, launching the modern idea of summer as a prime movie season.

Changes in views of political system

Films started portraying government and institutions as corrupt or incompetent, reflecting real-life scandals and public disillusionment.

Thematic elements of films like Death Wish and Dirty Harry

These films spotlighted vigilantism and law enforcement taking justice into their own hands, a response to crime fears and institutional failure.

Films about political candidates and leaders (The Man, The Candidate)

These films examined how media manipulates political image and how candidacies can be more about presentation than actual leadership.

Deep Throat and All the President’s Men

Deep Throat (1972) reflected shifting cultural taboos, while All the President’s Men dramatized the real-life journalism that exposed Watergate.

Watergate scandal

A 1972 break-in at the DNC headquarters that led to President Nixon’s resignation, exposing deep corruption and eroding public trust.

Impact of Watergate scandal on film and culture

Sparked a wave of political thrillers and investigative dramas that emphasized secrecy, surveillance, and the role of a free press.

War movies (especially Vietnam and postwar like Taxi Driver)

These films often tackled psychological trauma and the ambiguity of modern warfare, contrasting with earlier patriotic war narratives.

Thematic elements in films like Norma Rae

Representing working-class activism, these films showed individuals challenging unjust corporate or governmental power.

Thematic elements in films like Network

Though not directly mentioned in the slide text, Network fits thematically by critiquing media sensationalism and public manipulation—ideas deeply connected to Watergate-era cynicism.

CNN Created (1980)

CNN became the first 24-hour news network, changing how Americans consumed media and global news.

U.S. Boycotts 1980 Olympics

In protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the U.S. skipped the Moscow Olympics.

Iran Hostage Crisis Ends

Fifty-two Americans were held hostage for 444 days; they were released the day Reagan took office in 1981.

Assassination Attempt on Reagan

President Reagan survived a gunshot wound in 1981, boosting his popularity

Sandra Day O’Connor Appointed

In 1981, she became the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

AIDS Identified

The AIDS epidemic began in the early 1980s, leading to fear, stigma, and medical urgency.

Personal Computers Rise

IBM introduced the personal computer in 1981, sparking the digital age.

Gorbachev, Glasnost & Perestroika

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced reforms that opened the USSR and began easing Cold War tensions.

Air Traffic Control Strike

In 1981, Reagan fired over 11,000 striking air traffic controllers, asserting federal authority.

Carter Viewed as Ineffective

Events like the Iran Hostage Crisis damaged Carter’s image and led to Reagan’s landslide win.

Reagan as “Teflon President”

Reagan maintained public approval despite controversies, partly thanks to his charm and media strategy.

Reagan’s Foreign Policy

He expanded U.S. military presence and responded forcefully to terrorism and Cold War threats.

Iran-Contra Scandal

The Reagan administration illegally sold arms to Iran to fund rebels in Nicaragua, shaking public trust.

Action Films of the 1980s

Films like Rambo, Top Gun, and Red Dawn featured patriotic heroes fighting communism or crime.

War Films of the 1980s

Movies like Platoon and Full Metal Jacket portrayed Vietnam with raw honesty and emotional depth.

Capitalism in Film

Films such as Wall Street and Risky Business showed both the excitement and danger of chasing wealth.

Themes in 1980s Cinema

Common issues included fear of technology, Cold War conflict, corporate corruption, and gender roles.

Patriotism in Film

A wave of Cold War-era films celebrated American strength, ideals, and military power.

Election and Court Films

Movies explored the power of media, justice, and political ambition, often reflecting real-world concerns.

America and the Third World

U.S. actions in Latin America and the Middle East were reflected in films that questioned intervention and imperialism.

1990s

The decade from 1990–1999 saw the end of the Cold War, the rise of the Internet and globalization, and significant cultural and economic shifts worldwide

Events in the 1990s

Key U.S. events included the collapse of the Soviet Union, the 1992 Los Angeles riots, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, and the Columbine massacre in 1999

Clinton scandals

President Bill Clinton’s administration was rocked by controversies from the Whitewater real-estate probe to the Lewinsky affair, culminating in his 1998–99 impeachment trial for perjury and obstruction of justice

Big-budget films/rise of special effects

Advances in CGI and digital technology fueled blockbusters like Jurassic Park (1993), Independence Day (1996), Titanic (1997), and The Matrix (1999), establishing the 1990s as the era of the visual-effects spectacle

Films with political aspects Many ’90s movies

Shawshank Redemption (1994), American History X (1998), Fight Club (1999)—wove social critique and power struggles into their narratives.

Themes in political films

1990s political cinema often featured cynical takes on corruption, media manipulation, and the tension between idealism and realpolitik.

Wag the Dog (1997)

A dark political satire in which a spin doctor and Hollywood producer fabricate a war to distract voters from a presidential sex scandal.

Bulworth (1998)

A satirical comedy-drama about a suicidal U.S. senator who hires an assassin on himself, then becomes an outspoken media sensation assaulting corporate and political hypocrisies.

Political films in the 1990s

This category includes dramas, comedies, thrillers, and satires—such as Bob Roberts (1992), Primary Colors (1998), and The American President (1995)—that critically explored power and governance.

Cold War redux films

Post-Soviet spy thrillers like The Hunt for Red October (1990), Patriot Games (1992), Crimson Tide (1995), and Clear and Present Danger (1994) revived nuclear-age paranoia and espionage.

War films 1990s

war movies—from Born on the Fourth of July (1990) to Saving Private Ryan (1998)—shifted toward gritty, personal portrayals of combat and its psychological toll

Alien invasions

Blockbuster sci-fi about extraterrestrial attacks—Independence Day (1996), Men in Black (1997), and Mars Attacks (1996)—combined action spectacle with tongue-in-cheek humor

Legal films

Courtroom dramas like A Few Good Men (1992), Philadelphia (1993), and The Firm (1993) highlighted moral dilemmas and justice under American law.

The People vs. Larry Flynt

Biographical drama about Hustler publisher Larry Flynt’s supreme-court battles over free-speech rights and obscenity law.

Films about false realities

Mind-benders such as The Truman Show (1998) and The Matrix (1999) depict protagonists trapped in constructed or simulated worlds.

Presidential films

Movies focused on real or fictional U.S. presidents—like JFK (1991), Nixon (1995), and The American President (1995)—blend political intrigue with personal drama.

Twenty-first Century

The 21st century began in 2001 and has been shaped by global terrorism, digital technology, streaming media, and evolving social movements—all of which have influenced film themes and production.

Bush v. Gore

A 2000 Supreme Court case that ended Florida’s recount, effectively awarding the presidency to George W. Bush and raising concerns about election integrity.

September 11 (9/11)

Coordinated terrorist attacks on the U.S. in 2001 that killed nearly 3,000 people and shifted American politics toward war and national security.

Armageddon Plan

A Cold War-era continuity-of-government strategy that gave expanded emergency powers to officials like Cheney and Rumsfeld after 9/11.

Films After 9/11

Post-9/11 films often delayed release or shifted tone, exploring grief, war trauma, and national identity—e.g., United 93, Non-Stop, The Hurt Locker.

Issues and Concerns in Films

Films began addressing PTSD, torture, surveillance, and moral ambiguity, especially in war and political thrillers reflecting post-9/11 anxieties.

War Films (2000–2010)

Focused on Iraq and Afghanistan, often from the soldier’s perspective, with themes of trauma and disillusionment—e.g., Stop-Loss, Zero Dark Thirty

Animated Blockbusters

CGI-driven hits like Toy Story 3, Shrek, and Ice Age dominated box offices, with Toy Story 3 becoming the first animated film to gross $1 billion.

Changes in Movie Industry & Social Shifts

The 2000s saw the end of VHS, rise of streaming, cheaper special effects, and growing inclusion of women and minorities in film roles and leadership.

Rise of Franchises

Studios leaned heavily on sequels and cinematic universes—Harry Potter, Marvel, Fast & Furious—to ensure box office success and brand loyalty.

Political Biographies & Socio-Political Films

Films like Milk, Lincoln, and Dallas Buyers Club explored real political figures and social justice issues, blending biography with activism.

Films Like Borat and Idiocracy

Satirical comedies that critiqued American culture, media, and politics through absurdity and exaggeration, often blurring fiction and reality.

Impact of COVID on Industry

The pandemic shuttered theaters, delayed releases, and pushed studios toward streaming and hybrid models, reshaping how films are made and watched.

Changes in Technology and Streaming vs. Theaters

Streaming makes it easy to watch movies at home anytime, while theaters offer a big-screen experience. As streaming grew, especially during COVID, fewer people went to theaters, and studios started releasing films online faster.

Disaster Films

Movies centered on large-scale catastrophes—natural, man-made, or supernatural—that threaten human survival and test societal systems.

White House Down

A 2013 action-disaster film where terrorists attack the White House; reflects post-9/11 fears and blends political thriller with spectacle.

Typologies of Disaster Films

Eight overlapping types: natural attack, ship of fools, city fails, monster, survival, war, comic, and historical—each exploring different disaster scenarios.

Themes of Disaster Films and What They Say About Us

They reflect cultural fears, distrust in institutions, and anxieties about technology, nature, and societal collapse—often asking who survives and why.

Generalizations About the Genre of Disaster Films

Often feature system failure, individual heroism, social critique, and a diverse group of characters forced to cooperate under extreme pressure.

Early Disaster Films

Began with Fire! (1901) and In Nacht und Eis (1912); used early editing techniques to depict catastrophe and human response.

Golden Age of Disaster Films

The 1970s boom with films like Airport, The Poseidon Adventure, and The Towering Inferno—lavish, ensemble-driven spectacles of destruction.

Camp and Allegorical Films

Camp films are exaggerated, ironic, or “so bad they’re good”; disaster films can be unintentionally campy or deliberately over-the-top (Mars Attacks).

King Kong

A foundational disaster-monster film that explores themes of colonialism, race, and the fear of the “other”; remakes reflect evolving cultural anxieties.

Big Brain Films Thematically

Sci-fi films featuring giant or autonomous brains often symbolize fears of unchecked intelligence, government experiments, or loss of control.

Bomb Films Thematically

Cold War-era films about nuclear threats and atomic bombs; reflect paranoia, political tension, and the ethical dilemmas of scientific power.

Experimentation Fears

Films that critique unethical science, often involving human or animal testing, especially on marginalized groups—highlighting mistrust in authority.

Evolution of Disaster Films

From early silent shorts to 1970s spectacles, 1980s action hybrids, 1990s nature-driven chaos, and 2000s political/economic collapse narratives.

True Lies: Political Documentaries

Documentaries that expose government deception, media manipulation, or political scandal—blurring the line between truth and spectacle.

Documentaries

Nonfiction films that aim to present reality, often to inform, persuade, or expose a point of view using real footage, interviews, or expert testimony.

Nanook of the North (1922)

'Often called the first feature documentary, it portrayed Inuit life but staged many scenes, blending fact with fiction—what we now call "docufiction.”

Moana (1926)

Flaherty film set in Samoa; it recreated outdated customs for the camera, raising questions about authenticity in ethnographic documentaries.

White Wilderness (1958)

A Disney nature documentary that staged scenes—most famously, lemmings being pushed off cliffs—creating a false myth and sparking ethical debates.

Titicut Follies (1967)

A raw, banned-for-years documentary exposing abuse in a mental hospital; it led to legal battles over privacy and the power of film to reveal truth.

Documentary Styles or Approaches

Includes expository, observational, participatory, reflexive, poetic, and performative—each with different ways of presenting reality and engaging viewers.

Grey Gardens (1975)

A “fly-on-the-wall” film about two eccentric relatives of Jackie Kennedy, using direct cinema to capture their decaying mansion and complex relationship.

The Thin Blue Line (1988)

A groundbreaking true-crime documentary that used reenactments and interviews to challenge a wrongful conviction—ultimately helping free the accused.

Michael Moore and His Impact

Known for inserting himself into his films (Roger & Me, Fahrenheit 9/11), Moore popularized political documentaries with humor, confrontation, and controversy.

Attitudes Toward Government (Thematically Across Decades)

Documentaries often reflect public trust or skepticism—ranging from exposing institutional failure (Titicut Follies) to satirizing politics (Wag the Dog).

Trends in the Industry

Documentaries surged in popularity during the 2000s and again with streaming platforms; political and true-crime themes often drive viewership and debate.