- Hollywood

Institution:

The Evergreen State College

Subject:

Description:

Faculty: Virginia Darney (literature, American studies), Sally Cloninger (film, television) Major areas of study include film analysis and criticism, American film history and political economy, politics of representation, anthropology of visual communication, cultural studies and literature. Class Standing: This Core program is designed for freshmen. Prerequisites: Two quarters of an Evergreen coordinated studies program. Hortense Powdermaker, in her classic 1950 anthropological study of Hollywood, trenchantly observes that the Hollywood system "represents totalitarianism . . . In Hollywood the concept of man [sic] as a passive creature to be manipulated extends to those who work for the studios, to personal and social relationships, to the audiences in the theaters and to the characters in the movies." HOLLYWOOD will study and critique the 20th-century Dream Factory. We will explore the studio system, the star system and the films that they produced. Beginning with the first silent films, we will engage with specific moments that grew out of the Hollywood cultural and economic system, such as the politics of representation and the work of D. W. Griffith; the Production Code and the Screwball Comedies of the 1930s; the Cold War and science fiction; the "kitchen sink" drama and the House Un-American Activities Committee blacklist of the 1950s; gender politics and sexualized starlets and the casting couch. In addition, we will look at aspects of the American and international film industries that attempted to create alternatives to the Hollywood machine. Students should expect to analyze, discuss and write about film each week; read fiction, social science, film history and memoirs; complete a series of research projects in several media, from performance to multi-media; develop study guides and facilitate small seminar discussions of films; and conduct significant research on a program theme. Total: 16 credits. Enrollment: 46 Special Expenses: Approximately $50 for film research and analysis materials. Program is preparatory for careers and future studies in the arts and the humanities.

Credits:

16.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.evergreen.edu

Phone Number:

(360) 867-6170

Regional Accreditation:

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

Calendar System:

Quarter

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