Watching movies made since the 1930s and reading tons about 20th century American history have let me notice some trends that I don’t fully understand. I’d like to write about all of these, but I can’t seem to find a way in:
1. Mid-century transatlanticism
After World War II, the US and UK enjoyed a brief but intense period of economic growth and political consensus; old folks call this “the good ol’ days” (even if it did exclude women and most everyone who wasn’t white and christian). In movies, I see this represented as characters with both confidence and wealth, as well as treatments of technology as magic that represent progress. Cary Grant in North by Northwest (1959) exemplifies this idea with his Transatlantic accent. The James Bond movies() also show this, with its gadgets and its cooperation between MI6 and the CIA. It’s skewered, in turn, by Jaques Tati’s Playtime (1960); this is a French movie but it features American tourism and technological optimism at every turn.
2. Anti-corporate 1990s
In the late 1990s, a raft of movies took aim at the US’ intense work culture and, specifically, the drudgery of large businesses. What’s fun about this trend is its stylistic diversity: The Matrix (1999) is in this category, and so is Office Space (1999).
Apparently, someone’s already pointed this connection out!
Both of these trends have an economic and corporate component to them and I’d like to explore what they say about the 20th century.