Social Implications In The Hollywood Genres

In The essay, "Social Implications in the Hollywood Genres", Jean-Loup Bourget discusses what is implied about social groups in movies. In the last paragraph of the essay, Bourget asks "Must American society be like this? Must the Hollywood system function like this?" (57). Bourget actually answers these questions within his essay and I agree with his interpretation of the complexity of films, especially in regards to context meaning and the meanings implied by techniques.

Bourget describes several forms of techniques, such as the iconological approach. Bourget states that iconological approach assumes that a film is a sequence of images whose real meaning may well be unconscious on the part of its makers (51). Directors put meanings and facts into films that we are not suppose to initially see. For example the meaning might be to show the values of society. The camera might be focusing on how
This can be done in many ways depending on the genre. For instance, in a film that portrays a utopia the main point is not the issue of how perfect the utopia is but rather the issue the director is trying to get across. Bourget states that the utopia calls the viewer's attention to the fact that his or her own society is far removed from such an ideal condition. The film is not trying to get the audience member upset about how their world is not perfect, but perhaps how nothing is ideal in a perfect world. One can see the same approach in the genre of westerns. The director might show the Cowboys and Indians having a conflict over an issue. However, the audience will see that they Cowboys are the better of the characters. The only reason why this happens is because of how the director films the movie. The point he might be trying to get across is the fact that the Indian is in actuality the hero and he Cowboy is the