Running header: A WINDOW INTO SOCIETY 1

Pollack & Film: A Window into Society

Tai Lohrer

University of California, Berkeley

College Writing R1A

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Pollack & Film: A Window into Society

Hollywood is often labeled a negative influence on modern society, promoting casual

sex, drug abuse and violence. Conservative film critics, such as Ted Baehr in his Wall Street

Journal article A Hollywood Stimulus Plan, often go as far as to claim that these films

corrupt society (2009). In a speech addressing the influence of popular media on American

values titled The Way We Were (n.d), Sydney Pollack, highly regarded auteur of over 20

films, acknowledges the audiences perception of him as a cultural polluter. However,

Pollack argues that filmmakers are a product of society, catered to society, and as a result

film is reflective of societal values and morals at the time, not the other way around. This

idea is exhibited repeatedly throughout the history of cinema, suggesting audiences only have

themselves to blame.

Films are shaped by contemporary society as they are essentially a product. At its

core, film is an art. However, Pollack states that The enterprise itself is sufficiently

expensive and risky that it cannot be [created without financial reward taken into account]

(para. 12). Auteurs simply do not have the funds to support themselves even compared to

other relatively lucrative art forms such as music, as films require significantly higher

monetary investments, so it is logical that commerce plays a role their creation. Hence,

Pollack exclaims; We have no Medicis here, a reference to the prominent Italian

merchants who funded artists such as Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci (para. 12). In

other words, there is no sponsorship of auteurs, only financial backers who ultimately have

something to gain from the production of the piece of work.

Pollack describes the industry as an antithetical merger between the auteurs and

financiers (para. 18). As a result of free market-driven resource allocation and a demand

driven economy, consumer sovereignty in the film industry reigns. The goal of the filmmaker

is for their film to be widely received, while the large corporations funding the film industry
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want to create a product that sells. Consequently, both filmmakers and financiers need to

create a film that consumers want to see. This notion implies that the film industry caters to

societys demands, and in turn that films are influenced by societal values. As quoted by

Pollack, pioneering film producer Samuel Goldwyn once stated, if they [consumers] dont

want to come, you cant stop them (para. 9), which again highlights the power of consumers

in the industry.

An example Pollack uses to highlight this idea of film catering to society was the

1990 Kevin Costner film Dances with Wolves. The antithesis of classical westerns of the

1930s and 1940s, the film humanizes the Native Americans previous westerns tried to

demonize while asserting that the Western colonists were the enemy, not the archetypal

heroes they were portrayed as. Pollack asserts that Dances with Wolves simply would not

have existed in the era of classic Westerns, as it expresses a lot of guilty re-evaluation of

actions that were once celebrated (para. 8). In an era of expanding openness in terms of

sexuality, race and world culture, 1990s society was ready to revisit history in another light

that previous audiences would not have.

Pollacks notion that films are situational, catered to tastes and viewpoints at the time,

becomes increasingly evident through further analysis of the social climate and perspectives

that surround critically acclaimed box office hits throughout the history of cinema. In fact,

these qualities of film provide not only a window into past societal values and perspectives,

but also an opportunity to reflect on modern society itself.

Take for example, the 1927 German film Metropolis directed by Fritz Lang. This

pioneering science fiction film is set in a futuristic world in which the upper-class live in

luxury, while the lower-class toil underground as slaves that are essentially cogs in giant

machines that run the city of Metropolis (Metropolis, modernity and economy, 2007). A

revolution is attempted but ultimately fails, and both the upper and lower classes seem to
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coexist as they did before. Langs themes of industrialization, rising inequality and

suppression encapsulate the angst and fears of everyday people in post-war Germany. The

film was essentially a criticism of capitalism and the suffering it leads to, with the films

audience experiencing firsthand the effects of crippling hyperinflation and government debt

plaguing Germany at the time (Metropolis, 2011).

Another film that acted as a voice of societal perspectives was the 1966 film

adaptation of Edward Albees play Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which was a

microcosm depicting the despondency of the American people to the harsh realities of the

American dream in the 1950s. Post-war America created an idealized view of success in the

form of owning a house, buying a car, and having a nuclear family (Williams, 1996).

However, the 1960s saw the rise of the counterculture movement, which saw Americans

growing tired of these classic American ideals, and this was expressed in many forms of art

and lifestyle choices in this period. Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? may have pioneered

criticism of the American Dream in cinema, but it was by no means the inspiration of the

counterculture movement, it was merely a product of it. Its box office success is testament to

how Albees themes resonated with the audience of the time.

Finally, the modern box office success Get Out (2017), directed by Jordan Peele

again emphasizes Pollacks idea. Racial injustice in America is no new topic, however there

is a growing presence of liberals that in an attempt to fight outright racism, in fact contribute

to the problem as a whole. Peele addresses these issues and prejudices in a psychological

thriller which grossed over $250 million worldwide according to IMDB. The connections

with societal perspectives at the time are integral and so therefore in any previous era, these

films mentioned above would have no rooting, and would likely not have achieved such

success.
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Pollacks idea that films are an economic commodity suggests that they are in fact

products catered to societys wants, not the negative influencer some critics suggest they are.

As a result, films are able to provide an audience with a window into societal perspectives

and values from another time, while also allowing for an evaluation of current values, a

superimposition of two different eras. Pollack concludes his speech referring to the increasing

presence of youth culture in modern cinema, which is the source of most of his audiences

disapproval of the industry (para. 52). Consequently, those that take offence should not point

blame at the auteurs, but the audience.

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References

Baehr, T. (2009). A Hollywood stimulus plan. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from

https://bcourses.berkeley.edu/courses/1465513/files/folder/Readings/U3%20Readings

?preview=71516707

Metropolis. (2011). The crisis of modernity in German culture. University of Notre Dame.

Retrieved from https://sites.nd.edu/moderncrises/2011/11/07/metropolis/

Metropolis, Modernity and the Economy. (2006). Warwick Blogs. Retrieved from

http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/michaelwalford/entry/_metropolis_modernity/

Pollack, S. (n.d). The way we are. The influence of the popular media on American values.

Retrieved from

https://bcourses.berkeley.edu/courses/1465513/files/folder/Readings/U3%20Readings

?preview=71516729

Williams, L. (1996). Testing the resonance of the American dream. New York Times.

Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/23/style/testing-the-resonance-of-

the-american-dream.html