Raiders Of The Lost Ark Talk About American Culture In The 1980's
1352 Words6 Pages
What does Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) say about American culture in the 1980’s?
After the New Hollywood era is starting to slow down and people are interested in going to the cinema again, a new and innovative type of culture is being born. During the 1980’s, the society in America is turning more materialistic and success-driven. Young people get college degrees and pursue high paid jobs. They settle in a nice house close to or in a big city. Apple Corporations are ruling their field and the stock market is skyrocketing. Television becomes widespread and American families become interested in TV series focusing on everyday life like The Cosby Show, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Family Ties and Married…with Children. Corporate America is being created.
Inside the Hollywood…show more content… America’s portrayals of Nazism in film started even before the end of the war. In the many years following the war Nazis were frequently used as villains in film starting from the 1940’s and only slowing down in the 1990’s. This negative portrayal by mainstream cinema and television has created a rather unflattering image of Germany in America, image that managed to become more and more highlighted during the years. Hollywood has been historically inaccurate hundreds of times and unfortunately the mass audience tend to believe what they see in cinema. Using the already famously known figure of Adolf Hitler and his evil soldiers as a plot device is used in two of the four Indiana Jones films, Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, creating a clear pattern which could mean that the filmmakers were simply influenced by the mainstream representation of German people and decided to vilify them just for the sake of the plot, ignoring other future or even past implications, that are historically