This series uses movies as a gateway to understanding the world
The Outsiders, and the other S.E. Hinton book that was made into a film, Rumble Fish, were early YA literature which showed lower class young men in a sympathetic light.
Risky Business was an early Tom Cruise film, but after so many years of movies, Tom Cruise characters are a useful barometer of American cultural change.
Billy Jack is a film from 1971 provided an early look at the counter-culture ethos that has since driven right into the mainstream.
The Joker is in interesting case study in how American views on criminality have changed. They show the same scene, the murder of Thomas Wayne, in two versions; one in 1989 and one in 2019. The could not be more different.
Hostiles shows how PTSD was present even in the wars with the Native Americans.
Once Were Warriors showcased the New Zealand film industry and told the story of the declining social cohesion of the indigenous people of the islands. It was a tour de force for the cast as well.
Fight Club was hated by several critics, but Tyler Durden has found resonance with millions of alienated and rootless men.
A Clockwork Orange is a dystopian film about the future as seen from 1971. The future looks a lot like the seventies but also right now. Stanley Kubrick made one for the ages some 50 years ago.
Reds – ‘Reds’ and ‘Dead Man Walking’ are so good that they undermine the message of the directors who made them.
The Last Emperor – The world the Chinese will never forget.
Soul Food – ‘Soul Food’ or ‘Three Strikes;’ what defines black culture?
Magic Mike – Steven Soderbergh is the other towering Steven of American film making, and ‘Magic Mike’ is one of his best films.
Crimes and Misdemeanors – Woody Allen is gone but his many films, including Crimes and Misdemeanors, films live on as masterpieces that dig deep into the human heart.
Red Dawn – A glib joke by President Obama in 2012 becomes a prophecy.
The Crying Game – Trans seen from three decades back.
Mud – Boys come of age through pain and sacrifice
Her – Will we gladly turn ourselves over to the machines? I think we will, as the central character in this movie does
Bullitt – 1968 was a pivotal year in film, and this was a pivotal movie that foresaw what was coming.
The Truman Show – The idea that there is a God that refuses to let you let free.
The Crucible – Manias are far too common in American life, from the Salem Witch trials to the race manias we are living though now.
American Beauty – Revisiting a movie I once hated, but now see myself in, bright and clear.
The Year of Living Dangerously – A great one from a fertile era of American movies. Also, this film offered an Oscar to a woman for plaing a man well before any trans activism.
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