New Hollywood Film Analysis

NEW HOLLYWOOD

The purpose of this essay talks mainly on the transition and changes that occurred from the golden age of Hollywood to the era of New Hollywood. With addition of different researches of case studies to further backup the points taken in this essay.

During the golden age of Hollywood, a mode of production named “ Hollywood Studio System” was in placed. This system was an arrangement of film production and distribution dominated by major studios such as “ Paramount, Loew’s/MGM, 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers and RKO”. The studios were known as the (THE BIG FIVE).

Under this system, directors and actors were more of an employee instead of an artist as they were bounded contractually under their particular film studios. This

1960s was a rapid social, political, and a heavy artistic shift occurring in America as a new generation fought to reorganize its understanding of gender in the face of how their parents understood it. This film summaries and talks about a disaffected youth rebelling against his parents and the whole direction of American culture. It was a portrait of New America the young sixties against the Old fifties. The film focused on the internal and external struggles of the main character, Benjamin who is symbolic of the painful tensions between the traditional male and the new image of the American male. Benjamin struggles with issues, such as how he was supposed to assert his manliness in a society that is no longer the “man goes to work, woman serves man” theory. But his parents were still living in a more traditional world and did not understand that the world is changing. As a result, he was mostly confused and was constantly pulled in two directions. A side towards the understanding of his father theory of manhood and on the other hand the need to seek his true identity in a world that his parents would never understand. This film successfully addresses this dissatisfaction of gender relating issues and the youthful alienation that was happening at the point of time in America. On top on that, this film portrayed how aimlessly the young generation back then when they

The theme of the film created controversy, as it did not portray an idealistic American. But the film gave inspiration and freedom to all future filmmakers and the same time letting audiences to align with the true happenings in society. The theme of drugs is very apparent within Easy Rider as it displayed a ‘critical America’ as during the rise of Hippie culture it was estimated that around 800,000 Americans had tried marijuana. An example would be Billy and Wyatt convincing the American Lawyer to smoke marijuana. This represents how the Hippie culture is starting to take over the American. In terms of racism, a scene in the cafe when a panning shot establishes that everyone in the cafe was white. This instantly displayed the idea of a racist society and conveyed a message that America can be a racist and homophobic society. In conclusion a critical America is represented within Easy Rider and the film leaves the audience wondering why the American society allow freedom to the people which makes them question as to why the American dream lifestyle is always represented in films when it is so hard to find in reality.

Overall, the appeal of Bonnie and Clyde and Easy Rider lies a large extend of evocation of freedom as both were clouded by a sense of doom above their head. Bonnie