The American Blockbuster: Movies That Defined Their Generations

336 Pages·2022·20.26 MB·English

by  Benjamin Crace

The American Blockbuster

The American Blockbuster
Movies That Defined Their Generations
Benjamin Crace
Copyright © 2022 by ABC-CLIO, LLC
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in
writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Crace, Benjamin, author.
Title: The American blockbuster : movies that defined their generations /
Benjamin Crace.
Description: Santa Barbara, California : Greenwood, an imprint of ABC-CLIO,
LLC, [2022] | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022007539 | ISBN 9781440877803 (hardcover) |
ISBN 9781440877810 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Blockbusters (Motion pictures)—United States—History. |
National characteristics, American, in motion pictures. | Generations—United States. |
Motion pictures—Social aspects—United States. | BISAC: PERFORMING ARTS /
Film / General | PERFORMING ARTS / Film / Direction & Production
Classification: LCC PN1995.9.B598 C73 2022 | DDC 791.430973—dc23/eng/20220810
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022007539
ISBN: 978-1-4408-7780-3 (print)
978-1-4408-7781-0 (ebook)
26 25 24 23 22 1 2 3 4 5
This book is also available as an eBook.
Greenwood
An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC
ABC-CLIO, LLC
147 Castilian Drive
Santa Barbara, California 93117
www.abc-clio.com
This book is printed on acid-free paper
Manufactured in the United States of America
Contents
List of Figures ix
Preface xi
Introduction xiii
Section 1: Thematic Essays
The Socialization Process: How Films Define Generational Consciousness 3
Capitalism and the Film Industry: Creating and Distributing Cinema in
the Age of Television 15
The American Myth Machine: Film as a National Visual Literature 27
American Religiosity in the Age of Entertainment: Hollywood and
American Values 39
Section 2: Boomers Make the Blockbuster (1975–1982)
Alien 53
Close Encounters of the Third Kind 57
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial 61
The Exorcist 65
Grease 69
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark 73
Jaws 76
Kramer vs. Kramer 80
9 to 5 84
One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest 88
vi Contents
Rocky 92
Star Wars: A New Hope 96
Superman 100
Tootsie 104
Section 3: Xers on a Quest for Identity and
Belonging (1983–1998)
Back to the Future 109
Batman 113
Beauty and the Beast 117
Beverly Hills Cop 122
Forrest Gump 125
Ghostbusters 129
Home Alone 133
Independence Day 138
Jurassic Park 141
The Lion King 145
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi 148
Terminator 2: Judgment Day 153
Titanic 156
Top Gun 161
Toy Story 165
Section 4: Millennials and the American Myth Machine
(1999–2009)
Avatar 169
The Dark Knight 173
The Fast and the Furious 177
Finding Nemo 181
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone/Harry Potter and the Chamber of
Secrets 185
Iron Man 190
Contents vii
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 194
The Matrix 198
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl 202
Shrek 205
Spider-Man 210
Star Wars: Episode 1—The Phantom Menace 213
Transformers 217
Twilight 221
X-Men 225
Section 5: Gen Z Finds Its Heroes (2010–)
The Avengers 231
Black Panther 236
The Dark Knight Rises 240
Despicable Me 245
Fast and Furious 7 250
Frozen 253
The Hunger Games 257
Inception 262
Joker 266
Skyfall 270
Star Wars: The Force Awakens 276
Wonder Woman 280
Zootopia 284
Bibliography 291
About the Editor and Contributors 309
Index 311

List of Figures
Figure 1: Brian Sturm’s Storylistening Experience Model 9
Figure 2: Pew Religious Landscape Study 42
Figure 3: Pew Religious Landscape Study inset 1 43
Figure 4: Pew Religious Landscape Study inset 2 44
Figure 5: S ix-in-ten Christians, “nones,” hold at least one New Age
belief 46
Figure 6: U.S. adults who say they are neither religious nor spiritual
tend to reject New Age beliefs 47