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Stratyner !Another Look Pearl Stratyner Another Look Nick Browne (editor). RefiguringAmerican Film Genres. University of California Press, 1998. (320 pages; $50.00) This compilation of criticisms and analyses of cinematic genres, edited by Nick Browne, is both interesting and provocative . It grew from a symposium on the need for réévaluation and reexamination ofHollywood's classic age system of categorizing films according to set formulas. Those moviegoers who view genres as fluid and as changeable as the popular cultural scene they mirror will applaud these new insights. On the other hand, those who are comfortable with the welldefined and recognizable patterns might prefer to let things be. Specific characterizations, plot lines and background motif made it easy for the viewer to pinpoint the photoplay, its direction and its denouement. It fits a proscribed niche— a Western, a musical, a melodrama, comedy or crime story. Motion pictures in the '30s and early '40s usually did not venture from these determined outlines. This identification of genres with their distinctive icons was reinforced in the '70s. Several critics convincingly argue that there must be a new way oflooking at themes that are more relevant to today's American society. Nothing should be written in stone. Themes ofwar, religion, law, civil rights and diplomatic struggles cross over borders and form new ones waiting to be identified and analyzed. Genres should be fluid, working through historical periods to portray popular culture. The writers raise important questions. Do genres terminate? Are new ones recognizable? How can they revise the foundations? How can they emerge because ofhistorical imperative? Thomas Schatz' essay on the World War II combat film analyzes the way a new genre emerges as an historical imperative . Before World War II, Hollywood integrated war themes into the existing classical format. Concentration was on spy dramas and not combat. The studios were attacked by conservative and isolationist groups and accused ofinciting entry into the war. But once the United States was officially in it, Hollywood's goal was the same as the government's. Win it! President Roosevelt did not attempt to control Hollywood's output. Within six months of Pearl Harbor, one-third of the films directly pertained to the War. Such photoplays as Wake Island, Bataan, and ThirtySeconds Over Tokyo depicted the transition from war themes within the familiar to the combat film. Realism—frequently taken from documentary footage, narrative and a large dose ofromancebrought the fighting home to moviegoers. Unsurprisingly, die end ofthe War saw a decline in this genre. Then at the end of the decade, there was a sudden surge ofinterest. With the release of Sands oflwojima, Battlegroundand Twelve O'ClockHigh the combat film became established. It is still alive and well today. Steven Spielberg's SavingPrivate Ryan, a World War II soldier caughtbehind enemylines, reaffirms this. In "Melodrama Revised" Linda Williams takes another look at this genre, which to many seems a relic from the Victorian Age. She points out that moral values are an integral part ofour social fabric. They come to us through the melodrama's emotional appeal. Rights and wrongs are weighed. Sympathy usually goes to the victim, hopefully, justice prevails. Glaring cultural problems—racial conflict, class struggle, gender inequality and ethnic confrontations—cannot always be dealt with rationally. But when we are emotionally involved, we are more inclined to find solutions. Anna's problems in Way Down East could not be tackled head on. She had to experience a sham marriage, desertion, death ofher illegitimate baby, social ostracism , poverty and the prospects ofa loveless and bleak future. But this tragedy was not ofher own making. When her former lover is a dinner guest in her employer's home and castigates her as a fallen woman, it forces a denouement The problem of the double standard is brought into focus. When justice wins out, albeit in the nick oftime, good moral values are solidified. However, the double standard is not corrected in this film. The viewer must deal with the problem Another interesting contribution by Michael Rogin, "Democracy and Burnt Cork," deals with the New Deal genres, the blackface musical and the racial social problem, or civil rights film. Two major films, Gone with the Wind and...

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