Week 6 Assignment
Influence of Visual Media Television and movies have been around for almost as long as radio has been, but the impacts of these visual entertainment media were greater and longer-lasting than their predecessor. Movies grew out of the technology that Edison first pioneered, the Kinetoscope. He did not secure a patent for this invention, leaving the door open for European inventors to improve on the new technology. They filmed scenes and showed it to an audience, and the movie industry was born. Television was born out of the same principle as radio, with TV waves being transmitted instead of audio. With a couple of new technologies making use of this fact, television soon became a regular staple in every American home. With the financial backing of television networks and big movie studios, television and film influenced culture and values by shaping popular thought, reflecting attitudes and beliefs, and highlighting important issues of the current times. Movies and the industry behind it, has evolved much from its early beginnings. People were amazed to see “moving pictures” projected on a screen, and soon there was a demand for the new form of entertainment. It made stars out of stage actors, who made the transition to film quite easily. With the emergence of the “talkies” (movies that captured actor’s voices), the need for intelligent scripts and dialogue grew, along with directors who could maximize the actor’s emotional interpretation of the scene. This gave rise to screenplays that were usually a commentary of the events that were happening during those times. The James Dean movie “Rebel Without a Cause” showed the beginnings of angst in teenagers that were trying to escape the social norms of the day. “The Color Purple” also gave us a look into the plight of African-American women in the 1900’s. Starring Whoopi Goldberg as the timid main character Celie, she finds her self-worth with the help of her friends, and the