In our most recent discussion class on 9/28, which was led by Diego, we watched an interesting documentary, Celluliod Closet, which discussed the transition of homosexuality portrayal in film. I found it very interesting that the portrayal of homosexuality in film was a direct parrallel to homosexuality at each given time period.
For example, in the 1920's homosexuality was more openly shown in hollywood films. According to historymatters.gmu.edu, "in the 1920's, due in part to Prohibition and the emergence of speakeasies, homosexuality became even more open." I find it interesting that the social acceptance of homosexuality came along with the more open minded portrayal in Hollywood during the "roaring 20's."
When our culture entered into the 1930's, all of this began to change. The 1930's was a time of the Great Depression and religious revival. During this time, Hollywood films began to tone down the appearance of homosexuality. Homosexuality appeared less in mainstream films during this time due to criticisms aimed at Hollywood from religious groups claiming the industry contributed to immortality. This decline in homosexual portrayals on the big screen was partnered by a more taboo outlook on homosexuality in general. It is interesting to note this societal change that seemed to mirror the change in popular culture because it brings up the question of which change occured first and how does society and popular culture affect one another.
Through some research on several different sites (listed at the end of this post) I came to the conclusion that the change in society began before the change in pop culture, but the change in pop culture seemed to always become a catalyst for more widespread and faster change in society. This can easily be seen in the change that occured in the 1930's. Due to the Great Depression and the hardships it tolled upon many Americans, religion became of greater importance than it had been in the 1920's because it gave people hope and a more optomistic view on their lives. This religious revival then provoked Hollywood to turn to more "moral" themes and characters (in this case, heterosexuality) than it had previously. Due to this change in Hollywood's depiction of our society, society itself began to shape itself at an ever increasing rate to conform to the popular images devised by the films. This shows the basic idea that slight changes of societal viewpoints cause a circular effect of Hollywood conforming to societal standards follwed by society conforming to Hollywood's standards and so on.
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