Table Of Content

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