For the record, Matewan is before Blair Mountain. In Matewan, Sid Hatfield deputizes the miners and hillbillies to stop the Baldwin-Felts gang. Afterwards, the Baldwin-Felts gang assassinates him, and the miners revol again.
4 Likes
Keep us posted. It’ll be interesting to see your choices.
I thought of another film that attempted to capture the social/sexual mores of 1960.
I’m not defending or condemning the mindset of the movie, but it would make for an interesting compare-and-contrast on how attitudes and issues have changed and, regrettably, not changed in 60 years.
(Trigger warning: off-screen rape)
Edit: based on @gadgetgirl’s reply, I’ve deleted a commentary on the film that I skimmed but didn’t read in enough detail, nor did I check out the source. Mea culpa.
5 Likes
That commentary itself could use some commentary: “And when women give sex and do not get love back, they are deeply wounded.” and then it gets worse from there. I stopped reading after the comment about how there’s no “female Michelangelo” because the author thinks women aren’t into visuals.
And casual sex, according to the author, mainly involves washroom cruising? I can’t even.
5 Likes
I thought that was referring to the discussion by two of the characters in the movie, but I could be wrong. Otherwise, on rereading, I agree with your impression and I’ve removed the link.
4 Likes
I don’t know – I’ve had more than a few profs toss a controversial essay at a class just to keep things interesting. Or to dispel the notion that they are there to provide info and the students are there to slurp up said info without thinking critically about it. It’s not like everything in the article was wrong. It’s not like everything about the sexual revolution was right either. Just… the author made a few too many assumptions about feminism and female sexuality.
3 Likes
Please do! In fact, how much can you share with us, I know I’d be interested in “Mindy’s summer school on 20th Century US history”. Only if it isn’t creating extra work for you, of course.
(Slightly related anecdote- At university, I once mis-read my timetable and arrived an hour early for a lecture. As a consequence of which, I got the pleasure of listening to a completely unrelated lecture on 1930s America, and I didn’t have to take notes. Result.)
6 Likes
I came to the essay from a Google search, and didn’t realize it was on a specifically Christian website. The commentary was fairly nuanced, and the author didn’t condemn the attitudes and behaviour shown in the movie, but he certainly saw it through his own lens, something I may have done myself once or twice. 
2 Likes
One more question… one of the lectures I wanted to do was on ordinary Americans abroad as part of the American hegemony. Any films that illustrate that? I guess there is the Quiet American, but can you guys think of other films where Americans are being criticized, perhaps? There might be some better films on that from other countries, now that I’m thinking about it.
3 Likes
The Ugly American?
2 Likes
Men with Brooms, a Canadian comedy about curling, has some criticism, but since it’s done for laughs it might be a tough fit.
There’s another comedy by the same people, Gunless, which gets its plot from the difference between American and Canadian Western pioneer cultures, but that’s 19th century.
What about something like Roman Holiday?
3 Likes
The Coca Cola Kid?
5 Likes
I haven’t seen this movie, but I read the book years ago. From the reviews, it seems the movie almost completely drops the title character, who is the hero of the book. (The “ugly” refers to his plain appearance, not to the sort of loud, boorish behaviour that the phrase has come to mean.)
That said, the movie still sounds worthwhile as a criticism of American Cold War diplomacy and foreign policy.
4 Likes
Oh! I thought of a better one. Local Hero. The last appearance in a film by Burt Lancaster, and an early one by Peter Capaldi. Gentle, charming, hilarious, a lovely snapshot of the early 80s.
4 Likes
Once again, you beat me to it by literal seconds. [changes password on microchip]
Also, well technically, the movie is Scottish, although it does deal with an American abroad. Good choice anyway.
4 Likes
He had quite a few films/years left…
3 Likes
3 Likes
This would be an interesting choice. But will the students catch on that he’s not really a hero? Frankly, my recollection is that the filmmakers had trouble remembering that as well. The perils of hiring Harrison Ford.
5 Likes
OH! Mosquito Coast! The first, I don’t know, like 10 or 15 minutes of that film was made in my hometown!
Both might be great choices, though. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Salvador… and Oliver Stone has gone weird and right wing lately.
4 Likes
Steve Martin played an American con artist grifting his way around Europe
This turns out to be a remake of an earlier film
Shirley Jones from The Partridge Family, and also David Niven and Marlon Brando!
Why have I never heard of this movie? I hope it’s not super terrible.
3 Likes
5 Likes