Is there such a thing as a typical American film? It is true that there are many features thatmark a movie as American, but perhaps the most essential is the theme of the loner-hero. From the earliest days of silent films until the recent extravagant science fiction films, theAmerican movie has concentrated on the role of one individual who spends his or her lifecombining the forces of evil – and the good guy, the hero, usually wins by the end of the film.
In the western movie, which comes out of many legends of the American West, a typicalfigure is the lonesome cowboy. He wanders into a town and straightens out his troubles. Thosetroubles can be cattle rustlers or out-laws. Then the strong and independent hero rides offinto the sunset alone. Americans like this image in their films because they are highlyindependent themselves, and individualism counts a great deal with them. An individual whois able to correct the evils of the world, or of a small town, is someone to admire.
Even the gangster (匪徒) movie, a very popular form of the typical American film, usually hasa hero. Either he is a lawman out to catch the criminals or a gangster who suddenly sees thelight and tries to go straight. During the violence?ridden period of Prohibition in the 1920s, itis natural that the gangster movie would grow in popularity. These films kept the same toneas the western --- the bad cannot triumph! One good person can save the innocent.
Recent science fiction films deal with the same themes. Against the forces of alien powers, people will fight to protect their ideals. Here, too, the action centers around a single individual, but now he or she must save the world.
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