Chili Without Beans
Fear is a powerful thing. People have many fears, from nyctophobia (fear of the dark) to aulophobia (fear of flutes). Sometimes these fears become contagious and people who would not be normally afraid of such things abandon reason and acquire these phobias. When these fears spread, groups of people become panic-stricken. This was the case with the Hollywood blacklist and the Japanese internment. Widespread fear leads to mass hysteria and the ruining of many peoples lives.
The Hollywood blacklist: so ridiculously infuriating that it’s hard to put into words. Thomson says “the campaign of the House Committee on Un-American Activities was unconstitutional, and its punishment, the blacklist, it was illegal” (274). The fear of communism, the fear of being accused of being a communist, and the fear of being associated with communists all contributed to the mass hysteria. As we saw in Guilty by Suspicion (Irwin Winkler, 1991), even attending a party that was being held in the house of someone who was accused of being a communist made you a communist. “Many Hollywood careers were halted [and] a climate of fear was established” says Thomson (274).
By controlling the fear of communism, HUAC and the US Government could also control the public, including Hollywood. The fear of being blacklisted or making blacklisted pictures forced filmmakers and studios to make films that supported HUAC’s agenda. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Don Siegel, 1956) had a huge communist undertones (intentional or not). At one point, Dr. Bennell looks toward the camera, breaking the 4th wall, and asks “but why would you want to live in a place where everyone is the same?!”
Communism is not the only thing that has caused mass hysteria and fear. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the Government became afraid that Japan was planning a full scale attack on the west coast and tried to deter any attacks or espionage from inside the US. They “excluded” all people of Japanese ancestry from the west coast and put them in internment camps. This war hysteria and racism continued even after the Japanese were released in 1945. Not only had everything the interned had earned and worked for been lost and destroyed, they were being released into a country which was still at war (the Japanese had not yet surrendered) and full of people who were not only scared, but hated them. Bad Day at Black Rock (John Sturges, 1955) takes place just after the war ended in 1945. The whole story revolves around the racist murder (and cover up) of Komoko. Made just 10 years after the Japanese had been released and during the height of the Hollywood blacklist, the movie is pretty progressive in showing and encouraging the punishment of Reno Smith.
Thankfully there is no more blacklist or internment of people of Japanese descent and we are free to make films (almost) about whatever we please. “We are no longer in the grip of a monster […] Whether or not a picture receives a Code Seal no longer matters. No more curfew, no more daddy, anything goes” (Didion 156). All we have to fear now is fear itself…and terrorists.
Comments
Great paper. I really liked the flow of your second to last paragraph, terrific way of transitioning into Bad Day at Black Rock.
The only thing I would suggest to make your future papers even more awesome would be to focus on some reality and representational codes a little. Other than that, *thumbs up*
Posted by: Belinda | May 20, 2008 11:58 AM