Going to the movies is one of America’s favorite pastimes.
In the U.S., more people go to the movies than to professional sporting events
and theme parks combined. Since films were first introduced over a century ago,
they have continued to work their way into our hearts. Last year alone U.S. and
Canada brought in $10.2 billion at the box office (Theatrical 2). The American
film industry (particularly Hollywood) is such a large part of our culture. Theaters continue to attract patrons, but are we essentially seeing the same
story over and over again?
Hollywood
films are made with a very specific form and style in mind. The classical
Hollywood narrative form is the way storylines are usually structured in
Hollywood films. The foremost characteristic of the classical Hollywood
narrative form is that storylines are extremely linear and chronological. There
is always a beginning, middle, and end, which occur in order. By examining
movies from the past and present we can clearly see how “this way of
cinematically telling stories is basically the same today as it was in the
1930s” (Benshoff and Griffin 23).
Take
for example, a great movie that many of us have seen, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Here we have a perfect case of the classical Hollywood narrative form. To
start, we have Ferris, the charming, charismatic protagonist. A protagonist, or
main character, is key to the classical Hollywood narrative form (and in most
cases is a white heterosexual male). In the typical classical Hollywood
narrative form, the protagonist will have some sort of goal. In the case of
Ferris Bueller, his goal is to skip school, essentially taking a day off, and not get caught. To aid in
reaching the goal, the protagonist often times has characters helping out.
Cameron in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is a perfect example of the typical best friend character. Cameron, reluctantly, helps Ferris achieve his goal.
Of
course we cannot forget another very important aspect to classical Hollywood
narrative form: the love interest. The love interest character is one seen in
almost all typical Hollywood films. This character “either accompanies the main character in
reaching the goal, or functions as the protagonist’s goal” (Benshoff and
Griffin 25). In Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the love interest is Ferris’
girlfriend, Sloane. And like any good love interest, Sloane is the perfect
embodiment of patriarchal ideals.
Even
more central to the storyline of most Hollywood films is the antagonist. The
antagonist is the “villainous force or person” who makes it harder for the
protagonist to reach his or her goal (Benshoff and Griffin 24). The antagonist
to the protagonist is like Voldemort to Harry Potter or Darth Vader to Luke
Skywalker. In Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, I would have to consider the relentless
school dean Rooney as the antagonist.
The
next characteristic of the classical Hollywood narrative form is the climax, or
“the most intense point of conflict” (Benshoff and Griffin 25). Who can forget
the scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, when he’s racing home to get there
before his parents? Even if you’ve never seen the movie, it’s easy to predict
how it might go from here. Ferris proves successful and manages to get back
home just in time for him to avoid being caught. You can imagine why Hollywood
almost always incorporates such closure and a happy ending. They want viewers
to leave the theater happy and content, not sad and confused. They also look to
reinforce the underlying ideologies of white patriarchal capitalism, which
closure often does.
Hollywood’s
method of filmmaking has proven to be a success, in the sense that people continue
to go to the movies. The classical Hollywood narrative form keeps people coming
back to the movies, but it also makes them easily predictable. Ferris Bueller's Day Off is a great example. The next time
you see a movie, apply the classical Hollywood narrative form. You’ll probably
find yourself already knowing how it will end.
Works Cited:
“2011 Theatrical
Market Statistics Report.” Motion Picture
Association of America: Industry Reports. Motion Picture Association of
America, Inc., 22 Mar. 2012. Web. 3 Oct. 2012.
Benshoff, Harry
M. and Sean Griffin. America On Film:
Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality at the Movies. 2nd
ed. Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. Print.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Dir. John
Hughes. Paramount Pictures, 1986. Film.
Image: “When Schoolkids
Go Rogue.” Empire Magazine Online. Bauer
Consumer Media. Web. 6 Oct. 2012.
“Ferris Beuller’s Day Off” is a definite American Classic, if anyone hasn’t seen the film, I would recommend they take the time to see it! The film did follow white patriarchal capitalism. As far as characters they kept a mostly white cast, keeping foreign persons in smaller roles, and the male protagonist was accompanied by a beautiful female for sex appeal. Also, would you deem Ferris’ sister Jeanie an antagonist in the film as well?
ReplyDeleteThe objective of Hollywood narrative form is to “spoon feed the story into the spectator”. Keeping this classic style keeps the audience undistracted and engaged to the actual film story (eliminates complexity). This is why we repeatedly see remakes of previous successful films. My father and I constantly talk about how we personally find it annoying. Our thinking process is, why compete with an already successful film story, when you can shine on your own category? With learning Hollywood’s history though, I definitely have come to understand why they did and still do “play it safe” with their audiences.
Another key point I think to attribute to Hollywood’s success in Hollywood style continuance is they have gone to tremendous lengths to stay in complete control of the industry. They have accomplished a great number of things to keep independent and foreign films marginalized. Take Cultural Imperialism for example, Hollywood forces their economic control nationally. To Hollywood, foreign sale is a complete profit; therefore they can sell their films internationally at discount prices. Prices substantially less than the local films in their own country can sell them for to still achieve profit themselves.
Overall, great article topic. I enjoyed reading the post and how you compared the film with what we have been covering in class!
Ferris Bueller's Day off is an excellent example of the classical Hollywood narrative style. The characters are poured into textbook stereotypes of high school clicks. The antagonist is almost cartoonish. As the film progressed he is shown increasingly as old, ugly, and dumb. When the credits role, we see him face the ultimate humiliation as he boards the school bus.
ReplyDeleteWhen the film came out I viewed the character of Jeanie as the the hero. Like Jeanie I had a popular younger brother who seemed to have all the luck. I found her and Cameron's struggle to accept the parts of their lives they had no control over was a deeper story hidden in "light" entertainment. Sometimes I wonder if the The classical Hollywood narrative form Is used by film makers as a "chocolate coating" to help the viewer swallow the "bitter pill" of an issue they are trying to bring to light? Tyler Perry recently commented on The Colbert Report, "Madea is anesthetic". Change can be painful, Ferris Bullers Day Off was a welcome painkiller for many on their journey to the world that awaited them outside of high school, and one of my favorites.