毕业论文关键词：个人主义，美国电影，价值，文化 

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 The background of study 1

1.2 Current study of inpidualism 1

2. Inpidualism 4

2.1 The concept of inpidualism 4

2.2 The origin and development of American inpidualism 4

2.3 The core values of American inpidualism 5

3. Inpidualism in American films.6

  3.1 Inpidual freedom.6

    3.1.1 Freedom of will in Titanic...6

    3.1.2 Freedom of personality in Shawshank Redemption...7

  3.2 Inpidual independence8

    3.2.1 Independent thinking in The Devil Wears Prada8

    3.2.2 Self-reliance in Gone With The Wind.9

  3.3 Inpidual struggle.9

    3.3.1 An idiot’s struggle process in Forrest Gump10

    3.3.2 An inspirational man’s struggle process in The Pursuit of Happiness.11

4. Conclusion.14

References 15

1. Introduction

Inpidualism value is the core of American culture and the main part of American spirit. America is a typical representative country of inpidualism value. From the beginning of the founding, inpidualism consciousness was deeply marked on the history of the United States. Nowadays, as a unique national character, inpidualism can be seen everywhere in American social life, having a great influence on people’s life attitudes, thinking patterns and behaviors. As the most popular media, American films come from reality life so that they can be an intuitional means to truly reflect every aspect of American society and culture. We can learn more about inpidualism spirit promoted by American people through the analysis of the plots int the films.

1.1 The background of study

“Film studies has made Hollywood cinematic genres a fundamental source of scholarly enquiry, genre theory providing the background for discussions of ‘categories’, from the musical to the war film. The specification of generic conventions is often accompanied by distinct analysis of the film groupings as expressions of social and historical circumstances. The cultural phenomenon to be discussed here is the renascence of the inpidual in contemporary industrialized societies. The term New Inpidualism, recently coined by sociologists Anthony Elliot and Charles Lemert, will be used in order to refer to the inpidual produced by globalization.” [1] (page15)

“Movies do more than simply show us how to dress, how to look, or what to buy. They teach us how to think about race, gender, class, ethnicity, and politics. And they do so in a way that penetrates our consciousness, far more effectively than most things we read or hear in the classroom.” [2] (page23)

As we know, inpidualism is the core of American culture, which covers many detailed respects. It is a suitable entrance to understanding American culture and lifestyle. At the same time, Hollywood films and Academy and Oscar awards have been attracting countless eyes. Thus, films are a good carrier to demonstrate and convey their values and that is why I choose films to display my grasp of American inpidualism and even American culture through it. Although many scholars have concentrated on this issue, I can still feel the enthusiasm and necessity to build my unique perspective of inpidualism in American films.

1.2 Current study of inpidualism

Some scholars in and abroad have studied or made research on the work. But their perspectives and themes are of great variety.

Rollins, C.P. (2003) mentioned that heroes are always lonely on the movie screen in America: they stand alone, to fight for justice, to solve the crisis, to leave only a view of the back. Henry Kissinger once said, the Americans especially appreciate those cowboys who take the lead of others, those single-handed who have the courage to live an adventurous life. He may even not have a pistol, because he is not to go in the crossfire. Dr. Kissinger’s words express highly praise of American inpidualism most greatly. American films not only witness the development of the United States of America and also the course of history; it’s the continuation of heroic dream in the hearts of Americans. And thus we can see a rescue theme in most of the films. It was such a hero, with the world of ultimate concern and humanistic education, makes American films enduring. As it can be seen from the discussion above, that western scholars maintain a clear approbatory and supporting attitude in the personal.