The Hollywood Golden Age
The Hollywood Golden Age was truly the time when the best films were made. There was a wide variety of films created – all of them exciting, offering new material. Sound film had recently been invented, and progressed film to a whole new level. It was the age of experimentation, and something new was always happening in Hollywood. It was during the Golden Age when the star-system was invented, which has completely shaped the way our society works today. MGM created the star – system. They glamorized Hollywood life, and brought “fame” to the film performers, thus turning them into film “stars”. Pictures of star’s private lives were publicized in the first fan magazines, which brought many feelings and new things to the world- excitement, escape, drama, and gossip. Normal people who read the tabloids became excited when they found out about the new movie a star was going to be performing in. They found escape, dreaming of the glamorous Hollywood lives. They found a pastime, gossiping about the latest Hollywood drama. The star system still goes on today more than ever before, and in some respects has taken over our lives. A lot of Americans look to the stars to decide how they should live, how they should act, what they should buy, etc. A celebrity has basically become a walking advertisement – if Angelina Jolie was seen in a magazine taking her kids to The American Girl Place, then other moms who read the tabloids are most likely going to want to take their kids their too. If Jennifer Aniston was seen toting the new Marc Jacobs bag, others are probably going to want it as well. It’s hard to believe that the star system we see today started in the golden ages, and evolved into something completely different.
The films from the Golden age have shaped the way movies are made today. Horror films started to progress, new subgenres were created, and sex symbols emerged. Without Alfred Hitchcock, most of the modern day horror films would have likely never have been created. The filmmakers from the Golden Age have had a heavy influence on modern day directors, and the stories from the Golden Age are a source of inspiration for modern day writers. The modern day vampire movies that girls drool over these days would not have been created, if the idea of sex symbols had not emerged. The Shawshanke Redemption wouldn’t have been made had there been no subgenre “prison dramas” created. Styles, subgenres, techniques, and almost everything we know in film today roots back to the Golden Age. Without all of the discoveries people made during the Golden Age, we would either be extremely behind in our filmmaking, or we would simply be terribly lost.
