Title: 1. What Is the Theme? Why Do We Need It? – Exploring Movie Construction and Production
Headings: 1. What Is the Theme? Why Do We Need It?
1. What Is the Theme? Why Do We Need It?
The 1920s
The 1930s
The 1940s
The 1950s
The 1960s
The 1970s
The 1980s
The 1990s
The 21st Century
Chapter Conclusion
Further Viewing
Assignment

Content: Themes, and the resulting movies, are often a product and reflection of the social, economic or political climate of that time in history. The importance of the theme cannot be overemphasized. The whole purpose and perspective of a movie is transformed when the theme changes. Beginning with the early part of the 20th century, we will go through the different decades of the century into the 21st century, and we will briefly discuss the history of American society, in general, and how themes and, ultimately, movies changed during the century. This discussion will enable you to better understand how the actual construction of a movie changes in order to gain acceptance by the public. Movie acceptance is based on themes. The themes indicated throughout this chapter change and develop. Seeing this change and development will help students understand themes and why movies are the way they are in the modern age. Let’s take a quick run through the decades with Jack and Suzie to see how they and their stories changed as history and society changed. We can speculate about how the producer determined the best way to demonstrate themes through the decades.