The Social and Cultural Impacts of Movies

Through the discussion, we are going to have an overlook on the history, the meaning of social and cultural impacts in general, how movies had such impacts on audience, and we’ll finally have a look on two movies and study their impacts.

Some hundred years ago, on 28 December 1895 to be exact, the world witnessed public screening of ten of the Lumière brothers’ short films in Paris, thus that day was regarded as the breakthrough of projected cinematographic motion pictures.

And from that day forth, an emerging industry was born, the film industry.

Film industry characterized modern societies, like the art of storytelling did with the ancient world, but film industry is by far a more impactful sector.

And although movies are “stories told with pictures”, as Syd Field puts it in his book “Screenplay: The Foundation of Screenwriting “, but unlike stories, movies have the ability to engage a larger audience, more effectively, and faster than plain stories.

Social Impact Movies are mostly documentaries which deal with social issues and our movie here is no exception. The Social Dilemma is a 2020 Documentary by Netflix, it explores the impact of social networking, and how such social networks were ,at core, built to profit from our own liberty and freedom of choice.

The movie tries to sound the alarm on the dark and dangerous side of social networking, thus making a social impact.

It was well received by critics and had 7.6/10 rating on imdb.com, it also won 2 Primetime Emmys.

Cultural Impact Movies are movies that impact culture in a really deep and profound way, the impact these movies impose might resonate for decades. Success of such movies is linked directly to the cultural impact they create.

The film industry in the United States is well known for cultural impact movies that not only impact American society, but sometimes the impact reaches far beyond.

Avengers: Endgame was released in 2019, was well received by critics, had a 8.4/10 rating on imdb.com, and it was nominated for an Oscar.

This movies, along with the whole Avengers franchise, creates superheroes and idols who, with their deeds and the way they solve problems, are considered role models for the teenage population, not only in the US, but worldwide.

In the end, what did the above mentioned movies achieve? What social and cultural impacts did they have?

The Social Dilemma dealt with an ongoing problem linked to excessive and addictive usage of social networks, it met with many voices from civil community organizations, which are ringing a bell on the dangerous role these networks are playing. Thus a social impact was met.

The Avengers franchise was released in times of uncertainty amongst people, especially younger generations, and set role models along with new values, new ways of thinking, and a different approach to different problems. Again a cultural impact was brilliantly met in this franchise.