Family-Adventure Films. Communications & Media Essay

Family-Adventure Films
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Family-Adventure Films
The Hollywood “family film” has been widely consumed around the world making it a commercial success. It is best customized to appeal not only to a literal family consisting of adults and children but also to a diverse audience as possible. The success of Hollywood on the family-oriented productions originates from its broadness of appeal: where the movies please a wider audience while offending as few consumers as possible. This essay outlines and evaluates the argument in the articles by Wood (1896) and Kramer (1998) regarding the family film and specifically focuses on the reasons for their commercial success and appeal to a wider audience.
The family-oriented films emerged in the early 1930s aiming to secure a viewership and respectability in the United States (Brown 2013, p). Before the 1930s era, the film feature was part of the “balanced program” which offered entertainment for the broadest audience demographic. The feature films were more oriented towards adult tastes while the few animation and two-reel comedies appealed more to children. The lack of movies specifically made for children led to campaigns aimed at the production of children’s film. Ever since, these films have broadened their scope due to various changes and advances in technology, popular culture, and demographics.
The article by Wood (1986) is a focuses on a phenomenon that has in the 1980s that has led to the emergence of children films conceived and marketed for an adult population. The films render safe some of the movements of the 1970s like radical feminism, gay liberation, black militancy and the assault of the patriarchy (Wood 1986, p. 164). The films contain some deliberate resistance but in a manner that the audience does not take it seriously. The ultimate aim of these films is to entertain which prevents the audience from raising serious questions about them. Wood (1986, p. 164) admits that pleasure is an important component of human beings and the films base their theme on this aspect. The films attract more people because they correspond to the inner workings of the social construction of the viewers. Although individuals wish to remain as adults, they cannot ignore the value of pleasure. The article by Kramer (1998) builds on Wood’s idea by expounding on the obsession of a majority of Hollywood’s blockbusters with family issues. The discussion of the article focuses on a number of films that have received good reception because of broadening their appeal beyond the audience of teenagers and young adults to reach the family adult.
Some of these fantasy films are still played on repeat on the screens and viewed by an audience consisting of all ages. One of the reasons for this phenomena is what Wood refers to as “childishness”. The films are conceived and marketed largely for an adult population. These films construct the adult spectator a child or even an adult who desires to become a child (Wood 1986, p. 165). For example, the E.T. entails the discovery of extraterrestrial life while Back to the Future is about individuals’ fantasies about how it would be if one could travel back and forward in time. The two films indicate that adults can still live their childhood fantasies and still find satisfaction.
The regression to infantilism brings the aspect of avoiding responsibility for actions, decisions, and thought. Children do not take responsibility since there other adults are there for them. Hence, the films are intellectually undemanding and do not require the audience to think deeply (Wood 1986, p. 165). This does not imply that the viewers do not think at all, rather, the thought is limited to the most superficial narrative channels. The viewers ask themselves what will happen and how a particular character will get out of a situation. Wood implies that these films offer adult males the opportunity to regress into a replay of their own. Wood believes that these fantasies and pleasures are “automatic” and “mindless”
However, Kramer disagrees with the assertion that the fantasies and pleasures derived from watching the films are “automatic” and “mindless”. Kramer narrates his experience when he went to see The Lion King, where he found himself surrounded by a significant number of children accompanied their parents (Kramer 1998, p. 297). As the only adult not accompanied by a child, Kramer felt like an intruder to the theater. Kramer even felt that he could be denied entry. Surprisingly, once inside, he lost himself in the film and identified with the children around him. The movies reminded him of the fairytales his mother told him as a child and the first films he ever watched with her in the film. However, Kramer believes that the pleasures he experienced in the cinema were not in any way “automatic” and “mindless” as Wood thinks (Kramer 1998, p. 297). Instead, Kramer believes that the pleasures were bracketed by his reflections on his childhood and present status and the memories of going to the theater with his mother.
Furthermore, Kramer disagrees with Woods position that the appeal of the movies is the urge to evade responsibility. Kramer demonstrates that The Lion King movie indicates the opposite. While watching the film, Kramer admits that the child feels responsible even for something he has not done (Kramer 1998, p. 297). In the movie, Simba indicates that wished to become king after his father’s death. When his father is killed, Simba feels guilty of his utterances because they are a wish come true. Instead of resuming the throne, Simba flees and leaves with the guilty. However, Simba realizes that he is innocent and returns home where he takes over the throne. Kramer sees the actions of Simba as opposite to that of an irresponsible child. Kramer holds that children can also take responsibility. As a result, it would be wrong to attribute the fantasy movies as ones where adults want to watch characters who are irresponsible for the actions, decisions, and thoughts.
Wood further underscores the critical role of special effects. The ability to employ technology to bring “magic” to the films makes them more appealing. The use of special effects brings a sense of recklessness and prodigal extravagance. Additionally, the films employ a balance of imagination and originality. The same audiences who wish to be taken as children also wish to be construed as extremely sophisticated and modern. (Wood 1986, p. 166). While the viewers know that the films are a product of fantasy, they want to see the imagination utilized. While originality is essential, the films must retain a sense of the familiar, the comforting nostalgia for the childish and the repetitive nature of the comic strip. In essence, mixing originality and imagination is an effective way of window dressing to conceal. However, concealing is not absolute since the audience ends up becoming familiar with the plot, characterization, context and character relations.
Furthermore, nuclear anxiety plays a crucial in the desire for individuals to be construed as children. (Wood 1986, p. 168) Nuclear anxiety indicates the indescribable suffering and widespread hopelessness in the society. The imagination of the end of the world and civilization is disturbing which calls for movies to display hope. In such a situation, children want to be reassured of their safety and avoid the responsibility and thought associated with the challenges. The sense of helplessness appears to be out of our hands with no effective intervention to save the situation. In the fantasy films, one side displays fear through contemporary horror films display a monster which wreaks havoc. It is impossible for the audience to destroy, understand and communicate with the monster.
The other side of the series of fantasy focuses on the struggle to acquire an ultimate weapon or power. In the end, nuclear power is depicted as the power of God, how always r...