Class notes
Required reading:
Kern, Culture of Time and Space
Required viewing:
Sherlock, Jr. (dir. Keaton) - viewing Wed. 3 December 2008, 18:00, Classroom A
Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 on YouTube
A Vital Progressivism, The Twenties
Written assessment:
Quiz 8
Written assignment due:
web response paragraph
Web response prompt:
How can we use movies as historical documents? For example, what can Sherlock, Jr. tell us about the culture and society of the U.S. in the 1920s?
18 comments:
Any piece of the past, if it be, article, written conversation, audio recording or video of any kind can be considered a historical document, especially if it gives insight to the cultural activities and society of that time. The Film Sherlock, Jr. by Buster Keaton, is a perfect example of a historical document that gives information on the culture and society of America in the 1920s. While watching Sherlock, Jr. you can see the steady development of film and the creativity brought out by the director and the beginning of special effects in movies. This also shows how entertainment in the 1920’s is progressing and what they found funny, romantic, thrilling, and controversial at that time compared to the present. This film also gives you a feeling of the industrial improvement of that time. Trains, cars, and other equipment shown in the film can lead you to the conclusion of how advanced the 1920’s were. If you had no idea how the 1920’s were, this film can help verify some of the cultural and social behaviors of the people in that period.
Movie itself is a historical document. For example in Sherlock, Jr you can find the historical facts of the life of The United States in 1920s. Movie and action is going on, but on the background, you can find images of single days in early 1900s. This is like documentary, where someone records the life of his period, but literally you get images of how people dressed, how their culture was, their demeanors and values, or for instance when Sherlock, Jr gets on the roof of the building you have opportunity to see how the one single day of a busy city life; how the people and transport moved in the street, how the infrastructure looked like, or the railway and train itself, or the cars, houses and architecture and design; train is everywhere, you may note also the water supply and that it was scarce resource and how trains transported it across the continent, cinema, women lives and roles and many others.
In short, you can see the past. It shows how American culture was in its early stages, then you can compare it the current state and see how it gradually changed. Generally speaking, this kind of movies allow historians to keep track of history itself; no one can explain how something was in the past better then, actual visual image of how it was; and this image is worth more then thousand words.
the movie can be a social account in a way that it shows the past event or social phenomenon that people from past used to experience. the beginning of the Movie Sherlock, Jr. shows how us was influenced by consumerism, then goes on to show the train which symbolized the prosperity of the US. when the main character was riding a automobile it show's how the US was developed, as well as how people spend their leisure time.
the background of movie was also a theater, which shows how Americans spend their leisure time at that time. leisure time would symbolize how one country was developed and in some extent, gives cultural accounts by what people were doing with what kind of tool.
therefore, movie can be used as a cultural and social account of specific countries by showing how people were thinking and how the country was developed.
Movie is one of the best way to know what historical events happened and how did they develop. It is very easily perceived historical document. Especially if we want to get some information about culture or about society, movie is the best way.
In Sherlock, Jr. it is very easy to understand how people were dressed in 1920s, which cars were most popular. We understand also the value of 1$. We saw that in that time 1 us Dollar was much more valuable than today. We also saw what kind of stores were, what was the most popular as a gift in 1920s? A lot of information was located in this 40 minute film. Another advantage was that people from different countries can equally perceive such kind of film. There is no any language used and for student from different countries it is very easy to understand. It is very easy to use movie as a historical event. It was comedy, students were laughing and parallel to that a lot of historical information was moved toward our brains. And if someone asks me after that film about culture of 1920s I can talk much than 40 minutes. Film is really the best way, especially for student to get as much as possible information, without getting bored.
We can use movies as historical documents, because they can show us the culture of the particular era that it should reflect. Of course if we take sci-fi movies we cannot really learn anything from them just the way the public or director can see the future. Movies in my opinion can never reflect how the real life, they only show what people at that time find interesting.
In this movie we saw what people in 1920s found funny. This movie tells us that people laugh when someone makes a fool of himself especially by accidents. For example tripping over anything, or cliche scene with the banana. Also it reflects the relationship between women and men and how they are able to show love, they are shy to express it. Also we can see what kinds of vehicles were used in that time, types of cars that were driven, that they are completely different as they are now of course. I consider the most important the change of the value of money. In that time one dollar was like one hundred nowadays. Then we can see that somethings never change and rich boys can win an affection of a girl more simply then the poor ones.
I think we can use movies as historical documents. However, we must consider that the result is just worldview of director who can distorts reality because of ´´artistic message´´.Nevertheless movie is very good source of environment and tastes of certain age.
Keaton's film is great case study of early twentieth century in America.We can find there clothes,buildings,transport,humour and music of this age.I think it ilustrates the move from strictly genteel society to the consumer era(for example typical joke known from grotesques-the fall after stepping on banana). The silence of movie strenghtens the speed of this age.
Movies like this are, and have always been historical documents. At the difference from other historical documents that we did until now this is more close to us and is more pictorial, it shows us of how they lived and what were their interests.. =))
Through this film we can see of how people lived, their surroundings and the development of the industry(film, cars, entertainment).
We see of how people entertained themselves and what was modern then, it shows us another type of leisure at that time.
sanja.
Good book might be so credible to make all happenings and events so close to the reader and it still just text: letters and sentences without faces and presentation how it really looked like. This is what movie did. It made the viewers so confident in presenting the facts shown in the movie that it was possible to act like they were there. Past was often shown by movies and it was enormous step for historians to make their knowledge accessible to other people.
The Sherlock Jr's film was entertaining but also informing about the life at that time. For instance, one dollar was appreciated, it was hard to get it and explains the economical situation at that time. Sherlock also showed the way people were dressed. They were a lot more covered which means they were pretty conservative. These are only few examples, not even so important as other things we can see in movies, especially old ones.
Watching this kind of movies can really document the age and also show us what people did in 1920’s. What they found funny, what was the typical clothing. How and old movie theatre looked like. Also by seeing cars everywhere we can easily make sense of what they meant for contemporaries.
These movies like Sherlock, Jr. also show us how the actors dealt with no sound. There was a piano in the scene of movie theatre so the music was life. It must have been hard to express yourself with no sound so we can observe the emphasis on mimics, gestures and movement.
When Sherlock fell asleep in the theatre and dreams about being famous detective or private eye, we can see how the story fastened. Lots of people are running and even racing each other with cars, which is also typical for today’s movies. And the music is much livelier when they are running or moving rather fast.
So according to this movie we can make a lot of sense of 1920’s. So that we can consider movie as a historical document.
Movie is a vision of a situation or event. Pictured in a certain way, almost every movie has its historical value. In the example of Sherlock, Jr by Buster Keaton viewers could see costumes, decorations, architecture, industrial progress (cars, trains), certain behavioral codes and the most important vision of people of that time. For example, historians could use it as a historical check on some of the visible attributes of culture. Moreover, creation of movie films as mass production meant that there have to be a movie business from production to selling at movie theaters. Usually, art is a reflection of everyday life, social and political struggles. That time was characterized by segregation not only between black and whites but also between immigrants of different origins. It is very important that movies as a new type of an amusement of that time were silent and going to Movie Theater and laugh about the same thing was a uniting force.
Primarily, movies and provide us a visual aspect of the history. Besides learning names and facts, visual images offer us an insight into actual looking of the period.
For example, thanks to the essay of Wolfgang Schivelbusch, we are familiar with the historical development of the railway; its use, and its impact on the society, but actually have no sense of how it looked like. This can result in mistaken ideas. We snub the practical details of a problem/object. The movie Sherlock Jr., help us to fill in this gap by showing us how the actual traveling was in practice. Thus, we can see how many obstacles people had to face when traveling, even with a slight exaggeration.
I was very surprised when I saw in what kind of train the figures traveled – coaches drawn by a small team engine with a speed that even a dog could race with. But I guess that since the film was of a comedy genre, many things were subjected to exaggeration in order to amuse audience.
Besides transportation, we could also see how they were dressed and what manners people from the early 20th cent. had. They respected the Code of Honor. Compared to present time, it was probably more important to follow. Ordinary acts such as visitations had to be liable to the given set of rules.
Moreover, the way the story was presented itself tells us a lot about the audience of that time. It reflects the society of 1920s – what sort of humor people would like (some parts would be perceived differently by today´s audience), how they would spend their leisure time, etc.
Movies, as well as other types of media can be used as historical documents. This means that they can be interpreted to tell us something about the age at which they were created.
The movie Sherlock, Jr. shows the 1920s in America. It shows the machines,cars, clothes, and social relations. Regarding social relations, a man needed a certain amount of money to be able to win a girl´s love. So money presented an important factor in the society. One can also spot an improvement in machinery (trains, cars and such). Sherlock, Jr. is a comedy; thus, it shows that people preferred to laugh at actors tripping or falling rather than to watch dramas or serious movies.
So Sherlock, Jr. presents quite accurate, although a bit exaggerated, picture of the 1920s America.
Movies are great historical documents because they show us actually pictures of past, which we don’t have to create ourselves as we do with written documents, and they ate not static as photography. On the other hand we need to keep in mind that they are acted, so what we see is not quite real.
However, in the movie Sherlock Jr. we can see what people liked in 1920s, how their values were different from ours. We can observe the fashion of that time, the technical development (there are shown cars, trains…). We may also take the movie as a product of 1920s and see what people would go to see in theatre and what seemed funny or romantic to them. We can compare the movie by Buster Keaton to movies today and we will find many differences bur also some similarities such as the division on good and bad guys or the typical American “happy end”.
No book can bring an event closer to somebody than a movie. That’s why the movie Sherlock Jr. by Buster Keaton can definitively be seen as s historical document; it gives insight in culture and society in the 1920´s in the United States. It shows the level of technical development at that time, the value of money, the way people perceived distances, how transportation looked like, how people enjoyed their leisure time and how gender roles were different compared to today. It is interesting to compare it to today´s world, what people back then found amusing or romantic.
This also shows how entertainment in the 1920’s is progressing and what they found funny, romantic, thrilling, and controversial at that time compared to the present. People have become less prudish and more independent from each other while back then one had to rely on others.
Movies are records of lifestyles and development in different periods of time.
If you wish to learn more about culture and a way of life of Americans that the best way of information transfer it is a film, so a film can be considered as historical document. We looked Sherlock’s, Jr. 40 minute film, it was black-and-white video without a sound, authors did not sound the text, but there was music and we could look a caption.
This film tells about a life of people in 1920, the film shows behavior of people in ridiculous situations, how much people expressed the feelings to each other, how much women and men were modest to express liking or love to each other. In this movie we can see a fashion of the people living at that time, to see how and on what people moved kinds of vehicles, such as trains, that were everywhere, cars and their types and also railroads. During this film it is possible distinctly to see architecture of buildings of those times. After seeing this film I have understood one of the important things is a value of money. At that time there was another relation at money, rather than now. 1$ meant much and on this money it was possible to buy many necessary thing, such as present. Sherlock’s, Jr. film shows that era of cinema industry had been developing by Americans in 1920’s.
Sherlock Jr. can indeed understood as a historical document, since it carries a first hand information about the era it was made in - in a sense, it is a very precious primary source that gives us the authentic feeling of time right before the "roaring twenties" (late 1920s, in contrast with this films 1923-1924 timescale). More than eighty years later, this film may not seem funny or relevant in commercial sense and it cannot be useful in its this original purpose, yet the attitudes of its characters, their costumes, dialogues, dreams and occupations take us to the world that shares so much with ours, yet is vastly different. In its own way. For example, the sense of humour, this film was made with and made for is relatively alien to us, seems childlike and eerie and this makes this merry, lighthearted film also quite haunting, dark and thrilling, as the world that is long gone, with most of the people alive then being dead now and that it will only remain in history comes back alive firsthand.
Throw films we can learn custom of the people in certain time. I enjoyed the silence of the film the most, there were no language barriers to overcome, Chinese or Mexican people can see the film at the same time, and get the main point of it. From 40 minute black-and-white silent movie starring Buster Keaton we can see a great content of psychological moving of the spectator in the screen. He is the great master of a genre of mute cinema. In the film he introduced the main character as the mechanic who transferred to conditions of a film in which it shows to spectators. Fast changes of a scene and actions on the screen puts Keaton in inconvenient and comic positions as, being the person from another, "present", realities, in all time hero "lags behind" screen circumstances. In the film the main character is hero mechanic dreaming to become a great detective. He is always in ridiculous situations; he made a record of those times, the tricks which are carried out without stuntman
In the movie Sherlock, Jr is the American life in 1920's portrayed. The situations there are presented in a funny way (like Charlie Chaplin style), but all of them have some truth in it. American people are presented there as hardworking, faithful and solve the same problems like we do now (love, sympathy, revenge, robbery etc.)
For my understanding the movie proved me that the time might change, the century, fashion and government, but the people, their inside, their problems and happiness stay the same. Like in Sherlock, Jr in 1920, the same way in 2009 people fall in love, make comedies, hate each other and cause wars.
Alessandra Glova
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