Sklar, Chapts. 19, 20, 21, 22

19. Nadir/Revival
Why does Sklar view the 70s as a return to a more golden age for Hollywood filmmaking? Why is it logical that directors would attain so much importance in a contemporary industry? What was the change in distribution patterns at this time? Why did the system sustain major "auteurs"?

20. Reagan

1. How did films in the 80s reflect "the age of Reagan"?

2. What were these films commodifying?

3. What defines a "major release"?

4. How does the evolution of what are called "hard body" films parallel that of other genres, like the western?

5. What do Scorcese, Lynch and Lee have in common?

21. Memory

1. What is social amnesia? How do docudramas deal with it?

2. What do JFK, Malcolm X and Schindler's List have in common in terms of form? theme?

3. Why is Hollywood docudrama's view of history problematic?

22. Independent Images

1. How does "identity" become a genre?

2. What do the "multicultural documents" Sklar describes (such as The Thin Blue Line) have in common with the docudramas described earlier? How are they different from conventional documentaries?