Film Frenzy Cultural Series Overview
Introduction
Film Frenzy has always been about reviewing films. Since 2014, more than 400 have been featured and critically analyzed. However, films don’t simply happen in a vacuum. The stories they tell have meaning, whether it comes from taking a hard look at difficult aspects of society, letting an audience forget about their troubles for a brief moment or somewhere in between.
Yet this is not unique to films. There are numerous examples throughout history where people have sought to leave an imprint upon the culture. This is true in literature, music, films, television, and video games just to name a few.
As such, Film Frenzy is embarking on a new series. Senior Writer and Editor Jason Wheeler will take a look at not only historical eras themselves, but various elements within those eras and seeing how they fit within the overarching historical narrative of the world.
After all, as many have pointed out through the ages, every effect has a cause. No musician woke up one day and chose a career in music, no writer chose their literary career on a whim, no actor chose a career in film by chance. Every creator in history has had at least one person who inspired them and those people had their own inspirations with a chain of influence going back to the beginning of civilization.
The question then becomes… where to start?
Historical Eras
The best starting point would be a dissection of the various eras throughout history.
Ancient Rome was one of the largest empires of the world, how did it become so? What were its greatest achievements? How did its people live their daily lives? How did the empire fall?
The Renaissance was a time were scholars sought to embrace humanism in all aspects of life. What drove them to do so? What came about because of these shifts? How did it affect the secular and religious worlds? Where there any notable figures pushing against the scholars and what they were looking for?
The 1970s has been seen by many as a decade of change. What were the factors which led to said changes? How did the majority of people choose to entertain themselves? What technologies were introduced during the decade? What was the outlook of society going into the next decade?
This part of the series will seek to answer all of these questions as well as other questions surrounding these historical periods and others. Afterwards, the next logical step is taking more detailed looks at specific aspects within them.
Music
For as long as there has been recorded history, there has been music. Nevertheless, it’s changed significantly throughout the years. What are the eras in music and how has each era built upon the previous ones? Who were the most influential or popular musicians, songwriters and composers of those eras? What have been the defining genres throughout the years and why? How have genres split into so many subgenres?
Film & Television
The history of film is an interesting one, starting with silent films going all the way to today’s trend of all-encompassing cinematic universes. Much has gone on between then and now though. What were the eras in film? What were the most popular and the most profitable films of those eras? Who were the most popular or influential actors and actresses? What caused each era to come about and what led to their decline?
The same could be said for television, much has changed since they were first sold to the public. What kinds of shows has the public enjoyed throughout the years? What breakthroughs have come about in television? How else has television evolved from the first televised shows through today? What makes professional wrestling entertaining to so many?
Literature
Literature has gone through quite a number of eras, too. Additionally, these eras are different regionally. As an example, the history of English literature is quite different from the history of American literature. What is it that makes them different and are there other regions with such defined eras in their literary history? What genres were the most prominent in each of these eras and who were the most popular or influential authors?
Encompassing one unique branch of literary history are comic books. They have become such a mainstay of popular culture it would be difficult to find one person who didn’t know at least one superhero. What led to the rise of comic books? Have superheroes always been popular? How have comics been presented over the years? How have the characters changed over the years?
Video Games
Video games haven’t been around as long as the other categories. Despite this, they have become an enormous part of today’s culture. What was the first video game and how did it lead to the creation of others? What technologies have been used throughout the years? How have video games become so popular? What are the video gaming eras? What makes up each console generation? What have been the most popular or influential video games throughout the generations?
Going forward
Exploring the answers to these questions and more, looking at just how history and culture have both shaped each other, is going to be a monumental task. In order to complete this undertaking, starting Sunday, April 15 there will be three posts per day, two will be devoted to furthering this examination of historical eras and cultural trends throughout them. The third will be the reviews Film Frenzy has become known for.