On Negative Impacts Of American Individualism

As one of the most important entertaining activities, film has drawn the attention from the public since its first appearance. Meanwhile, as one of the most popular forms of pop-culture products, film has been a major concern for scholars.Nowadays, besides its entertaining function, scholars tend to focus on its function of spreading culture. Film is like a mirror, which reflects the reality of our society from different perspectives. Through watching films, people can have a more distinct knowledge of the existing social phenomena as well as the cultural conventions of different places. As the representation of the highest standard of film production,Hollywood films have drawn extensive attentions from scholars both at home and abroad.Individualism lies in the center of capital world’s outlook, and it is the fundamental principle of the bourgeois morality. As soon as it enters into America, it exists as the core value of America. As a result, Hollywood films, as the representation of American film industry, cannot avoid the theme of individualism.Clint Eastwood’s film Million Dollar Baby is a hard-hitting film for it won four awards including the award for Best Picture at the 77 thOscar Awards. This thesis will take Million Dollar Baby as the example for study and aims to discuss the negative impacts that American individualism has on American society which are reflected in this film. Film to a large extent is the reflection of social problems. Therefore, films like Million Dollar Baby which concern the basic values of American society, are worth studying.