History Boys....interesting, unjudgmental and very British sort of film....I enjoyed it.
...and about flags in US pop culture...it's hardly surprising that they'd be there in Hollywood films...The country is just like that- flaggy. People have flags on their houses, businesses have flagpoles displaying US, State, and often Canadian flags as well. Americans of Irish heritage often display Irish flags. Lots of Southerners still display their Confederate flags. Schools have US flags and everyone has to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, which we're coached to say from kindergarten in a sing-songy voice, even though we don't really comprehend the words until later. It usually sounds thus: ("I PLEDJAleejintz TO the flag of the UnITed States of AmERica and TO the Republic for WITCHITstands, ONE nation, UNDERgod, INdivisible, with LIberty and JUStice for ALL.")
It's just a flaggy place. Including it frequently in film seems to be a natural representation of the prevailing American culture. Of course sometimes the representation takes on a slightly different meaning, that is, one aimed squarely at American audiences which urges them to strengethen their "tribal" allegiances with other Americans, hence big, wavy flag symbolism as in Spiderman. I'm not sure who makes these decisions. Personally I disapprove of anything gratuitous in art, be it pointless sex, pointless violence, pointless toilet jokes, pointless product placement, pointless nudity, pointless romance, or pointless patriotic propaganda. Such material makes for interesting pop culture study, but not for better films....However, the numerous casual flag glimpses that one encounters in films are usually pretty genuine-it's just like that in the US.
|
