What is a Typical American Film?

Is there such a thing as a typical American film? It is true that there are many features that mark a movie as American, but perhaps the most essential is the theme of the loner-hero. From the earliest days of silent films until the recent extravagant science fiction films, the American movie has concentrated on the role of one individual who spends his or her life combining the forces of evil – and the good guy, the hero, usually wins by the end of the film.

In the western movie, which comes out of many legends of the American West, a typical figure is the lonesome cowboy. He wanders into a town and straightens out his troubles. Those troubles can be cattle rustlers or out-laws. Then the strong and independent hero rides off into the sunset alone. Americans like this image in their films because they are highly independent themselves, and individualism counts a great deal with them. An individual who is able to correct the evils of the world, or of a small town, is someone to admire.

Even the gangster (匪徒) movie, a very popular form of the typical American film, usually has a hero. Either he is a lawman out to catch the criminals or a gangster who suddenly sees the light and tries to go straight. During the violence?ridden period of Prohibition in the 1920s, it is natural that the gangster movie would grow in popularity. These films kept the same tone as the western --- the bad cannot triumph! One good person can save the innocent.

Recent science fiction films deal with the same themes. Against the forces of alien powers, people will fight to protect their ideals. Here, too, the action centers around a single individual, but now he or she must save the world.