America, as told by Cinema: The Syllabus

Each week, I will write about a movie that accurately represents America in either form or content (or both.)

I can’t decide whether I love or hate America. A land so riddled with corruption and death built on the backs of slaves over the lives of natives, it’s hard to reconcile an existence bearing the weight of genocide and lies. On the other hand, we’re a country built by outcasts that hit its economic stride during the industrial revolution; immigrants from hundreds of countries flocked here and made us the most culturally diverse place on the planet. Over the next century, we built our own national traditions and exported our own culture to the furthest reaches of Earth. We are a special place, no doubt, but in both beauty and suffering in equal measure. Maybe it’s that duality that makes America— to someone like myself who looks at the world with endless awe— such a breeding ground for art.

America’s creative output across all styles and mediums is well-documented, but I am particularly interested in the art with a true American voice, or one that reflects America itself, pieces of work that are a looking glass for us as a people. I love foreign books and movies and music, but I’ve always been drawn to Americana and the perspective it offers, if only because it’s so resonant. My family has been here for centuries. That's all I know. John Steinbeck’s East of Eden is my favorite book because it describes a land and a people so embroiled in progress they forget to bring their souls along with them. Bruce Springsteen’s “Independence Day” is one of my favorite songs because it paints a portrait of the recklessness and soullessness of change and gentrification through the eyes of a man who is desperately trying to connect with his repressed and dying father one last time. Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks is a portrait of harrowing isolation in a soulless concrete jungle.

With movies, the thread of Americana is strong. It was the first medium that America itself popularized, so it only makes sense that there is so much unapologetically American cinema. I can’t pick one favorite, or even just a couple, so I decided to start this series on my Substack: America, as told by Cinema. Each week I will write about one movie that reflects the American experience or embodies what it means to be an American in the truest sense. I’m going to be loose with it: they can be big-budget blockbusters or small indie flicks. They can be cynical or dreamy— or both. They don’t even have to be made by American filmmakers (as one of my favorite Americana films of all time is by a German.) As long as they are told with a singularly American voice, the country itself doesn’t have to have anything to do with the plot.

I’m also building a list on Letterboxd. Here’s the link. If you have any suggestions for films that I should add to this series, I‘m all ears. And, by the way, to answer my initial question: despite it all, I really do love this place. It’s the only thing I know.

See you tomorrow!