ooh! even tho it wasn’t a particularly good movie - how about Blast From The Past? It actually addresses what the Sleepers are experiencing
Well, A), all due respect, but those are your criteria, not mine. And B), *Fatal Attraction *is a bad movie, IMHO, but it communicates a feeling of hysterical sexual paranoia pretty well. Not that I’d include it in my list; I just meant to suggest that *Philadelphia *presents a pretty watered down, “safe” portrayal of the AIDS crisis, and if I (personally) were to include a movie that covered that subject, I would include one that addressed the hysteria it engendered. Personally.
Wow, I need to add another to my list. NOt sure what to remove in its place, but how could I have forgotten * The Battle of Algiers*? That oughta bring them right up to speed on a bunch of different issues.
I was extremely close to citing Battle, but since the events conveyed happen so soon after their hibernation, and because the criteria in the OP specifically states “that give the coma-nauts the most comprehensive picture of the time they lost, and would get them ready to face 21st Century America”, I think My Son the Fanatic speaks to more cultural issues directly. Though the brilliant Algiers resonates deeply with what’s going on in the Middle East, that resonance (and the contemporary applications) will be lost on those who’ve been isolated from the news this long.
Which, given the orientation of our audience, is exactly the appropriate choice. What you define as sexual hysteria of FA will too easily be read as good-ole-fashioned family values for those rooted in a mid-50s mindset.
I would argue that this evolution in cultural values is easiest to portray since finding modern movies that show women in “progressive” non-traditional roles is fairly easy to do. Even though a specific “Women’s Lib” film isn’t chosen doesn’t mean that a lot of movies will rather overtly communicate the idea that women are seen and treated differently. Plus, women’s rights didn’t have as dramatic a shift as civil or gay rights–things that will prove much more dramatically bewildering to Eisenhower-era US citizens.
:shudder: Only to convey one of the bullets they dodged by being gone so long.
Would there be explanations to these films? Like, could one say “this is [name of movie], here’s the context… etc”. Because seeing any of these (other than Forrest Gump or Apollo 13 out of context wouldn’t make much sense.
Technically it’s about the fall of East Germany, but I think ArchiveGuy’s choice of Goodbye, Lenin! is the best. Especially since it’s a wake-up from coma story. I had thought about including it, but thought I might be falling prey to personal bias on it. However, if he gets War Games, I’ll return the favor and get rid of Romeo + Juliet. At first I was thinking of trying to show a familiar story in a different way, but it’s unnecessary. I’ve got War of the Worlds, but they’d have to pay close attention — is there anything else that even hints at America as vulnerable to terrorism?
I didn’t see it, but does anyone know if Far From Heaven would work for them?
Actually, I think movies that deal with things in the past is kinda cheating. Hindsight is always 20/20 and movies like Apollo 13, **The Right Stuff ** ASF tend to be a product of their times, not the actual time in which the action took place. So I’ll try to limit my list to movies that are contemporary to the themes theydescribe, or at least made shortly after. This is why I substitute Mississippi Burning for
In the heat of the Night.
Deep Throat.
The Ipcress Case.
Deer Hunter.
China Syndrom.
Network.
Breakfast Club.
(Any early movie by Kevin Smith)
South Park
Lock, Stock and two smoking Barrels.
Dude, you think too much. I will be there to explain.