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Example research essay topic: Anti Communist Television Networks - 1,246 words

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... that even having been convicted of a crime (Ellen Schrecker the Age of McCarthyism). The film industry soon started to change as people began to fear losing their job and reputation. The economic hardships befalling Hollywood hit the movie industry hard. The studios were already losing money due to the invention and wide-spread use of the television and many studios were going bankrupt or on their way down that path. Needless to say, the McCarthy controversy didnt sit well with the heads of the major studios.

Due to the storm of bad publicity hovering over Hollywood and the buzz of gossip about Communist film stars the movie industry was experiencing serious backlash from both consumers and its backers. Many of the banks and financial supporters of the studios began to complain and became reluctant to get involved. During World War II banks were quick to lend money for film projects; however, with the loss of profit to the television and the scandals in Hollywood, the banks became more cautious than ever, getting more involved in monitoring the content of the films, and pushing for conservative, safe ventures (HUAC). During this time the studios also became aware of the publics reception of their films and feared a protest by several conservative groups, most notably the American Legion. Many right-wing, conservative groups threatened to boycott theatres if Hollywood continued to support blacklisted individuals, thus the contents of the movies being made began to shift as the red scare continued.

In the time between 1947 and 1954, almost forty explicitly propagandist ic, anti-Communist films were made in Hollywood, despite the fact that nearly every single one lost money. These films include The Red Menace (19490, I Married a Communist (1950), Big Jim McClaine (1952), as well as films that portrayed the importance of cooperating in federal investigations, such as On the Waterfront (1954). In fear of alienating any part of the shrinking movie audience, studios took drastic measures to ensure the public of Hollywood's support in keeping America safe from Communism. One industry executive explained, Were a business that has to please the customers; thats the main thing we have to do, keep people happy, and, to do that, we have to stay out of trouble. (Ellen Schrecker, the Age of McCarthyism). The most significant avenues of anti-communism propaganda in film can be seen in many of the Sci-Fi movies of the times. Movies exhibiting issues such as brainwashing, infiltration, sabotage, and xenophobia were widely released and metaphorically portrayed a danger of communism in America.

Some of these films such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) portray the infiltration of society by aliens a. k. a Communists, and how only the people who are weary of the outsiders and posses a sense of paranoia of what is happening around them survive. This can be interpreted as the idea that one should always be on the look out for Communism in society and should be quick to take action.

Other films dealt with the idea of cooperativeness with the government and questioning outsiders. Films that dealt with these issues were numerous and included such well known films as: Invaders from Mars (1953), It Came from Outer Space (1953), The Thing from Another World (1951), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), This Island Earth (1955) and many more (It Came from the 1950 s). The media and film industry were subjecting the unknowing public to masses of anti-communist propaganda and breeding the idea that everything conservative is right and anything different is wrong and must be destroyed, much the way aliens were unquestioningly annihilated in the films. This new trend in the theatres was far reaching but was no comparison to the expansive influence of the television. The television had become the most popular thing to hit the American public since the telephone and people were buying sets left and right.

Hollywood was distressed over the spread of television, but many production businesses picked up on the trend and took it to new heights. The television companies had seen the brutality of the HUAC and McCarthyism in dealing with the film industry and took measures to ensure that television would not fall under the same suspicions. By June 1950, the Blacklists had spread to the broadcast industry too; with the publication of the Red Channels, a 213 -page compilations of alleged Communist affiliations of actors, writers, musicians and other radio and television entertainers by the American Business Consultants, many production companies set out to make sure they were safe from any connection with the traitors (HUAC). Many companies, such as CBS, imposed loyalty oaths on their employees and most added professional anti-Communists and informers to their payrolls (Ellen Schrecker: Blacklists and other economic sanctions). By 1951, the television networks and their sponsors no longer hired anyone whose name was in Red Channels, and the prohibition soon spread to anyone who seemed controversial or liberal. In hopes of appeasing the public and keeping their own reputations safe, television companies invested in a new form of programming known as sitcoms.

Television in the 1950 s can easily be interpreted as the heyday of congeniality. The Sitcom, along with the Western was the typical show of the time. Sitcoms portrayed an ideal life in which a nuclear family was promoted and life was perfect for the shows characters. The American public was shown that life free from liberalism, reform, or free-thinking was pleasant. Every night the viewing public would see a loving, all-knowing father; a beautiful, unquestioning mother; and two quick-to-please children who always had their rooms cleaned. The public was being fed the idea how the perfect family should live and the belief that normality and conformity are good and anything that doesnt fit into that mold is wrong and will not be accepted; after all, all of the families on television were simple, conservative individuals and they all seemed very happy.

The Western also followed along these basic ideas. Westerns such as Gunsmoke (CBS) brought the viewing public back to simpler times when evil was easy to spot and honor was found in those who protected justice. The television networks used these types of shows to protect themselves from any accusations that they were sending out Communist messages, but these show subsequently influenced a generation into a new way of thinking and living. Families moved in rapid numbers to suburbia and wanted to be just like the Cleavers or the Andersons.

The American public would never be the same, always reflecting on the perfection played out nightly on television and setting their goals to reaching that level of traditionalism. The Hollywood Blacklisting that followed the Red Scare of the 1950 s forced the media to change in order to survive the scrutinizing committees of the HUAC and various congressional committees that pushed for the social purging of America in hopes of searching out the Reds which they believed were hiding among them. This change in media came at a time when the public had become extremely receptive to such influences due to the spread of the television and the growth of the middle class who had extra money to spend on luxuries such as going to the movie theatres. The constant barrage of conformity and conservatism as well as xenophobia seen in everyday shows and movies shaped the perception of the average American to believe that liberal or radical ideas were not what normal people supported and believed in.


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Research essay sample on Anti Communist Television Networks

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