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Running Head: SYDNEY POLLACK’S THE WAY WE ARE: VALUES ARE IN MARVEL
MOVIES?

Sydney Pollack’s The Way We Are: Values Are in Marvel Movies?

MacKenzie Bass

University of California Berkeley

College Writing R1A

2 March 2018
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Sydney Pollack’s The Way We Are: Values Are in Marvel Movies?

Black Panther, marvel’s new film about a prince who must take over the thrown of a

secretly advanced African country when his father dies, hit the theaters last weekend, and had a

huge opening weekend at the box office. But What made the film so successful? Perhaps

moviegoers flocked to the theaters for the highly advertised film to see exhilarating violence,

mainstream actors and actresses, and to hear the soundtrack made by renowned hip-hop artist

Kendrick Lamar. Despite all of the anticipation surrounding Black Panther, the film possesses

another attraction that may go unnoticed by most moviegoers. This attraction, however, is quite

familiar to Sydney Pollack.

Many moviegoers believe that modern films are polluting societal values with

violence, sex, and profanity. However, at a conference about the impact of films on today’s

societal values, Sydney Pollack, a renowned Hollywood director of more than 16 films,

argued to concerned moviegoers that changes in societal values are accountable for the

content that is produced in films (Pollack, n.d.). The renowned film director challenges the

values that his audience is defending by questioning the audiences understanding of the

film industry. Pollack notes that the objective of films is to entertain moviegoers, not to

moralize, because films need to make money to support the industry (Pollack). In order to

make money, films must attract moviegoers and interest them. Furthermore, due to the

importance of the consumer in the film industry, movies adapt to commonplace societal

values, moral or not, in order to create a profit.

Unlike poems and paintings, films must make money in order for the industry to

continue. This is because art such as poems and paintings do not cost much to produce,
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whereas films are quite expensive. Making films is costly, because financiers loan

producers money in order to front the cost of making the film, which film studios cannot

afford without if they did not receive a loan (Pollack). Pollack states that this process places

a tremendous amount of pressure onto producers as debtors to make a successful film so

that they can repay the financiers (Pollack). It is only then that the studio can make money

off of the film. He says that this conflict between art and economics makes films quite

burdensome to sell (Pollack). Therefore, the renowned director extols that films must be

treated like products and not art (Pollack). Thus, Pollack notes that films must adapt to the

consumers tastes in order to be a successful product (Pollack).

In fashion, styles and trends change over the years to keep up with what it is

popular with consumers. The same is true about films. Consumers want the popular values

and ideas to be seen in the theaters. Just like how fashion trends or hairstyles change over

decades, the change in societal values is reflected by the change of content in movies. From

the 1930’s through to the 1950’s, society shared many values that were very evidently

depicted in the films of the time (Pollack). However, values have changed since then, and

this is shown by the inclusion of more violence, less sanctity of life, and more divorce in

recent films as compared to the films from that time period (Pollack). Pollack states that

Dances with Wolves, a 1990 film that was a guilty reflection on the societal ideals that

existed in western films from the 1930’s through to the 1950’s, was so successful, because

it resonated with the way that the people in 1990 felt about the poor treatment of Native

Americans that occurred in the past (Pollack). The highly esteemed filmmaker contends

that if Dances with Wolves was made during the 1930’s-1950’s, that people would have
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completely rejected the films ideas and it would not have made any money (Pollack).

Timing is everything in the film industry, and Dances With Wolves was the right film at the

right time.

Much like Dances with Wolves, Black Panther, is a film that derived success by

resonating with current societal values. Black Panther did this by advocating for racial equality

through the depiction of the first black superhero defeating villains and saving the world. The

film also aligned with current societal values by encompassing the rich history of people from

African descent during black history month. The film acknowledges the mistreatment and

exploitation of African natives for their resources by showing Wakanda, a fictional resource rich

African country, defend itself from the villains. A film like Black Panther could never have been

produced or 50 years, because society was much less open and understanding to diversity. For

example, the film would have created mass amounts of turmoil had it been produced shortly after

the civil rights movement. Even in the 1970’s or 80’s, many people would not have gone to see

the film, because the content would be too progressive and liberal for the time period.

Black Panther proves that moral content cannot be forced into films: it must come

about naturally. The independent variable in the film industry is the moviegoer: everything

depends on them. In a democracy everyone has different opinions and the tastes of

moviegoers might not reflect the tastes of everyone in the democracy (Pollack). If films just

focused on portraying moral good and the content was controlled, they would end up like

communistic Russian films (Pollack). The responsibility of a filmmaker should not be to act

as sermonizer of high morals. Instead, filmmakers should make films that challenge,

provoke, and inspire people (Pollack). Making films moral to improve society will not work,
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because the morals being implemented by films do not actually exist in society. Instead, a

moral message must come about naturally. In other words, the success of award winning

films, like Black Panther, is difficult to replicate. Directors cannot plan to make another pro-

black film with lots of action and excitement and expect success. The process is not that

elementary: there is no formula for success (Pollack).

The people who believe that films are polluting societal values are misguided about

the logistics of the film industry. Movies adapt to commonplace societal values, moral or

not, in order to keep the industry in business. American films are about the uniqueness of

the individual and democracy and that is why they touch us. American films such as Black

Panther, which challenge us to look at society’s grim past and challenge the everyday

societal constructs of racism, sexism, and inequality, are the reason why society cares

about films. Theses films challenge the world to be better than it has been and inspire

people to make a difference. Moreover, inspiring the world is not achieved by forcing moral

content into films. The values of today’s society will not be changed by making moral films:

society must change first.

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References
Pollack, S. (n.d.). The Way We Are. Bcourses. Reference:
https://bcourses.berkeley.edu/courses/1469778/files/folder/Readings/U2%20Readings?pr
eview=72426245