Film And The Humanities

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Since their introduction in a Paris café just over 100 years ago, "the movies" have cast a spell upon viewers like no other art form or medium of communication. We may no longer respond as did those first Parisian spectators who dived under the table or scrambled for the door at the sight of a life-size, life-like locomotive seemingly barreling down upon them. However, some of us do confess to crying real tears when Forrest Gump's mother dies, or to jumping in our seats when Mrs. Bates makes her homicidal entrance in Hitchcock's classic Psycho. Today more than ever, the movies in their various formats--multiplex, home video, cable tv--influence our lives and shape the culture in which we, our children and our students live.