We inhabit a culture in which movies, TV, music, literature, and
advertising form an increasingly integrated media environment.
Contemporary Hollywood movies are no longer really successful unless they
launch a consumer product line -- a soundtrack album, computer games and
websites, amusement park rides, clothing apparel, spin-offs and sequels --
and unless they perform in international markets as well as in the U.S.
Celebrated filmmakers, such as Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, David
Lynch, and John Woo, move easily across the media -- creating TV series,
computer games, and commercials, in addition to feature films.  In this
environment, distinctions between art, entertainment, and commerce that
once seemed self-evident have become hopelessly blurred.

Much has changed in Hollywood over the last few decades.  Movie
studios have diversified into related fields, such as theme parks and
television production.  The studios themselves have been absorbed into
transnational conglomerates that view film production as merely one source
in a worldwide stream of revenue.  New distribution technologies -- cable,
satellites, home video, the Internet -- have turned the family home into
Hollywood's most lucrative exhibition market.  International markets now
challenge the U.S. market as the primary source of movie industry revenue.

This course will explore the ways in which Hollywood has adapted
and survived in spite of the changes that have occurred over the past few
decades.  Although the movie industry has changed dramatically since the
days of the studio system, the term "Hollywood" continues to survive
because it collects the diverse interests of the media industries in a
single, identifiable location.  In the second half of the century, the term
"Hollywood" has come to stand for several things:  a particular location
for cultural production, a style of storytelling and filmmaking, a highly
marketable type of entertainment, and a landmark in the global cultural
landscape.  In all these senses, Hollywood has shown remarkable resilience,
an ability to incorporate major changes into the structures established
first by a small band of entrepreneurs nearly seventy years ago.

This course will examine Hollywood's changing role as a site of
cultural production, concentrating on the rise of television, the tensions
between blockbuster and independent movies, the growth of international
markets, the impact of new technologies, and the continuing challenges
faced by women and minorities in the entertainment industries.  We will
then trace changes in Hollywood's narrative strategies, visual and sound
styles, stars, and genres -- particularly as these have been redefined by
new markets, new technologies, and new artists.

In addition to readings, we will view a number of movies and TV
programs at our Monday evening screening session.  Grades will be based on
a combination of exams and short papers.