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University Microfilms International 300 N. Z eeb Road Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 8400163 Barker, Steven Philip FAME: A CONTENT ANALYSIS STUDY OF THE AMERICAN FILM BIOGRAPHY The Ohio State University Ph.D. 1983 University Microfilms International300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 Copyright 1984 by Barker, Steven Philip All Rights Reserved ! PLEASE NOTE: In all cases this material has been filmed in the best possible way from the available copy. Problems encountered with this document have been identified here with a check mark V . 1. Glossy photographs or pages_______ 2. Colored illustrations, paper or ______print 3. Photographs with dark background______ 4. Illustrations are poor copy_______ 5. Pages with black marks, not original ___copy 6. Print shows through as there is text on both sides_______ of page 7. Indistinct, broken or small print on several pages<S 8. Print exceeds margin requirements______ 9. Tightly bound copy with print lost_______ in spine 10. Computer printout pages with indistinct______ print 11. P a g e (s)_____________lacking when material received, and not available from school or author. 12. P a g e (s)_____________seem to be missing in numbering only as text follows. 13. Two pages numbered_____________. Text follows. 14. Curling and wrinkled pages______ 15. O ther________________________________________ _________________ University Microfilms International FAME: A CONTENT ANALYSIS STUDY OF THE AMERICAN FILM BIOGRAPHY DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Steven Philip Barker, A.B.J., M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 1983 Reading Committee: Approved By Dr. Kenneth A. Marantz Dr. Clayton K. Lowe Dr. Alfred C. Clarke Advi set Department of Art Education VITA August 27, 1947 Born - Atlanta, Georgia 1968........... A.B.J., University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 1973-1974 . Graduate assistant, School of Journalism, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 1974........... M.A., University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 1974-1976 . Teaching assistant, Department of Photography and Cinema, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. 1976-1980 . Instructor, Department of Communications, Loyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Film Education Studies in Art Education. Professors Kenneth A. Marantz, Robert Arnold and Arthur Efland. Studies in Photographic Communications. Professors Clayton K. Lowe, Alfred C. Clarke, and Robert W. Wagner. Studies in Film Production. Professors Richard Long and Carl Clausen. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page VITA.......................................... ii LIST OF FIGURES........................................... iv Chapter I. INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE OF THE STUDY......... 1 II. METHODOLOGY....................................... 9 III. ANAL YSIS PROCEDURE.............................. 24 IV. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE.................. 41 V. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY....... ............ ..4B VI. ANALYSIS OF THE FILMS.......................... 51 VII. FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATION______ 195 APPENDIXES A. SUMMARY OF DATA............................. ...213 B. FILM SUMMARY CHARTS....... 214 BIBLIOGRAPHY..............................................243 LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. Breakdown of Harvey Characteristics.......29 Figure 2. Harvey Classification Key .............31 Figure 3. Kohlberg Classification Key................34 Figure 4. Summary Film Chart ...... ..38 i v I- INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE OF THE STUDY Fame is vapor; popularity an accident; riches take Mings. Only one thing endures, and that is character. — Horace Breely I'm going to live forever. Baby, remember my name. — from Fame, a popular song The screen biography occupies a unique place among the genres of American feature films. It is a hybrid of fact and fiction, Hollywood and history. Unlike the purely fictional movie, it purports to show us the "true story" of real people and events. Unlike the non—fiction film, it recounts this story using the same dramatic conventions as the traditional Hollywood potboilers glamorous stars, sweeping musical scores, dazzling sets and costumes, and most importantly, a formula script which values box office appeal over historical accuracy. And unlike Hollywood features based on historical incidents, the biography concentrates its glitter on the life story of a single character (or in a few cases two), a character whose name we associate with fame, success, "greatness." Perhaps this is a name whose exploits we have learned about from history books or school lectures. Perhaps not. But the fame, the "greatness" of this person has been validated, if for no other reason, than by the simple fact that Hollywood has chosen this life for a movie. And for as long as Late, Late Shows are on television, and video cassettes and disks feature Hollywood films, the biographical film will provide its subjects with a certain measure of media immortality. In this respect the screen biography represents to the contemporary viewer a highly visable and impressive case study in success, and its subjects may be viewed as powerful role models for achieving fame and status. J.P. Mayer (1946) wrote in Sociology of Film "...in one way or another films may do a great deal to provide patterns of behavior, to stimulate the imagination, and to determine conceptions of life...To many people the film appears to be an authentic reflection of life, and to question the values which are implicit in its presentations would never occur to them." (p. 168) Writing about the importance of teaching film in Art Education, Vincent Lanier (1969) noted! "...the motion picture appears to have some unusual capacity to involve the observer's emotions and allegiance. It is at least as powerful as, and perhaps even more powerful than, any of the other arts." (p.318) Given the importance of the motion picture in general, the screen biography in particular may well have added impact in shaping our conceptions of right behavior by virtue of its factual base. Its characters represent real people, many born of average circumstances, who rise above the crowd through a series of actions, value 3 judgements, and decisions dramatized in these -films. The question then arisess What types of people are presented in screen biographies? Are their lives indeed worthy of emulation? According to the Production Code of the Motion Picture Association of America, the governing standard for movie content between 1929 and 1967,5 "If motion pictures consistently hold ug for admiration high tyges of characters and present stories that affect lives for the better, they can become the most powerful natural force for the improvement of mankind." <p. 276) The Code produced an explicit list of rules describing how controversial subjects such as sex, crime, drugs, and violence should be treated, or avoided, to carry out this mandate. It did not, however, provide any specific guidelines on what constitutes "high types of characters." Generally, it was a "good citizenship" code, what Kevin Brownlow calls in Behind the Screen a list of "Don’ts and Be Carefuls", which mentions characters only to the extent that those representing the law and social institutions should be treated with respect, while criminals and evil-doers should not. Daniel Boorstin <1961), noted social critic and librarian of the Library of Congress, raised serious questions about our media depiction of "heroes" and "celebrities" in his book, The Image. According to 4 Boorstin, where once -fame was the hard-won product