NEW – Award in Film Studies – Pop Culture and Film

Course Description

Popular culture has long served as a powerful lens for understanding the dominant ideologies and collective sentiments of a society at any given point in history. Since its emergence in the late 19th century, the medium of film has played a central role in both shaping and reflecting popular culture, influencing how audiences see themselves, their communities, and the wider world.

This unit examines the evolution of that relationship. From cinema early role as an accessible art form for the working class in the 1920s, to its influence on the anti-establishment movements of the 1960s, to its contemporary global reach, film offers an invaluable historical record of the most pressing cultural, political, and social concerns of each era.

Students will investigate how audiences have engaged with film and popular culture, using examples where cinema not only mirrored emerging causes but also amplified their reach and impact. Case studies will include countercultural movements, mass-media marketing campaigns, and blockbuster franchises whose popularity reshaped public discourse.

Through the close analysis of clips from both iconic and lesser-known films, we will trace pivotal moments in Western film history: from wartime propaganda to the feel-good escapism of the 1950s, from the radical storytelling of New Hollywood in the 1960s and 1970s to the genre-defining thrillers and romantic comedies of the 1980s and 1990s.

This contextual journey will culminate in an exploration of how these cultural legacies have informed the post-2000s film landscape and the resurgence of the blockbuster. Along the way, we will engage with themes such as post-war social anxieties, youth rebellion, geopolitical conflict, migration, racial and gender representation, feminist movements, and sexual expression in cinema.

No pre requisites