History 474a

Devine

Spring 2014

 

 

Biskind, “Pods and Blobs”

 

  1. Biskind argues that the sci-fi film Them! “effectively established the legitimacy of state power” and “defined and negated the extremes, the limits of behavior.”  What does he mean by this? How does the film set out to convince people that they should “do what the government tells them”?

 

  1. Why does Biskind believe that both Them! and The Thing depict nature’s assault on culture?

 

  1. Biskind uses the terms “corporate-liberal” and “conservative” in his analysis of cold war sci-fi films. As he uses them, what do these terms mean?

 

  1. Why does Biskind consider “Them!” a “corporate-liberal” film and “The Thing” a “conservative” or “populist” film?  What evidence does he cite to support his argument? Do you buy his interpretations?

 

  1. What “corporate-liberal” themes emerge in “Them!”?  What “conservative” themes emerge in “The Thing?”

 

  1. According to Biskind, how do corporate-liberals and conservatives differ with regard to their attitudes toward:

1) authority/state power

2) science and scientists

3) the military

4) the “common people”

5) the nature and agenda of the Communist enemy

 

  1. Biskind declares that “Them! has as much to do with the sex war as it does the cold war.” Do you believe, as the author appears to, that Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., John F. Kennedy, and other “corporate-liberals” were afraid of “sexual women?”  Should they have been?

 

  1. Does Biskind offer any evidence that contemporary audiences interpreted these films in the same way he does?  Even if they did not, does his argument still stand because these audiences were subconsciously consuming the messages latent in these films?

 

  1. Biskind implicitly condemns the “consensus” political culture of the cold war in which forces of the “center” tried to keep in check other forces they perceived to be on the extreme left and right.  Given Americans’ recent encounters with Fascism (on the right) and Communism (on the left), is the behavior of the “centrists” understandable, or even prudent?  Or was this simply a case of a self-interested status quo trying to protect its own power?

 

 

Oakley, “Good Times: The American Economy in the Fifties”

 

  1. What developments in the economy during the 1950s caused people, including many economists, to speak of the new “people’s capitalism” or a “new era of capitalism”?  What distinguished the US economy of the ‘50s from that of the ‘30s?

 

 

  1. What were some of the causes of ‘50s prosperity?

 

 

  1. How did the expansion of the advertising industry and the expansion of easy access to credit during the ‘50s reflect the shift from a production economy to a consumption economy?

 

 

  1. What were some of the major transformations in the US economy during the 1950s?

 

 

  1. What was the social impact of the growth of large conglomerates?  How did the emerging dominance of these giant corporations change people’s everyday lives?

 

 

  1. How did the economic boom of the ‘50s affect organized labor?  How did the government’s role in mediating employer-employee disputes change after World War II?

 

 

  1. How did the agricultural sector of the economy fare in the 1950s?  In your view, was there more change or continuity from the 1930s?

 

 

  1. If you were looking to make money in the 1950s, what kinds of career paths seemed the most promising? Why?

 

 

  1. With regard to its effect on the economy and on everyday life, how was the interstate highway system of the 1950s similar to the railroad system of the 1880s? How was it different?  In what ways were rail and road transport similar?  How did they differ?

 

 

  1. Why might “poverty in the midst of plenty” be an apt phrase to describe the social situation in the US during the 1950s?  Why was persistent poverty not a widespread concern during the 1950s?

 

 

  1.  To what extent should great disparities of wealth be of concern when the majority of the population feels that times are good?

 

 

May, “Explosive Issues”

 

1.    What evidence does May cite to support her contention that “experts” were highly regarded in the 1950s? What roles did these “experts” serve?

 

 

2.    Why did some “experts” see women entering the workplace in greater numbers as a problem?  Why were they especially concerned about “talented” women?

 

 

3.    How did experts propose to “contain” sexuality and sexual experimentation during the 1950s?

 

 

4.    How could women employ their traditional “domestic skills” in the context of the Cold War?

 

 

5.    How did civil defense experts use old fashioned values to “tame” atomic age fears?

 

 

6.    What evidence does May introduce to show the subliminal connection between atomic age fears and uneasiness with explicit female sexual expression?