"The Grapes of Wrath" and "Shampoo"

Paper Summary:

This paper states that "The Grapes of Wrath" (1939) offers a photographically powerful panoramic view of the Great Depression and focuses on one family as a representation of an entire class. The paper explains that "Shampoo" is a very daring film for its time because it is a social comedy-drama, which uses humor as a way of dissecting a real social issue. The author feels that the milieu of the seventies is well depicted and shows a society becoming more self-absorbed as the result of a loosening of restrictions.

From the Paper:

"It is significant that his job is making women more beautiful, and they in turn give him particular affection because he has made them more beautiful. He is attracted to his own handiwork. The shallowness of this arrangement is what eventually makes itself known to him, but he has lived by it for some time and has depended on it form his livelihood as well as for his pleasures. The comedy in this film is dark, for the humor delves deeply into the real human feelings that are exposed by the filmmaker. The viewer is being asked to participate--the viewer is both attracted by the images of the beautiful people and the good life while being asked to see through the veneer to the lack of real human feeling beneath. This links the viewer with the hairdresser, who is going through the same process without the advantage of distance."

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• Analytical Essay # 122097 : "The Grapes of Wrath" and Market Structures"
• Analytical Essay # 122529 : "The Grapes of Wrath" and John Steinbeck"
• Book Review # 113991 : "The Grapes of Wrath" and Ideology"

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