自由价值观在美国电影《飞越疯人院》中的体现毕业论文.doc

The Reflection of Values of Freedom in American Movie One Flew over the Cuckoos NestbyA thesis presented to the School of English Studies ofXian International Studies Universityin partial fulfillment of the requirementsfor the degree ofBachelor of ArtsMay 18, 2016Class: Advisor: 西安外国语大学毕 业 论 文 开 题 报 告姓名性别班级学号自由价值观在美国电影飞越疯人院中的体现摘要随着文化的快速累积和电影业的快速发展，美国电影中引入越来越多的文化元素，给观众植入越来越深的思想价值观念，尤其是电影飞越疯人院中主人公对自由奋不顾身的追求，影响了一代又一代热血满怀的年轻人。本文对美国电影文化产业的发展、美国价值观念的起源发展以及二者之间的关系进行归纳整理，通过对好莱坞经典电影飞越疯人院的详细分析，从其创作背景、矛盾冲突、人物性格、意外结局以及人们对该电影的不同评价，系统地分析了电影中所蕴含的自由主义价值观，从而针对该价值观在这该电影中如何体现这个问题，做出了详尽的解释说明。并通过数据分析向人们展示了美国电影的广泛影响力，从而揭示了将自由价值观体现在美国电影中这一不可避免的趋势。关键词：自由主义；价值观；文化元素；电影产业The Reflection of Values of Freedom in American Movie One Flew over the Cuckoos NestAbstract： With the rapid accumulation of culture and the fast development of film industry, American films introduce a growing number of cultural elements, deeply implanting the idea of values to the audiences. Especially as a typical example, the selfless pursuit for freedom of the hero in the film One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest gives great impact to generations of young people.This thesis makes an inductive analysis of the relationship between American movie and the values of freedom. From the perspective of background, contradiction, characteristic, unexpected ending and various comments from audience, this thesis makes a systematical analysis of how the liberalism reflected in the movie One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest. Besides, the paper demonstrates the widespread influence of American films by statistical analysis, which reveals the inevitable tendency of values of freedom embodied in American films.Key Words: Liberalism; values of freedom; cultural elements; film industryTable of Contents1. Introduction.1 1.1Background .1 1.2 Literature review.2 1.3 Thesis structure.32. Values of Freedom Reflected in American Movies.42.1 Values of freedom in American values.42.1.1 Cultural origin of American values.42.1.2 Development of values of freedom in American.62.2 Development of American movies.72.3 Relationship between American values and American movies.83. Values of Freedom Shown in the Movie One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest.10 3.1 Values of freedom shown outside the movie from its audience.103.1.1 Positive attitude.103.1.2 Negative attitude.10 3.2 Values of freedom shown inside the movie from the content.11 3.2.1 Values of freedom reflected in introduction and background.113.2.2 Values of freedom reflected in the characters.12 3.2.2.1 The free choice of Mc Murphy.12 3.2.2.2 The successful escape of Chief.14 3.2.2.3 The autocratic authority of the nurse.153.2.3 Values of freedom reflected in the ending.164. Conclusion .18Works Cited.19 1. IntroductionAs one of American pillar industries, the film entertainment industry makes a great contribution to the United States to be the king of films. With its unique form to embody and demonstrate the spiritual and material life of Americans, their films now have penetrated into every corner of daily life, affecting peoples way of life around the world. Like the values of freedom, what is reflected in the American films One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest, has more or less left an impression on the minds of those who ever watched them. 1.1 Background Since the Status of Liberty, also known as the Liberty Enlightening the World, arrived in the New York harbor which was sent as a gift of the Centennial of American independence by French, it became a symbol of the United States of America. As far back as the year of 1776, the concept of liberty was come up with in The Declaration of Independence drafted by Thomas Jefferson, which eventually developed into one of the primary briefs of America. Liberty, generally speaking, is what people called freedom, and it is one of the basic values in peoples life. Values of freedom, in socialist society, is one of the eight core values which are deeply rooted into peoples mind and enjoy popular support among the people. In the same way, it is also an indispensable value in western countries, especially in America. On the other hand, as early as 1893, when Thomas Edison invented the movie mirror and created a “Black Maria” as photographic field, it is considered the beginning of American film industry. While a political storm ever battered Hollywood, and made a large number of outstanding directors, producers, actors, and screenwriters, such as well-known Chaplin, become unemployed or in exile, which brought a difficult time for the development of American films. But due to the increasingly expansion of film market after World War II, Hollywood once again showing prosperity. And as the increasingly wide popularity of Hollywood, the American films has developed rapidly and spread into all over the world, and some soft powers like culture and belief are absorbed into these films, which spread with films into every corner. In the film Brave Heart, William Wallace is beheaded for pursuing his dream of freedom, and in the film One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest, Mc Murphy is killed by one of his friends, for that is the only way to get him away from shackles and make him obtain the freedom. In terms of an individual in human society, freedom is a living space where people wishes to achieve personal wills, which includes not only the social, political, economic, cultural, traditional values and some other external directions, but also the personal physical fitness, wealth, values, the expression of desires and other internal factors. Thus both William Wallace and Mike Murphy lose their lives on the way to pursue freedom in the films, but the freedom they always pursue is the freedom to live.1.2 Literature Review Viewing from ancient to modern time, there arise a large amount of researches not only in the origin and evolution of the values of freedom, but also in the fusion between these values and films.About the values of freedom, Professor Han in Value and Culture Research Center, Beijing Normal University, makes a sketch of the evolution of American liberalism and modern characteristics with the help of the researches made by western scholars, providing some clues to help readers understand the American values ideology. (Han 17) Regardless of the different faces of classical, modern and contemporary, “liberalism still follow the inherent logic of its evolution, and it is always a consistent institutional foundation and political traditions in America.” In the films field, American film is one of the important American cultural expressions on the screen. “The spiritual vision of American intellectuals is added into American films, which spreads deep cultural values and affects the values formation of film lovers all over the world.” (Li 23) American film is the reflection of the self-centered individualism and the strong cultural identity of heroism. (Xu 176) Hollywood film is an important part of soft power in American, showing universal values and idealistic liberal political culture, which enhances the attractiveness of American culture and values, thereby facilitates the cultural soft power. In addition, One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest is explored to find that the constant effort to seek freedom is always in vain for the patients in asylum with the leader of Mc Murphy. Both the heroes of these two films are seem like ultimately failed, actually only they obtain the true freedom, which are elaborately explained by the previous authors. While, there is few research discussing about the values of freedom that reflected in Brave Heart and, and that is exactly what I intend to research in this structure. All the researches above give either a elaborate introduction to the plots and characters or some other values shown in the movie One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest like individualism and heroism, but the intention of the following thesis is to search how the values of freedom reflected in American films through the elaborate analysis to the film One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest with the method of classification and exemplification, and to find out how this kind of value influences Americans life, and even all the human life. 1.3 Thesis structureThis research is divided into four parts. The introduction part sets the research conducted in a specific context, shows the value of the thesis, presents the literature review of the specific research field, and highlights the purpose of the thesis. In the second part, the connection of freedom value and American films, which is extracted from the analysis of the change of American values and the development of American films. The third part mainly focuses on the systematical analysis of how the values of freedom showed in the movie One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest from the perspective of audience which outside the movie and the background, character and unexpected ending which inside the movie. Then follow the final part including the great influence when the values of freedom meets American movies, and the conclusion of the research. 2. Values of Freedom Reflected in American MoviesFor a long time, America attaches great importance to the dissemination of its life style, popular culture and values to the people of other countries through their movies. The production of American movies accounts for only 6-7% of all the production in the world, while the time people watching American movies is more than half of the total show time, which is one of the most important ways of the United States to promote its values. While by the means of embedding the values into the film complex, American films become an influential carrier of the spiritual values of people. 2.1 Values of Freedom in American values The values of freedom occupies a most profound position in all of American values. For anyone in the United States, freedom means not just the unfettered behavior but also a complete system to manage their own lives.2.1.1 Cultural origin of American valuesIn American history which is not long enough, there are more enough American values born such as individualism, heroism, self-reliance, equality of opportunities, competition, and the values of freedom. The formation of American values is closely related to the development of the historical development of the United States. Early in the 15th century to the 17th century, the North American continent was discovered by European navigators and became an important overseas colony for European competition. With the arrival of these European immigrants, the European values they brought, interacting with geographical environment, gave birth to American values. In the period of 17th century to the early 18th century, North American was deeply influenced by the Puritanism. A number of Puritans, who are influenced by the new ideas of the Renaissance but under severe repression and brutal persecution in England, went to catch their dreams by taking “Mayflower” ship with their beliefs and the value of freedom. In order to ensure the realization of their ideal Puritanism, the 41 men on the ship decided to sign a convention to be followed after landing. Thus, they signed a historic document “Mayflower Compact”, which is the budding signs of American values and the first programmatic document to establish American values. Puritans were ascetic and hard-working in the barren land of North America and they insisted the value of piety, diligence, thrift and some others to achieve their individual values. It is just due to the guidance of these values, they can bravely face the harsh natural environment and overcome various of unexpected difficulties and obstacles, and soon they gained a huge prosperity in the untamed land. From the late 18th century to the mid 20th century, the United States experienced a series stage of the Westward Movement, the Industrial Revolution and the World War I, and American values had been continually developed and highlighted. On April 19th, 1775, Boston people fired the first shot in Lexington, which opens the prelude to the American War of Independence, marking the beginning of the struggle of North America people, as an independent nation, to safeguard their own interests and values. July 4th, 1776, the Declaration of Independence, which was adopted by Congress, proclaimed the birth of the United States and American values. There was no doubt that the publication of Declaration of Independence, requesting individual rights, independence and the values of freedom and equality to be an important part of American values, showed a concentrated expression of American values. And later, the ratification of the United States Constitution further affirmed it. (Rutten 631)During the period of mid-20th century to the present, American values have been constantly enriched through the New Deal, World War II, the Anti-terrorism and some other major historical events. For those countries in turmoil, poverty and war, the United States was undoubtedly a paradise of great attraction. (Wolfe 278)The immigrants around all over the world steadily streamed towards America with their own dreams, expectations and their own reasons, thus further contributes to its openness and tolerance of American values. And in the new era of 21st century, the President of the United States Obama has perfectly demonstrated the powerful strength of American Dream by his own growth experience, which is the concentrated reflection of American values at the present stage of the pursuit for democracy, freedom and equality, and also to acquire self-realization by gaining wealth and success. 2.1.2 Development of values of freedom in AmericaAmerican values are in constant changing along with the development of economy. Famous critic Lionel Trilling claimed that liberal theory is the only American leading thought, and the most important value of American culture is freedom. The famous saying “freedom or death” said by Patrick Henry, became the powerful weapon of colonial people against for independence from the Britishs control in the period of American War of Independence. Famous professor of Harvard, Louis Hartz, thinks liberalism is a permanent and universal creed in America.Generally speaking, liberalism is believed to form in the period of British bourgeois revolution, in 17th century. The ancient State politics gave people the concept of being a free man. Medieval Christian doctrine of personal salvation, the humanism and individualism of the Renaissance provide the necessary condition for the birth of modern liberalism. John Locke, a British thinker, made a systematically explanation of the liberal theory, which makes him be the ancestor of freedom thought and the founder of western liberalism. The Declaration of Independence, born in 1776, established the liberalism advocated by Locke by the form of law. Then the liberalism gradually spread and promoted in the Western world, both in depth and breadth. The lasting and deep worldwide economic crisis in 1930s led the British liberalism downgrade. While to some extent, American liberalism, compared with European countries, withstood the test to make the nation firmly on the path of neo-liberalism. Maybe there are different factions of liberalism, but as a doctrine of complex historical changes, they are internally consistent. Harvard Dr. Mansour holds that the core idea of liberalism is freedom and there is no tradition in the United States but the genes of freedom succeed from the UK. Famous American scholar Lewis Hartz believes that the essence of American spirit is liberalism. From the aspect of personal values, everyone is equal both in law and personality, and everyone has the freedom of thought, movement and pursuit to catch their own dream and live their own life.2.2 Development of American filmsHollywood, located on the West Coast in the United States, is a town in the northwest of Los Angeles. Many movie companies go there to make their movies, so over several years this town has become the representative of American movie. And now as soon as we hear Hollywood, the first scene in our mind is not the city but the movies. According to a business report in 1999, there are 88 movies among Hollywood out of 100 the most popular movies in the world. Whats more, the 78% of total box office revenue in France is obtained by American Film, and 85% in Italian, and in Britain it is up to 87%. Thus, as a cultural product, Hollywood movie has ranked the first in the film market over the world. Known as its popular culture, American movie steadily stood in the world. While in the next years, it gradually grown up to dominate the world, and has become number one in the world with its wide influence. In 1893, Thomas Edison invented the mirror of movie and created a photographic field named “Black Maria”, which is considered the beginning of the American movie. From the end of 19th century to the early 20th century, the number of middle class residents has increased rapidly due to industrial development, so movie became a popular form of entertainment for civili