Behind The Screen

by Emi Richardson and Colton Harbolt

People thought that K-Dot real life was the same life they see on TV, huh?

In rapper Kendrick Lamar’s song “ELEMENT”, he speaks on how the life that he portrays to the media is not the same person he is in real life.

Throughout time movies and shows have been known for their portrayal of life as perfect and easy-going. The lack of representation of the true conditions of specific time periods, prevent commentary and display of harsh situations, conditions and events that may be necessary for the context of the film and the time period. These details left out of production in films covering time periods like the 1940s through the 1980s have made them look more appealing to modern audiences and has led to romanticization of these time periods.

The recent 80s revival has sparked multiple movies and shows based around the time and before then, such as “Stranger Things”, “Dirty Dancing”, “The Notebook” and “I Don’t Like This”. These shows and movies have become popular in recent years, especially among younger generations who see the way these characters are living and interacting in an ideal world. This choice by the producers of these productions to portray this time as more easy going and ideal is what appeals to the audience and these younger generations. Seeing characters having fun, going on adventures along with drama and conflict between characters frames not only the movie or show, but the entire time seeming more desirable than today. film has this impression on its viewers in her article for USA Today. hearted events in the movie had more focus and were over romanticized, which took light away from the more serious topics.

When it comes to the 80s revival, multiple shows and movies were produced in modern day based on the 80s to spark nostalgia in older viewers and to appeal to the romanticization of the time by younger generations. This revival yielded shows such as “Stranger Things” and “I Don’t Like This”. A constant in both shows that had been criticized was the lack of featuring time accurate context and issues that would affect the characters and the plot of the story. The main concern critics have for these shows was the representation of black characters and how it is good that there is representation but these characters don’t experience the racism that black people faced in the 80s. This poor representation of history contributes to romanticization of this time.

This film that is widely considered a classic love story not only glorifies an unhealthy relationship, but is unrealistic for the time. With the film being set in a period such as the 1940s, where World War II was a prevalent issue along with women’s rights, the world was going through conflict that wasn’t portrayed in the story of “The Notebook”. The sequence of events that brought Noah and Alice back together are unrealistic, with the war happening in the background and a failure to represent the hardships and labor that women had to go through to compensate for men going off to war. “In the 1940s women were expected to be stay at home wives or working in factories, women didn’t really have many rights yet, and that wasn’t portrayed in the movie,” Senior Serenity Campbell said. This frames the 1940s to be more peaceful and free than the reality of the time, which leads to viewers wanting to live and experience what they think the 1940s is based on this film they’ve watched, romanticizing a time where the normal American was struggling to make it through hard times.

In 1987, the hit movie “Dirty Dancing” was released and the storyline was set in 1963. While a large portion of the movie involves dancing, there are many problems going on throughout the entirety of the film. Some of these things are portrayed in the movie, while some are not mentioned or acknowledged.

When it comes to “The Notebook”, filmed in 2002 and based on events from 1946, the movie follows a young couple who fall in love, but their relationship ends short when Noah, the boy, goes off to serve in World War II. Allie, the girl, begins to fall in love with another man while Noah is away and plans to marry, but the feelings come back when Noah returns from war. “The Notebook” is considered a classic, with a young romance and classic drama, however, multiple critics have claimed that the story promotes toxic relationships and unrealistic standards for teens. “Essentially, the film romanticizes toxic relationships and promulgates an unhealthy culture of jerk worship,” Carly Mallenbaum said, a critic for USA Today. Mallenbaum goes on to write about multiple points she has made for why the

One of the biggest events in the movie is when a dancer named Johnny was forced to seek a new dance partner because he was unable to perform with his usual partner Penny. This was due to Penny becoming pregnant from a character named Robbie early on in the movie and she was seeking an abortion. Eventually Johnny found Frances, or “Baby” and throughout the movie she had to learn how to dance to prepare for the upcoming dance competition.

Similar to “The Notebook,” “Dirty Dancing” has been considered to be one of the most significant cinematic love stories to be created. With a large portion of the movie being about love, there are still serious issues that were happening in that time period that were not acknowledged as significantly as the issues truly were in the 1960s. “From that time period came a lack of good health care,” Tina Jewell said. The lack of access to a safe abortion helped to highlight that there was an isssue with recieving safe healthcare in the 1960s, however the love story and the more light-

Another issue in the 1960s was that there were specific gender roles that people were expected to follow, and if they did not follow them then there was judgment and bullying. “I felt like the women, the girls especially like the younger girls, were made to be presented in a certain way. They had to hold themselves a certain way, dress a certain way,” Jewell said. The issues with stereotypical gender roles were not really shown in “Dirty Dancing,” but there was little to no diversity shown in the film with clothing styles and ideas that broke the gender roles of that time.

All of these films have contributed to the romanticization of different time periods due to the lack of serious, life altering issues being featured in the production. This causes generations today to look at the past as if it was a utopia or a world with little to no issues, and makes difficult issues today seem like the world is in the worst state it’s been in, making these time periods look more appealing and desirable. People don’t realize how much the world has changed and improved when all we see from the past is through rose colored glasses.