As the most influential popular art of the 20th century, film and television art has always been very sensitive to everything in the times and society, and responds quickly. From ancient times to the present, art has been an extremely precious treasure in the treasure house of human culture. The art of each country, nation or era often becomes a prominent representative of the culture of the country, nation or era to which it belongs. As the most influential film and television art in modern times, it is no exception. In particular, film and television, as an extremely complex social and cultural phenomenon, can reflect the information of the times and society in a concentrated manner, and convey the changes in national culture and psychology, the concepts of the times and the changes in social consciousness.
Soon after the publication of the book "Film History: Theory and Practice", co-authored by Robert Allen, a well-known American film history research expert, and Douglas Gomeri, it has been listed as the main textbook of film courses by many colleges and universities in many European countries, and has been widely valued and warmly welcomed by the academic community for decades. In this book, the author proposes a unique concept and method for the study of cinema: "The idea of cinema as an open system of history has several consequences in historiography. To 'explain' an event in the history of cinema means to specify the economic, aesthetic, technical and cultural aspects of cinema, as well as the relationship between cinema and other systems (politics, national economy, other mass media, other art forms). Identifying the 'causes' within an open system has become a challenging task for film historians, because the relationship between the factors in the film system is intersecting and complex, not a single line. ”
The core part of the book is composed of four parts: the history of aesthetic film, the history of technological film, the history of economic film, and the history of social film. Among them, the history of social cinema has a very important position and role, because "the mass nature of cinema has made many social scientists and historians more and more convinced that cinema always reflects the desires, needs, fears and aspirations of society in a particular era". Obviously, sociality and the times are unavoidable topics in the study of film and television culture.
The popularity of film as a mass entertainment medium has led to a conceptual shift among film historians and social historians: from viewing film as a source of unparalleled insight to viewing film as a national culture. ......Further, the film is a representation of society, albeit indirectly and obscurely. This means that the images and sounds, themes and stories of films are ultimately derived from their social context. Obviously, cinema, as a medium of mass entertainment and mass art, is also a means of recording social history, and although it adopts an artistic approach to the representation of society, it is therefore "indirect" and "obscure", but it is still "derived from the social environment" after all. Film and television art, which is based on modern scientific and technological means, can not only show people a vivid picture of social life very realistically, but also enable people to observe the conditions of various social life and the changes of the times.
Therefore, compared with traditional art categories such as **, dance, painting, sculpture, etc., film and television art is more suitable for expressing complex and drastic changes in social reality, and is more suitable for expressing major social realities with the characteristics of the times.
In this sense, film and television art, as a multi-prism of the times, always has to reflect the social and cultural phenomena of different eras;They are like a kaleidoscope of society, showing a colorful picture of social life. Excellent films, excellent TV dramas or TV feature films from all over the world can prove that their profound ideological connotations and touching artistic charm are inseparable from the specific spirit and mood of the times, the contradictions and problems that emerge in social life that people are generally concerned about or think about, and the social trends of thought that have caused a huge ideological impact among the audience.
As a new development of human culture in the 20th century.
With the rapid development from an industrialized society to an information-based society, film and television are playing a huge role as mass media, and their influence involves politics, economy, society, ethics, science and technology, education, and even life Xi, folk customs and other aspects. Therefore, the significance of film and television culture is not only in itself, but also in the cultural spirit of a specific era and a specific society. On the other hand, of course, it can also be said that the cultural spirit of different times and different societies will inevitably leave a deep imprint on film and television culture.