Mash Up: The American Spirit & The Frontier

This is a mash-up we made for "Survey of American Cinema" at American University. Our topic was "The American Spirit & The Frontier," but we decided to take it beyond the western genre and also look at space, the final frontier. A primary thread was the idea of the "alien," be it Native Americans in the west, extra terrestrials in outer space, or native peoples in times of war. As John Ford biographer Scott Eyman said, "Whenever America is threatened or feels itself to be threatened, our politicians will often, I think unconsciously, drop into a Gary Cooper-John Wayne mode." As you'll see, the frontier spirit can truly be a double-edged sword.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• mash-up
• mashup
• mash up
• the american spirit
• frontier
• west
• space
• western
• aliens
• cowboys
• indians
• natives
• movies
• film
• larry engel
• jason fraley
• kelly holliday
• adam sincell
• montage
• highlights
• cinema
• survey of american cinema
• american university