The Door Film Analysis

Film response======================

Two of the films I watched were J. Edgar (2011) and The Doors (1991). Both films seemed to provide a number of insights into American culture during the Cold-War era and 1960’s. Granted, they did so in different ways. Where J.Edgar is detailing the history of J.Edgar Hoover, former head of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, The Doors details the history of Jim Morrison, who affectionately refers to himself in the film as “the lizard king.” The two stories portray personalities that are as different as night and day. But in those personalities are historical and cultural elements which, in some ways, might not always be corroborated with Foner’s particular view of American history. The one personality, i.e. J.Edgar, becomes a vehicle through which the history of the national security state in Cold War American culture becomes articulated to the average viewer. The other personality, Jim Morrision (and the other members of his band, “The Doors,” variably portrayed in the film) becomes a vehicle

through which the history of 1960’s American counter culture had emerged. The one an expression of the limits and order to society, and the pragmatic concerns of national security; the other an expression of a new generation of Americans, with new social, creative, spritual, and philosophical interests that stand them in contrast to generations of American’s, past. But let’s look a bit closer at both films.======================
In J.Edgar we are presented with a sort of biography of J.Edgar Hoover.

We learn of his values, his patriotism and sense of duty to his country. We learn of his relationship to his mother, his development from childhood (with these same values) all the way into the highest ranking offices of American national securtiy. In short, we get a picture of the archetypical “good guy,” that is, by the standards of American culture in Hoover’s time: professional, committed to their country, willing to do what’s necessary in order to keep American lives safe from criminal activity and develop an institution (the FBI) toward this end. But we also see, later on, a person with conflicting values and questions of how much they have contradicted/corrupted their own values in order to serve their country. We see the intersection of conservative poltical values with the course of American history; changing its

direction.======================
By contrast, in Jim Morrison, we are presented with the biography of a poet/lyricist, and artist, who becomes a popular lead singer for the band “The Doors.” But unlike J.Edgar, we get a glimpse into not only the changing culture of young American’s, during the culturally pivotal post-war/cold-war era (who seek to discover a whole new way of life outside the cultural norms/confines of the previous generations); but we also get a glimpse into how the world of art, media, and entertainment had sort of collided in a new way during this era, having an effect on culture but also the people who became cultural icons (like Jim Morrison).======================
In sum, both films portray aspects of American culture, and society. But whereas J.Edgar presents a vantage of American culture from a more political, legal/policing perspective, The Doors does it from a more artistic, cultural perspective. Both are revealing in their own regard.