Ideology in Films

“In film studies, ideology means the influential underlying social and political beliefs of a society or social group.” (Phillips, 2005, p.632)

Three categories of ideology can be identified in films. The first, neutral, includes films which serve a purely entertainment goal; a form of escapist viewing. A neutral ideology is extremely rare, as there is usually an underlying message in every film. The most likely example of neutral ideology films would be children's films. However, this is not to say that all children's films are neutral. Many, in actual fact, contain strong ideological themes. The second category, implicit, is the most common form of ideology in film. The two main characters, the hero and the villain, represent contrasting ideological views. This category is quite subtle and implies a lot of the meaning. It feeds off the viewers understanding of cultural ideologies to further enforce the impact of the message. The explicit category includes films which have been constructed purely to teach or persuade and is very obvious in achieving this, for example patriotic films. (www.wsu.edu)

Still from in the Heat of the Night (1967)

'In the Heat of the Night' (1967) is a film which implicitly showcases ideology. Set in the deep-south of America in the 1960s, the local police officers must work with an African-American man, who is their superior. The film is set during the very influential and world-changing political time of the Civil Rights Movement. There is no doubt that this movie was a highly political one, with a very important message to the American people, along with the rest of the world. The film represents the change in society that was talking place at the time. The old ideology of white supremacy in the US is evident at the beginning of the film when the main character is arrested for a murder purely because of his race. The modern American ideology that everyone is equal and everyone can be a part of the American Dream is developed through the film as they work together. By the end of the film the main characters have learned to know and respect one another. They go their separate ways, both having benefited from knowing the other.

Still from The Patriot (2000)

Contrastingly, 'The Patriot' (2000) portrays ideology in an explicit way. Set during the American Revolution, the film depicts a war hero, turned pacifist, who is forced to take up arms again when one son is murdered by an English solider and his eldest son joins the fight. The film, as so 

many like it, portrays the enemy as brutal and heartless. Most war films contain this ideology and represent the 'enemy' as inhuman and soulless. In this case, the English are so evil they would even burn a church to the ground, a symbol of sacred belief, an ideology which in itself is still very prominent in American Culture. Seen from the American point of view, anything different or un-American must be evil. Of course, the same can be said about any war film, no matter which countries are represented. 'The Patriot' is a very patriotic film as the title would suggest and reinforces the American belief in independence and freedom. The American people will band together to fight off any evil, no matter what form it takes. This ideological view had to be put into practice, for real, the year after this film was released, following the 9/11 attacks.

Almost every film has some form of ideological message, whether it be about civil rights or promoting national identity. Next time you watch a film don't take it at face value, try and determine what it is really trying to tell you.

Sources

• Film. An Introduction. Third Edition by William H. Philips. 2005, Palgrave Macmillian. 

• Washington State University Website

• Internet Movie Database