Movies: How A Single Word Shaped Hollywood Cinema

This article discusses the impact of American films on audiences and the power of the term 'movie' in shaping Hollywood cinema. It analyzes the article 'Movies: How a Single Word Shaped Hollywood Cinema' and highlights its strengths.

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Movies: How A Single Word Shaped Hollywood Cinema
Scholars in history have explored and discussed cinema and media studies in various
aspects. One of the important discussion of the scholars has been Hollywood’s dominance in the
movie industry. For years, Hollywood has been one of the major sources of films that has its
audiences from across the globe. However, there is a concern that states that being the most
influencing and dominating industry it has been misleading audiences by producing films that do
not have depth, authenticity, aesthetic factors, reason and worth of being produced. In the same
aspect the paper aims to discuss an article, Movies: How a Single Word Shaped Hollywood
Cinema. The paper will discuss the article and analyze it along the strengths of the articles.
The term ‘movies’ is used widely without much thought commonly. It is assumed by the
etymologists that the term ‘movie’ came into existence from the term ‘moving picture’ only in
the shortened form. In the cinematographic sense, the shortened term began becoming popular.
While films are referred to an artist’s work, the movie is not always associated with the artist.
According to the article, there has been a corruption of the early cinema phrase, ‘moving
picture’. The term has been substituted by the slang word ‘movie’ during the nickelodeon era.
Although the term was initiated by a small number of people, the most common are anonymous
American. The term ‘movie’ soon became the most favoured term used by their peers. Although
it was encountered with resistance and disdain from the film industry, it gained popularity. The

word was considered to be highly undignified. Despite several efforts in order to halt the massive
usage of the term, the word ‘movie’ survived. The word was able to develop an important
relational quality with the cinemas of Hollywood. Although many critics, scholars and students
abstained from using the term, the term remained a key example that reflects the influence and
power that American film possesses over the audiences.
The article, Movies: How a Single Word Shaped Hollywood Cinema is an article that
discusses the impact of American films on the audiences. The initiation of the discussion is about
the ways the term ‘movie’ become so popular even though it is considered to be an undignified
word. The early history of film production and marketing suggests that audiences hold more
power to change than films. The power of the audience can be observed by the single term
‘movie’ the term was first used in the greatest single retarding influence in the history of the
motion picture. The article has provided an excellent beginning that states the main topic of
discussion. The way the word gain popularity has been discussed in details. The term did not
exist and was even considered to be one informal word. Whenever the term was used, it
conveyed a certain inclined message associated with the term. However, in a number of books
the term was used and it was certainly not a term that was supposed to be limited. In America,
people hardly made use of it. The article presented the perspective of the criticisms who were in
the opinion that it was due to the consistency feature of the monograph that was an emphasis on
audiences, culture and exhibitions. Also, the geographic focus in these books is the United
States. The place that is considered to be the place that originated the term ‘movie’ by the
‘moving picture’. The article covers diverse areas related to the topic that would help to
understand and looking at the phenomenon from various aspects. The articles discuss the quest
for nomenclature. The way during the early cinema periods that desired for a nomenclature was

discussed. This helped in understanding the reasons that have fueled the usage of the term. In the
early days of being named and using the name for the particular phenomenon was discussed
when the name was discussed by many scholars. While some found ‘motion picture’ convenient,
there were some who found ‘moving picture world’ as a word that cannot be endured. The article
gives insights into the word, ‘movie’. It mentioned the first few years there was the publication
of the term which can be the reason for making the term very easy to accept. The article
presented both the perspective of the ways the term ‘movie’ have changed Hollywood. The
headings used in the article were well thought and easy for the reader to understand. Using
heading such as ‘the dreadful word’ and ‘not so dreadful word’ made the entire thoughts
segregated into two perspectives. The ‘not so dreadful’ presents the ways it was not considered
undignified by everyone. Lastly, the author discusses the ways the term ‘movie’ manifested
power. The perspective of the author represented the audience with power. According to the
author, the reason the term became popular was for the audience is open to the change. The
existence of the term was there in the society however, it was not used widely by the mass. It
was through the mass usage only that lead the change where a major role was played by the
audience.
The strengths of the article are many. The article has been written with accuracy and
evidence. The well-organized points that helped to understand the social phenomenon and the
change from the various aspect. The entire issue was discussed thoroughly with very specific
areas that were adequate for the subject. Although there could be areas that could be improved,
the article is still an informative piece. There could be the use of more details and information
along with specific examples. The discussion on the origin of the term and considering it

undignified could be elaborated. An elaborative discussion helps to get the picture of the issue in
a better perspective.
As discussed above, one of the important discussion of the scholars has been
Hollywood’s dominance in the movie industry. However, at the end of the paper, the conclusion
that can be derived is the fact that it is the audience holding the primary power and not
Hollywood.

Bibliography:
Rhodes, Gary D. “’Movie’: How a Single Word Shaped Hollywood Cinema.” Film & History,
vol. 46, no. 1, Summer 2016, pp. 43-52. Literature Research Center.