Q.1
In the film, A face in the crowd, Griffith plays the anti-hero role. He plays as the protagonist who does not have the qualities to make him a true hero. He is a stumbling block to himself; a fact proved through the series of events in his life. Larry Rhodes gets discovered by Marcia Jeffries on a radio talk show run at a station called KGRK. Rhodes soon rises to fame as a country boy. He has a strong charm and folksy sense of humor, which endears him to the masses. Soon enough, he lands a job to host his own show in Tennessee. The talk premiers under the name “Lonesome” Rhodes and soon finds a strong following among the local populace. However, his rising star at Tennessee almost ends short when the sponsors fire him after making a stupid comment about their product. In a contradictory turn of events, the product sales increase, and he gets back to his job (Harrison 56).
With the help of a fellow worker, DePalma, he soon moves to New York to establish his own talk show. At this moment his ego balloons, as his fame and influence hits the roof. He begins to censure his staff behind the scenes for no apparent reason. He also betrays his lover, Marcia Jeffrey, by settling down with a new bride (a 17 year old girl). A few months later, his life starts fall into pieces. Rhode’s young wife cheats on him with his agent, DePalma. DePalma concerns him by threatening to expose him if he goes public about the affair.
Later, his ex-lover, Jeffries, turns on the microphone when Rhodes is making an infamous comment about his viewers. The viewers’ get shocked to find that he calls them “idiots, morons, and guinea pigs”. Irate viewers call the station’s headquarters to react to the infamous comments. After this scenario, his ratings begin to fall, and at one point, they hit zero. Rhodes loses business associates and political friends who no longer turn up for his meetings. He tries to get back to his ex-lover, Jeffries, who does not want anything to do with him. Dejected, Rhodes threatens to commit suicide and finds solace in drunkenness for comfort (Harrison 108).
An amoral hero and an anti-hero almost share the same platform. Both are villains who create their own path for destruction. Directors and producers use amoral heroes and antiheroes to depict some social misfits within the society who create their own downfall. The viewers can only sympathize with them for their failures.
Q. 2
Andy Griffith roles in various plays and films of the 1950’s mirror the American society at that time (Wills 75). The ‘50s was characterized by shows that depicting a traditional family structure; a nuclear family with two parents, and children. His role as a husband in the A face in the crowd depicts the falling role of the family structure. He is a cheat, and a drunkard who betrays his lover, Jeffries, to settle down with a young bride. The young bride cheats on him with his agent. Rhodes makes a shift from the rural life to urban depicting urbanization of the mid-20th century. Suburbanization had a tremendous effect not only on the individual lives but also on the family structure. The ‘60s were characterized by, middle class families living in towns and more single parent families came up.
In the A face in the crowd, powerful industrialists and capitalists use the Rhodes Lonesome show to advance their ideas and products. They use the high TV ratings of the show to push their products and unpopular politicians. The populace is unable to uncover and see the real picture of both Rhodes and the sponsors. The show controls how people perform in their daily lives (from doing their housework to their thoughts on politics). This impacted the American society in various ways. The mass media came up with programs that to which people are so much engrossed. The mass media has also created a culture of products pushed through celebrity endorsements and television ratings used to pull more crowds.
Andy Griffith’s role in the play What it was, was football mirrors America’s love for the baseball. Although the popularity of the game has been failing over the years, it was the number one pastime for American’s in the middle of the 20th century.
Works Cited
Harrison, Stephanie. Adaptations: From short story to big screen : 35 great stories that have inspired great films. New York : Three Rivers Press, 2005.Print.
Jacobs, Del. Interrogating the Image:Movies and the World of Film and Television. Lanham, MA: University Press of America, 2009.Print.
Wills, Charles A. America In The 1950s. New York : Infobase publishing , 2005.Print.
