American Pop Film Reflection and Interpretation 17th 05 24

Abstract

Personal Reflection and Interpretation: American Pop Film In 1981, Ralph Bakshi directed “American Pop” an adult animated musical drama film. It is a film that traces the history of American popular music through the lives of four generations of a Russian Jewish immigrant family. The story line revolves from the early 20th century to the 1980s. Throughout the years, the boy Zalmie discovers sweet life and love in nightclub as performer and musician and becomes a potential patriarch of generations of musicians. The film proved interesting to me as it revived my memory of pop culture and its connection to the African-Americans and the immigrants. Based on the film, it is open that American pop has a notable ambitious scope making it cover nearly a century of American music history following the four generation routine of embracing this type of music culture. I also felt moved by the use of variety of animation techniques within the film including roto-scoping. This technique happens where live-action footage is traced frame by frame to enable the director create a realistic motion. It is a great technique that adds a unique visual style to the film which blends animated characters with real backgrounds and historical footage. It is a film that I do not want to associate with racism as I am a proud American that acknowledges the contribution of African-Americans in pop culture thus associating it with immigrants becomes quite interesting. The film challenged my assumption that pop-culture was dominantly owned by African-Americans. However, it helped me understand the connection between music and addiction and the urge for its continuity regardless of the challenges that the immigrants faced as well as those that the African-Americans faced during that era. Music proved a potential way of expressing their inner pains...