O Oscar como instrumento político : um estudo sobre a representação da "nova" família estadunidense nas produções cinematográficas vencedoras do prêmio da Academia nas décadas de 1960 e 1970

Abstract

In the decades of 1960 and 1970, the United States went trough a period of great social changes, wich became known as the Cultural Revolution. This process was by a strong action from different social groups and by the rupture with old traditional values deeply rooted in American society which caused changes in the institutional, political, cultural and behavioral conceptions effective until that time. In this scenario, the institution that most suffered changes was the family, considered, for many years, the "mother cell of the society", who found new functions, meanings, structures and forms of representation in art. This thesis aims to examine the relation between the changes in the family parameters during the mentioned period and its representations in Hollywood film of the same era, and to study the reception of this works. For this, five films were studied: "Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf" (Mike Nichols, 1966), "The graduate" (Mike Nichols, 1967), "Guess who's coming to dinner" (Stanley Kramer, 1967), "Annie Hal" (Woody Allen, 1977) and "Kramer vs. Kramer" (Robert Benton, 1979). The productions were selected for addressing the behavioral changes in that time, exposing new perspectives on the family structure, have enjoyed critical and box office success, and have won the Award of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, popularly known as Oscar. The award is considered the main prize of the world film industry, besides being able to influence the behavior of the public from the productions that it rewards or nominates.