美国价值观在电影《当幸福来敲门》学位论文Word文件下载.docx

美国价值观在电影《当幸福来敲门》学位论文Word文件下载.docx

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好莱坞电影《当幸福来敲门》是一部典型的励志电影，它改编自美国著名投资经济人克里斯加纳的自传《当幸福来敲门》。

作为一个单身父亲，克里斯加纳无家可归流浪在旧金山的大街上，但他还是努力抚养他的儿子。

加纳曾经在海军服役，并且高中后没有接受更高教育，但是最后还是靠自己双手成为了一名拥有百万资产的投资经纪人。

这部电影感动了海内外许许多多的观众，并且在他们中有很好的口碑。

该电影还获得了2006年的奥斯卡最佳男演员奖提名。

自始至终，该论文旨在研究美国文化价值观在电影《当幸福来敲门》中的体现，以此探究当代美国文化价值观，并以此解释这个国家的特性以及文化性格。

相应地，该论文将有助于我们对美国人的生活以及他们的价值观有更进一步的了解，消除文化障碍，以及减少因文化差异带来的交际困难。

关键词：

《当幸福来敲门》；

价值观；

体现

TableofContents

Abstracti

摘要ii

1.Introduction1

2.Values2

2.1Conceptofvalue2

2.2ContemporaryAmericanValues2

3.TheManifestationofAmericanValuesintheMovie3

3.1Individualism3

3.1.1ThebackgroundofindividualisminAmerica3

3.1.2Individualisminthemovie3

3.2Self-reliance4

3.2.1Thebackgroundofself-relianceinAmerica4

3.2.2Self-relianceinthemovie4

3.3EqualityofOppotunity5

3.3.1ThebackgroundofequalityofopportunityinAmerica5

3.3.2Equalityofopportunityinthemovie5

3.4Competition7

3.4.1ThebackgroundofcompetitioninAmerica7

3.4.2Competitioninthemovie7

3.5MaterialWealth8

3.5.1ThebackgroundofmaterialwealthinAmerica8

3.5.2Materialwealthinthemovie8

3.6HardWork9

3.6.1ThebackgroundofhardworkinAmerica9

3.6.2Hardworkinthemovie10

4.Conclusion11

5.References12

6.Acknowledgements13

1.Introduction

HollywoodisaplacecalledDreamWorksthatmanufacturesdreams;

theUnitedStates,becauseofitsuniquesocialenvironment,isalsoknownastheplacewheredreamscanberealized.Itcreatedagreatdreamspacetomovie.Besidespursuingdreams,mostoftheHollywoodfilmsconveytheircontemporaryAmericanmainstreamcorevalues.

HollywoodmovieThePursuitofHappinessisatypicalAmericaninspirationalmoviesearchingAmericandreams.ThoughithadnotwonanOscar,themoviewonthehighestboxoffice.ThemovieadaptedfromtheautobiographyinthesamenamebyChrisGardner,afamousblackAmerican,anexpertininvestment.Inthestory,hetellshishardtimesfromthesalesmantoasuccessfulmanager,includinghiswife’sbetrayal,bankruptcy,homelessnessandothersufferings.Alldifficultieshavenotdefeatedhim.Healwaysmaintainsoptimismwithhissonandstrugglescontinuallyforhisowngoal;

atlast,hewinsthesuccessandgainsthehappiness.

ThemovieThePursuitofHappinessissuchamovinginspirationalclassicstorywhichtellsthatChrisGardner,fromtheslumstoWallStreet,asasinglefather,hasneverbetrayedaftersufferings;

especially,ChrisactedbymoviestarWillSmithandhissonChristopher,theyareexactlythefatherandsoninreallifethatstrengthentheaffectionbetweenthefatherandsoninthemovie.Chris’sstrugglingtobehappyisthemainlineofthefilm,andtheaffectionbetweenthefatherandsonistheviceline.IttellsaninspirationalstoryaboutthepursuitofAmericandreamandthedeepaffectionbetweenfatherandson.SothroughabriefanalysisofthefilmThePursuitofHappiness,wecanperceivethecorevaluesofAmerican.

2.ContemporaryAmericanValues

2.1ConceptofValue

Cultureisasocialphenomenon,isahistoricalphenomenon,isasedimentofthesocialhistory.ItIncludesbeliefs,values,customs,knowledge,etc.Cultureistheguideofpeople'

sbehavior,andvalueisthecoreofculture,peoplecandistinguishdifferentculturalvaluesaccordingtodifferentvalues.AccordingtoMichaelProsser,Valueissuchamodecreatedbyindividualsorgroupsthroughculturalcommunication.Theyarethedeepestlevelofculture（Prosser.M.,1978）.ThereforeItcanbeseenthat,Valueisthereflectionofpeople’ssocialexistenceanditiscriterionthatusedbymembersofsocietytoevaluatethebehavior,things,andchoosetheirowndesiredgoalsfromvarietypotentialtargets.Value,reflectedthroughpeople’sbehaviororientationandevaluationofthingsandattitudes,isthecoreoftheworldview,theinnerforceofdrivingpeople’sbehavior.Itcontrolsandregulatesallthesocialbehaviors,involvingallareasofsociallife.Culturalvalueguidespeople'

sperceptionsandbehaviors,anddetermineswhatkindofbeliefsandattitudespeoplehave.

2.2ContemporaryAmericanValues

AfterthefirstEuropeansettlerslandedinNorthAmericainNewEngland,thedifferentethnicgroupsfollowed.CulturaldiversityofdifferentnationalitiesintheUnitedStatesbroughttogethercrossandinfluencedeachother,formingamixedAmericanculturalsystemcontaininguniquevalues.Thevalueswhichthepaperintendstodealwith,isavarietyofvalueswhichinfluencedbytheEuropeantraditionalcultureandthenaturalenvironmentoftheAmerica,formedinthedevelopmentofthehistoryoftheunitedstatesgradually,andstillplayaleadingroleintheideasofthecontemporarysocialclass—middleclass.Itincludesindividualfreedomandself-reliance,equalityofopportunityandcompetition,materialwealthandhardwork.

ThroughtheU.S.massmedia,weknowtheAmericanvalues.Movie,asamassmedia,inevitablyhasitsownvaluesinitsdelivery,sothroughtheanalysisofthevaluesthemovieconveys,itcanreflectcertainsocialrealities,anditalsocanreflectthefilm’ssocialsignificance.AmericanHollywoodmovie,alsoasamassmedia,ofcourse,conveysitsowncountry’smodernvalues.ThePursuitofHappiness,thisinspirationallargeHollywoodclassicfilmiswithoutexception.

3.TheManifestationofAmericanValuesintheMovie

3.1Individualism

3.1.1ThebackgroundofIndividualisminAmerica

AccordingtowhatDengYanchang,“TheearliestsettlerscametotheNorthAmericancontinenttoestablishcoloniesthatwerefreefromthecontrolsthatexistedinEuropeansocieties.Theywantedtoescapethecontrolsplacedontheirlivesbykingsandgovernments,priestsandchurches,noblemenandaristocrats.Toagreatextent,theysucceed.

ThehistoricdecisionsmadebythosefirstsettlershavehadaprofoundeffectontheshapingoftheAmericancharacter.Bylimitingthepowerofthegovernmentandthechurchesandeliminatingaformalaristocracy,theycreatedaclimateoffreedomwheretheemphasiswasontheindividual.TheUnitedStatesassociatedintheirmindswiththeconceptofindividualfreedom.ThisisprobablythemostbasicofalltheAmericanvalues.Scholarsandobserversoftencallthisvalue‘individualism’,butmanyAmericansusedtheword‘freedom’.Perhapstheword‘freedom’isoneofthemostrespectedandpopularwordsintheUnitedStatestoday.

By‘freedom’,Americansmeanthedesireandtheabilityofallindividualstocontroltheirowndestinywithoutoutsideinterferencefromthegovernment,arulingnobleclass,thechurchoranyotherorganizedauthority.Thedesiretobefreeofcontrolswasabasicvalueofthenewnationin1776,andithascontinuedtoattractedimmigrantstothiscountry”（DengYanchang,2001:

32）.

3.1.2Individualisminthemovie

AmericanstreatindividualismasaNear-perfectcharacter,whichpresentsthespiritofindependence.Thisisespeciallymanifestedinchildhood.AsLuoYuehongsaid,Theindependenceofthechildrenisencouragedbythewholesociety,theydestinetobeindependentsincetheyareborn（骆越虹，2007：

87）.Childrenshouldsleepalone,andtheynotonlyhavetheirownbed,butalsohavetheirownroom.Atthebeginningofthemovie,itwasshowninthemovie.EvenChristopherwasatsuchayoungage,atwhichtheageinChinamostchildrenstillsleptwiththeirparents,hehadtosleeponhisownbedinaroomseparatefromhisparents.EventhefinancialstatusoftheChris’wasnotthatgoodenough,theystillhadtohavethelittleChristopherhadhisownroom.

AccordingtoLuo（2007：

87）,inUnitedStates,whilecommunicatingwithadults,childrenarealsousuallyseenasanequalindividual.Whilecommunicatingwithadults,theywouldusewordssuchas“No”“Ithink”andsoontoexpresstheirownwillandopinion.Notexceptionitwaspresentedinthemoviemanytimes.

Whenchildrengrowup,theconceptofindependencewouldrootintheirheartdeeply,eveninfluencethedestinyofhiscareer.Takeworkingforexample,thebossinthecompanyusuallywouldselectsuchpersonwhowithindependenceoruniquecharacteristicsashisstaffbecausehebelievehiscapacitycanleadhiscompanytosucceed,regardlessofotherfactorssuchaseconomystatus,etc.Itwasalsowellrepresentedinthemovie.WhenChrisattendedtheinterviewafterhewasjustsetfreefromtheprisonlessthananhouragobecauseofrelayingtopaythetax,thoughhedressedmessedwiththepaintinhisclotheswhichwasleftyesterdaywhilehewaspaintingthewall,thebroadacceptedhimtoattendtheinternshipwhichwasapreciousopportunityforChrisevenforothers.

3.2Self-reliance

3.2.1Thebackgroundofself-relianceinAmerica

AstowhatDengYanchangsaid（2001:

33）,“Thereis,however,apricetobepaidfortheindividualfreedom:

self-reliance.Americansbelievethatindividualsmustlearntorelyonthemselvesorrisklosingfreedom.ThismeansthatAmericansbelievetheyshouldtakecareofthemselves,solvetheirownproblemsand‘standontheirowntwofeet.’Tocqueville,afamousFrenchhistorianandsociologist,observedtheAmericans’beliefinself-relianceinthe1830s:

Theyowenothingtoanyman,theyexpectednothingfromanyman;

theyacquirethehabitofalwaysconsideringthemselvesasstandingalone,andtheyareapttoimaginethattheirwholedestinyisintheirownhands.

Thisstrongbeliefinself-reliancecontinuestodayasabasicAmericanvalue.Itisperhapsoneofthemostdiffic