The United States is a country where movie stars become Presidents and the dramatic events in the White House can feel like they’ve been conjured up in a Hollywood writer’s room. In this exciting Curious Minds debut, acclaimed film critic and lecturer Adam Nayman will explore the enduring relationship between American politics and entertainment. Beginning in 1960 with the campaign and election of John F. Kennedy—the first unofficial movie star President—and continuing until the tumult of the Trump era and the inauguration of Joe Biden, he’ll examine the cinematic depictions of U.S. presidents their administrations and policies, and help us unpack the social and political impact of these films. Along the way, we’ll assess the power of movies to reveal and distort the truth, and the indelible impact the medium has had on the politics, and the culture, of the world’s most powerful country.
This series is led by Adam Nayman, a film critic and lecturer based in Toronto., and the author of several acclaimed books, including The Coen Brothers: This Book Really Ties the Films Together, and Paul Thomas Anderson: Masterworks. A popular lecturer at the University of Toronto, the Chang School and the Miles Nadal JCC, Adam developed this series with the guidance of his late friend Kevin Courrier, a wonderful Toronto film writer who had been working on a book about American cinema and the Presidency at the time of his passing. This series is dedicated to his memory.
The six lectures in this series are available to stream until October 8. You can access the lectures at your leisure by clicking on the "Watch Now" button in your confirmation email, or by visiting your My Shows page.
Lecture One: High Hopes (1960-1968; JFK and LBJ)
Robert Drew's Primary introduces John F Kennedy as America's leading man and Abraham Zapruder records his untimely demise; in JFK's absence, Hollywood envisions a crisis of authority and a failure to communicate. Films featured include: The Manchurian Candidate, Dr. Strangelove, Cool Hand Luke, To Kill a Mockingbird.
Lecture Two: Follow the Money (1968-1980; Nixon, Ford and Carter)
New experiments in filmmaking dovetail with critical and countercultural perspectives punching up at power, corruption and lies; without Nixon to kick around anymore, the late 1970s produces an increasingly depoliticized blockbuster commercial cinema. Films featured include: Hearts and Minds, All the President's Men, Taxi Driver, Nashville.
Lecture Three: Morning In America (1980-1988; Reagan and Bush I)
With a kinder, gentler machine-gun hand, America keeps on rocking in the free world; those subversives not lulled to sleep by Reagan's reassuringly cultural lullabies make movies militantly with one eye open. Films featured include: E.T., The Big Chill, Back to the Future, This is Spinal Tap, Roger & Me.
Lecture Four: America, F**k Yeah (1989-2008; Clinton and Bush II)
Partisan polarization reaches new heights—or depths-—as the right pillories Bill Clinton and the left masses against George W. Bush. In the process, Hollywood goes from heroizing commander in chief figures to deploying them as duplicitous, warmongering villains. Films featured include: Do the Right Thing, The Big Lebowski, JFK, Primary Colours, Fahrenheit 9/11, Team America: World Police.
Lecture Five: Yes We Can? (2008-2016; Obama)
Stirrings of optimism are balanced against sober recognition of irreconcilable differences; allegories abound as filmmakers try to decide if Barack Obama is the hero they need, the hero they deserve, or something else entirely. FIlms featured include: Lincoln, The Butler, Rachel Getting Married, The Dark Knight, 12 Years A Slave.
Week Six: Sunken Places (2016-2021; Trump and Biden
With America having gone through the looking glass, the distorted reflection becomes the default view. What next for the Presidency and the movies that shape how we see it? Films featured include: Get Out, Vice, Election Night, Moonlight, American Dharma.
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