The image of Texas evolving in film. From "Red River" to "Paris, Texas"

Seminar paper from the year 2015 in the subject American Studies - Miscellaneous, grade: 1,3, University of Applied Sciences Amberg-Weiden, language: English, abstract: I will examine three movies which certainly changed the public and common image of Texas. In my term paper I will pursue the following questions: Which different views and pictures of Texas are explained in the three films? How are these images transmitted? Which images are found in all three movies, are there different or even conflicting images in the movies? Do the different images connect with historical changes, or just with the different, artistic perspectives of the directors? What does make Texas unique amongst the fifty United States? Of course, every State has its own characteristic feature. Louisiana is known for its Cajun culture, while in Florida everybody is wearing Bermuda shorts. But almost everyone seems to have some idea about Texas. When hearing the word Texas many people are thinking of: the dry and dusty desert, the hot sun and a cloudless, blue sky, blunt and backward people, lonely cowboys with their harmonica sitting near the bonfire, the Texan slang, great oil spills, or Tex-Mex fast-food, steaks, and big cars - in the Lone Star State everything seems to be bigger. But where do these partly very vague, partly very specific and appropriate views and images of Texas come from? Of course, one cannot name perfectly the sources of a general awareness. Nevertheless, great movies do have the power to change and reshape people's views, and this surely has happened with Texas' image.