Elia Kazan and His Love for Communism - Essay Example

Introduction Communism is a theory that is meant to favour the collectivism in a less society. Elis Kazan is a successful director in the history of Hollywood. His love for communism made him popular as most of his movies portrayed the fight against oppression by the less privileged in the society. He introduced a lot of young actors who became famous and won many awards as a result of his innovation skills in directing movies. Therefore, he was able to acquire many Oscar awards, three Tony Awards, together with four Golden Globes in his career due to his introduction of new arts in the film industry. However, his art became a treat of his legacy when he was called as a friend witness in the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). He released a list of eight members who were in the communist party to the anti-communist. He went against his own principle by testifying in about the influence of communist in the film industry. The backlist of communist had invaded the film industry for about ten years. It had created a big division in the film industry. The division increased as time moved and thus the blacklist destroyed many lives during its operation. According to Kazan, the blacklist communists aimed at manipulating the culture of US institutions by maneuvering to advance a belligerent foreign policy. Kazan wanted to counter the situation which led him to testify in the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). His actions made him to be awarded in the Oscar awards. Half of the audience who attended the Oscar awards ceremony got angry about the award given to Kazan and thus decided to protest against the decision of giving Kazan the award (Barzman 32). They argued that Kazan was morally compromised since he was also a communist. His artistic form of film directing gave him the chance to expose illegal activities in the government through films and also helped in the depiction of the civil society. A lot of people could not understand why he decided to expose the eight communist. However he clearly stated in his defense that the communist named in the blacklist were in the verge of manipulating the US culture thus he acted in order to conserve it. Distorting the US culture would greatly affect the production of film in the United States. Kazan used the film ‘On the Waterfront’ to justify his testimony before HUAC as he focuses on a temporary hero who turns out to be a focal summit of collective action. This directly pointed to his case where he tried to save the cultural value of the state and ended up being the victim of his own contribution as people turned to criticize his actions. This is the same way many readers disagree with the readings and ideas in the film ‘On the Waterfront’. Kazan does not focus fully on politics as he also introduces the art of love story in his film (Horne 25). This was to show that he was not only advocating for communism but also considered the moral culture of the society. The story of job in the bible can be compared to the moral approach in the case of Kazan. God gave the devil permission to test the faith of Job. Job always thought that his sons had in a way sinned against God. This made his offer burnt sacrifices on several occasions to pardon their sins. This notion shows that Job was greatly concerned about the conservation of morals that were pleasing to God. Therefore, he made sure that his sons kept good morals and were not swayed away by the devil. This can be related to Kazan’s case as he advocated for the conservation of the American culture and would go to the extent of unlashing the names of his colleagues whom he felt were going against his beliefs. The release of the blacklist portrays this aspect as it contains Kazan’s fellow directors. Job was tested by the devil in several occasions but he stood farm to his belief in God. His family abandoned him since they say that his beliefs would not heal him. Job faced rebellion from his own people in the same way Kazan experienced a period of retaliations from his funs. He was only advocating what was morally right but people only viewed this as a form of moral conspiracy (Lippmann 57). The film ‘Guilty by suspicion’ presents an antagonistic situation in which a person has to choose what to come first between friends and country. This is a situation that creates very tough options for a patriotic citizen. Deciding between friends of one’s country has led to many people losing their ideals or jobs. The House Un-American Activities Committee wanted the truth about communist who were director and actors in Hollywood and their perception in politics. The house made of anti-communists wanted something more than personal a confession but a list of names from witnesses. ‘Guilty by suspicion’ tells the story of this incident that divided movie funs. The division is between the witnesses who named names and those who did not give out the names of their fellow directors. The film casts Robert De Niro who betrays his friends to a group that he doesn’t respect. He turns out to be a hero among some people but end up being despised by her friends. This is mimicry to the real situation that happened to 1952 when Elia Kazan was forced to release a list of eight directors and actors who were in the communist party that was believed to be aimed at manipulating the culture of the United States of America. The result to this was a division of funs who stood to his support while others went against him. His art in the film industry experienced a lot of criticism. Conclusion It is indeed hard to make a decision between the doing the right thing and keeping one’s legacy. Elia Kazan has fallen victim of this concept. The moral lesson of this story is that people should follow their instants in choosing what is right when faced with a situational quagmire. Morals should guide people in decision making thus must be highly endorsed. Work Cited Lippmann Walter. A preface to morals: New York. Transaction Publishers, 1960. Print Barzman Norma. The Red And The Blacklist: The Intimate Memoir Of A Hollywood Expatriate: New York. Thunder's Mouth Press/Nation Books, 2004. Print Horne Gerald. The final victim of the blacklist: John Howard Lawson, dean of the Hollywood Ten. California. University of California Press, 2006. Print Read More