Early Theaters
Around the turn of the 20th century, America was a society experiencing big changes, unlike any that had been experienced before, and it was because of these changes that the birth of cinema was possible. Without certain conditions present it is unlikely that theaters would have grown in popularity so quickly or had as great an impact on the daily lives of so many people. The rise of big business changed life in America forever, spawning a massive shift in population from rural living, farming work to urban life centered on factory work, as well as triggering a massive "new immigration," swelling Americas already diverse cities with more and more foreign born citizens. It was because of these changes that the cinema was able to become a popular attraction, drawing large crowds consistently and competing directly with existing forms of entertainment such as ballet, live theater and vaudeville. The rise of big business caused a transition in work from primarily farm type work to new factory jobs. This resulted in large masses congregating in cities, coming from rural America as well as immigrants coming from many other countries in search of a better life. These workers had previously identified themselves with the type of wo
Theater operators capitalized on the blue-collar worker's different working hours by screening programs all day long and often times all night long as well. These programs were about an hour in length, consisting of numerous short films that were run back to back. This meant that regardless of when a worker was ready to go to the cinema, once inside they were not early or late, but could simply enjoy the show from where they picked up and watch everything until they had seen the entire show. This in itself catered very much to the audience of the time, as films did not involving any narrative aspects that would confuse someone if they did not know what had happened. Had it not been for these fundamental changes in society, it is unlikely that the moving picture theater would have had the impact that it did. Central to these changes were the movement of people from rural towns to urban cities, and the shift towards the unfulfilling factory type work. People chose to find other ways to find meaning in their lives, and the cinema of attractions was a prime example of working class people finding outlets to entertain themselves. This was very indicative of the society as similar types of escapes were becoming popular, such as the Coney Island amusement park. The advent of free time and an influx of discretionary income were key contributors leading to the widespread popularity of the cinema. rk they did, but the new factory work was not seen as much as a
Some common words found in the essay are:
, Hose Prank, Feeding Baby, Coney Island, ballet live theater, theater vaudeville, live theater vaudeville, entertainment ballet live, entertainment ballet, live theater, type factory, rise business, ballet live, picture theater,
Approximate Word count = 992
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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