Your essay should answer two sets of questions: 1) How does your movie work as part of American film history? Does it represent a continuation of themes and developments as we see them in the course, or does it attempt to work against those conventions – or both? This discussion should, among other things, address the aesthetics and the genre of the film. 2) How does the film speak to what Douglas Kellner calls the tensions, conflicts, fantasies and fears of the past decade? To what degree do external political, economic, social or cultural values shape what you see – and does the film uphold or challenge those values? Paper length is 5-7 pages, with the same specifications as the PCA paper. Sources from class are permitted and encouraged; the paper, however should not use any outside source. The grade will be based on the specificity and thoroughness of your argument, your use of class material, and the fluency of your writing.