The containment of subversion (and subversion of containment) in Hollywood films

Selected Hollywood films from the Depression, 1930--1941, are examined for ways in which writers and directors might convey anti-capitalist meanings in productions by capitalist corporations (Hollywood studios). The study explores ways in which filmmakers seek to alter viewer attitudes with meanings that are elicited via textual and visual gaps. This implicit effort at attitude change represents subversion, in contrast to explicit efforts which represent persuasion. Finally, the study seeks to assess if such subversively embedded meanings were, in fact, received by viewers of the work.Director: David L. Pike.