Modernity, Skepticism, and Meaning in The World Viewed

Abstract Cavell regards movies between roughly 1927 and 1970 as a pre-eminent form of American popular and high art alike. This view depends on the perception that major movies during this period realistically presented heroic protagonists acting for the world’s good or evil characters defeated. He laments continuously, however, that movies have some time in the 1960s significantly lost their pre-eminent power as a result of uncertainties about the possibility of heroism. These uncertainties are reflected in film in the increasingly episodic careers of less heroic protagonists and in directorial mannerisms that call attentions away from plots. This chapter investigates whether, where, and in what forms traces of that pre-eminent power might nonetheless still be found.