IstheresuchathingasatypicalAmericanfilm?ItistruethattherearemanyfeaturesthatmarkamovieasAmerican,butperhapsthemostessentialisthethemeoftheloner-hero.Fromtheearliestdaysofsilentfilmsuntiltherecentextravagantsciencefictionfilms,theAmericanmoviehasconcentratedontheroleofoneindividualwhospendshisorherlifecombiningtheforcesofevil–andthegoodguy,thehero,usuallywinsbytheendofthefilm.
Inthewesternmovie,whichcomesoutofmanylegendsoftheAmericanWest,atypicalfigureisthelonesomecowboy.Hewandersintoatownandstraightensouthistroubles.Thosetroublescanbecattlerustlersorout-laws.Thenthestrongandindependentheroridesoffintothesunsetalone.Americanslikethisimageintheirfilmsbecausetheyarehighlyindependentthemselves,andindividualismcountsagreatdealwiththem.Anindividualwhoisabletocorrecttheevilsoftheworld,orofasmalltown,issomeonetoadmire.
Eventhegangster(匪徒)movie,averypopularformofthetypicalAmericanfilm,usuallyhasahero.Eitherheisalawmanouttocatchthecriminalsoragangsterwhosuddenlyseesthelightandtriestogostraight.Duringtheviolence?riddenperiodofProhibitioninthe1920s,itisnaturalthatthegangstermoviewouldgrowinpopularity.Thesefilmskeptthesametoneasthewestern---thebadcannottriumph!Onegoodpersoncansavetheinnocent.
Recentsciencefictionfilmsdealwiththesamethemes.Againsttheforcesofalienpowers,peoplewillfighttoprotecttheirideals.Here,too,theactioncentersaroundasingleindividual,butnowheorshemustsavetheworld.