Kathy Merlock Jackson

Playing It Again and Again: Casablanca's Impact on American Mass Media ad Popular Culture

Abstract Casablanca has captured the popular imagination in a way that no other movie–with the possible exception of Gone with the Wind or The Wizard of Oz–ever has. Premiering in 1942, the film–produced by Hal Wallis, directed by Michael Curtiz, and starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman–became an immediate hit and a critical success. In subsequent years, it has never lost its popularity. Many have speculated on Casablancas timeless appeal, attributing it to the films superb script, acting, or musical score; its quintessential love triangle in an exotic locale against a backdrop of war; its manifestation of lifes difficult choices and the sacrifice of doing what is right; or Humphrey Bogarts tough, cynical-yet-sensitive on-screen persona. Regardless of why Casablanca has intrigued generations, one thing remains certain: This enduring classic has left its mark on American mass media and popular culture.

Screaming Her Way into the Hearts of Audiences: Dakota Fanning as Post-9/11 Child Star

In the waning years of the twentieth century, the American mind-set began to change, enveloped by a growing sense of uneasiness. In The Culture of Fear, Barry Glassner notes that although statistics showed that crime and violence were down and life expectancy was higher than ever, people remained afraid and pessimistic. “The final years of a millennium,” Glassner asserts, “provoke mass anxiety and ill reasoning … So momentous does the calendric change seem, the populace cannot keep its wits about it.”1 Foremost in people’s minds, in an age defined by computer technology, was the uncertainty of YK2: what would happen to our modern way of life if our online networks faltered? January 1, 2000, came and went without incident, but the arrival of a new millennium still triggered concern. The news media’s heightened reporting of isolated events such as school shootings, rare deadly diseases, and air disasters inflated people’s fears, making them feel vulnerable and unsafe.