Motion Picture Diaries

History 2057

Section 22

March 7, 2004

Short Paper Assignment #2

23-1: Motion Picture Diaries:

This document reading that I chose to write my short paper assignment on is a collection of diary entries from three different young

people from three distinctly different backrounds. Yet, this primary source shows that there is one common link between the three of them and

that is their love of movies and the early motion pictures that seemed to captivate Americans from every walk of life. All three of these

individuals obviously have had their lives impacted by the movie industry to such a level that feel the need to write about it in their diaries where

their personal information is shared. But, in order to understand this we must look at our own lives and that pivotal moment when something new

and exciting entered our life and we just thought that whatever it was was greater than sliced bread. The only difference is that the people and

especially the young adults of this era were experiencing something unlike anyone had ever seen before and as a result it had enormous

impacts. Movie stars were born and their first fans appeared in the warm glow of the mid afternoon picture. People of this era worshipped their

movie stars. They dressed like them, walked like them, talked like them, started to smoke like they did; all attempts to imitate

their favorite star

in ultimate hopes of being like them one day. All three of these individuals have their story to tell about how they tried to live out part of a movie

they saw in their real lives, whether it was through a passionate kiss or a runaway with a forbidden