Cooper, Matthew

Make Way for Tomorrow: Nostalgia and Social Progress in 2010s Hollywood Cinema

Matthew Cooper is a graduate student in the Communication and Media program, concentrating on Media and Cinema Studies. His research interests include the contemporary American film industry, cultural nostalgia, political allegory in narrative cinema, and modernity and media technologies. Matthew is also a dedicated tutor at DePaul’s University Center for Writing-based Learning. This is his third year participating in the Honors Student Conference.

Major: Media and Cinema Studies

Minor: Communication Studies

Senior, College of Communication

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Abstract

2010s Hollywood cinema can be characterized by two major trends: nostalgic yearning and the demand for social progress. Nostalgia has often been understood as the binary opposite of progress. However, I argue that the observable trend toward more inclusive on-screen representation within nostalgic narratives necessarily complicates this understanding. Instead, the use of the past for future-oriented social progress should be viewed as a viable strategy to move forward in a time of widespread cultural uncertainty. The Star Wars sequel trilogy, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, and Avengers: Endgame are taken as case studies.

Thesis Director: Dan Bashara

Department: Media and Cinema Studies

Faculty Reader: Michael DeAngelis

Department: Media and Cinema Studies

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Project Poster

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Narrated Presentation