Film History: 1990's

As we look at the recent history of film and television in the 1990's it's a bit easier to contextualize the social and historical factors around films.  In television we talked about the major series such as: Seinfeld, The Simpsons, Friends, and we watched the "Norm and Cliff's Excellent Adventure" episode of Cheers which came to an end in 1993.  The film are watching is one of my favorites,  Lasse Hallström's 1993 drama What's Eating Gilbert Grape starring  Johnny Depp, Juliette Lewis, and Leonardo DiCaprio.  Below are the three questions to answer on your reaction paper which is due on Wednesday:

The town of Endora is, in a sense, a major character in the film and there are a few distinct parts of the town that seem to serve an important symbolic purpose such as the water tower, the grocery stores, and even the town's name itself.  Discuss why and how these elements work in the film and what their symbolic meanings are.

The cast of the film is pretty amazing from the stars like Depp & DiCaprio to the supporting actors like John C. Reilly & Crispin Glover so it's not a surprise that the performances are terrific too but putting the major characters aside choose three supporting actors and talk about what their purpose in the film is, what do they represent? If you removed them what would be lost?

Finally, what is the theme or moral of the film, what's it trying to say?  Give evidence from the film to support your ideas