Are films inspired by society or vice versa?

I tend to like debates/discussions so here's some food for thought. Do movies reflect society be it in fashion trends or societal issues or is society influenced by what movies represent?

In the 80's and 90's, when having a boyfriend or girlfriend was an unforgivable sin and arranged marriages were the norm, the majority of the movies consisted of girl-boy love stories with the parents being portrayed as villains. 20 years later, a new kind of cinema has evolved (a lot of which has been ripped off but that's another issue altogether). Is this change a result of society progressing and new issues arising or has society progressed/changed because of its exposure to different societal norms due to progressive cinema or even MTV etc.?

Even on a more superficial level, fashion has changed drastically in the the past few decades. Are these changes popularized by movie stars or do movies showcase the current fashion trends in society?

Thoughts, opinions and arguments welcome =)

Interesting topic. YOu know you can argue both ways. That films have to be based on something...and I believe society does dictate stories we see in movies to a large extent. If not the culture in India, then you can say Western culture (since we rip half our films off of them anyway).

Originally posted by: desigal90

Interesting topic. YOu know you can argue both ways. That films have to be based on something...and I believe society does dictate stories we see in movies to a large extent. If not the culture in India, then you can say Western culture (since we rip half our films off of them anyway).

But to a small extent, even society gets influenced by movies. The broadening of minds, and especially fashion in movies can influence the public.

But then nowadays, I'm not sure how much change is soceity is due to the movies, or due to globalization in general. I mean people are exposed to thoughts, ideas, pictures,moviesall over the world via internet. It has to account to something.

Yup, I think movies had a lot more of an impact on society before than they do now. I'm not sure if it's because the public has a lot of other mediums to imbibe things from or they have just become more aware that movies are just a business. I think the mysterious aura of actors/actresses and movies has somewhat diminished over the years and everything has become more accessible to the public, including the stars. I think now more movies are being based on actual issues that occur in society.

There you go. And you're right. Stars are no longer those mysterious figrues you only watch on the big screen.