Films have profoundly impacted society for over a century, reflecting significant cultural movements and historical events.
People often say art imitates life, illuminating the ordinary and creating fictional plots based on the human experience. However, many popular movies have inspired social change.
Many places and institutions that have appeared a particular way in films now operate that way in real life. For example, the luxurious manner in which casinos are depicted in movies has resulted in an influx of similar social casinos launching in the real world.
Movies can inspire people to love or hate particular trends, ideas, people, or any number of things based on the way they are depicted. Sometimes the effect is subtle, influencing clothing styles or certain catchphrases, while others cause major shifts in thinking.
Here are some films that have left a reverberating impact on viewers over the past few decades.
12 Years a Slave
Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Solomon Northup, a free Black man who is kidnapped and forced into slavery in this 2013 historical drama. Enslaved in the Deep South, he faces seemingly unending humiliation and torture from his owner.
The story is based on the autobiographical narrative by Northup, who was living in New York when he was captured. The film chronicles the dehumanizing treatment of enslaved people through powerful acting performances. Lupita Nyong’o won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and the film received several other nominations.
The Pianist
Adrian Brody stars as a famous Polish pianist in this film depicting the horrors of the holocaust.
Wladyslaw Szpilman must face the brutality of war alone after the Nazis storm his street and begin systemically killing the people inside the houses along it. He manages to make it out alive, but most of his family is murdered or taken. Although he escapes the Nazi death camps with the help of various people, he quickly runs out of the food he’s given.
The film catapulted Brody onto a global stage with his heart-wrenching performance.
Leaving Las Vegas
Leaving Las Vegas tells the story of an alcoholic, played by Nicolas Cage, who plans to spend his remaining income on booze and drink himself to death. He meets a sex worker named Sera, who he falls deeply in love with, and the two share a beautiful bond in their darkest hour.
While he slowly loses touch with reality, the film illuminates the horrors of sex work, as Sera continues to meet with clients, who batter and humiliate her.
Boys Don’t Cry
Hilary Swank won an Academy Award for Best Actress, playing a transgender man named Brandon Teeva who navigates life in rural Nebraska.
After his ex-girlfriend’s brother discovers that he is transgender, Teena leaves his hometown for safety. The film was one of the first major blockbusters to depict the terror of existing as a transgender man and the hate bred by ignorance. The film generated significant social commentary about people’s struggles as they navigate their gender identity.
Philadelphia
Tom Hanks plays a dying lawyer named Andrew Beckett in this groundbreaking film about the aids epidemic. He is fired from his law firm after one of his colleagues notices a lesion on his skin.
Beckett enlists the help of homophobic lawyer Joe Miller (played by Denzel Washington) to fight his dismissal. During the trial, the two become closer as Washington learns to empathize with his situation.
A Beautiful Mind
Russell Crowe plays mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr. in A Beautiful Mind – a captivating drama about the mental health struggles that this genius faced.
Nash is attending Princeton when his schizophrenia develops, and he slowly starts having delusions. People start to react negatively to behaviors and ostracize him. His wife Alicia, played by Jennifer Connelly, reminds him of what’s real and stays by his side through his debilitating mental health condition.
Dead Poets Society
Robin Williams stars as John Keating, a high-school teacher who goes above and beyond for his students, inspiring them to study poetry and art to learn about truth, beauty, and love.
Most of the classes at the all-boys school follow a strict curriculum, with little room for the students to explore their creativity and discover themselves. Keating’s unorthodox style breathes life into their restricted existence and inspires them to live meaningful lives. The highly quotable film inspired many people to dust off their poetry books.
Requiem for a Dream
This horror drama about substance abuse disorders is a difficult film to watch. The plot follows the lives of four people living in Coney Island, facing unique battles with drugs.
Jennifer Connelly and Jared Leto play Marion Silver and Harry Goldfarb, a young couple who are passionately in love and making risky decisions with substances. Ellen Burstyn plays Harry’s mother, Sara Goldfarb, who starts taking dangerous diet pills to appear on a TV game show.
Each character slowly descends into dark desperation as the effects of the drugs and their addictions grow.
Fight Club
Fight Club inspired many people to question their everyday lives and whether they are truly happy.
The film is about a depressed man, played by Edward Norton, who quits his job and joins a fight club. He lives in squalor after his apartment is destroyed but gradually realizes he prefers his new life as he detaches from worldly possessions and social norms.
Brad Pitt also stars in this gritty cult classic with an unusual, gripping plot that features a surprise twist.
