PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Bláhová, Jindřiška
AU  - Nowell, Richard
TI  - "If not for their Artistic Merit then their Capacity to Connect with People". Czechoslovak Communists, Late Cold War Cultural Policy, and Youth-oriented American Films
DP  - 2015 Mar 1
TA  - Iluminace
PG  - 43--61
VI  - 27
IP  - 1
IS  - 0862397X
AB  - In their essay, the authors examine Czechoslovak film in the late Cold War period and its policy of importing American youth films, such as Rebel Without a Cause, Saturday Night Fever, or Dirty Dancing. Based on an analysis of the sources, the authors argue that the selection of Ústřední půjčovna filmů is framed by four historical contexts reflecting changes in the cultural policies of the Czechoslovak Communist Party: blaming parents for student unrests, demonizing American capitalism and democracy, undermining subversive local subcultures, and proposals to liberalize the cultural sphere.