Joe Ross Citizen Kane
I've heard a lot of talk about this movie for most of my life, but going into class last Wednesday I honestly had no idea what this movie was about, much less what to expect. I particularly liked the way we learned about Kane through the stories and memories of those closest to him, but none of them knew him well enough to know what Rosebud actually meant. Kane is a tragic character, but brings the tragedy onto himself by succombing to tempatation of wealth and power, making it nearly impossible to sympathize with him.
Although the taste of moviegoers today has drastically changed since the time this movie came out, I don't agree that most people wouldn't care about the symbolism, message, etc, that this movie is based on. While the majority of us wouldn't put this movie in the top 5 list we just made, I believe most of us at least appreciate the differences between Citizen Kane and the dumb humor and redundant action movies that Hollywood wants us to watch. As a capitalist country, most people are concerned with acquiring as much wealth and power as possible, just like Kane does, but nobody really thinks about the consequences of having so much power in the palm of your hand. Therefore, this movie is still relevent in that respect, and probably will be for a long time...unless there is another communist uprising in the near future.