Leiden University Student Repository

Graaf, Timo de (2022)

Dutchness Through an American Lens: The Netherlands in Hollywood Film

Bachelor thesis | International Studies (BA)

Film has the power to influence the worldview of its audience. This includes shaping the image of countries by including them on the silver screen. Through a case study of five Hollywood films from the 1970s and 2010s, this thesis takes a diachronic in exploring how the Netherlands is represented in American cinema. The concept of verisimilitude is used to determine how well the images of the Netherlands in the movies correspond to the perception of the country from a Dutch person’s perspective. The main points of focus in the analysis are the environment and people. In these sections, it is evident that the inclusion of traditional clothing and landmarks such as windmills is better contextualised in the older films than in the newer ones. In general, when comparing the results between the films from the different decades, it can be concluded that the degree of verisimilitude is relatively higher in the 1970s. In other words, the representation of the Netherlands in American film...Show moreFilm has the power to influence the worldview of its audience. This includes shaping the image of countries by including them on the silver screen. Through a case study of five Hollywood films from the 1970s and 2010s, this thesis takes a diachronic in exploring how the Netherlands is represented in American cinema. The concept of verisimilitude is used to determine how well the images of the Netherlands in the movies correspond to the perception of the country from a Dutch person’s perspective. The main points of focus in the analysis are the environment and people. In these sections, it is evident that the inclusion of traditional clothing and landmarks such as windmills is better contextualised in the older films than in the newer ones. In general, when comparing the results between the films from the different decades, it can be concluded that the degree of verisimilitude is relatively higher in the 1970s. In other words, the representation of the Netherlands in American film has become more stereotypical in recent years.Show less

Film

Cultural representation

Stereotypes

The Netherlands

Hollywood

Author

Graaf, Timo de

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Europe

Supervisors

Dam, H.D.J. van

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en