Central Arguments and Historical Significance of the Film, "The General"

Social, Cultural, and Historical Issues in The General and the Contribution of the Film’s Aesthetics to the Development of Film Language
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Social, Cultural, and Historical Issues in The General and the Contribution of the Film’s Aesthetics to the Development of Film Language
The General is an American silent comedy movie produced in 1927 by comedian Buster Keaton who also features as the main actor. Set during the American Civil War, the film is about a confederate railroad engineer Johnnie Gray who set out to rescue his fiancйe and locomotive. Union spies steal the locomotive, and onboard is his fiancйe, Anabelle. Johnnie Gray boards a massive train and chases after his stolen locomotive to take it back and, at the same time, save his fiancйe. The film depicts various social, cultural, and historical issues involving the aftermath of the Civil War, and its aesthetics have informed the development of modern film language.
Social, Cultural, and Historical Issues
The American Civil War marks a watershed moment in the history of American society. With Union and Confederates clashing, the war was highlighted by important issues like slavery, the realities of warfare, and the quest for a more inclusive United States. By the time Keaton produced The General, Bilton (2006) argued that the Civil War melodramas had since gone out of fashion. Thus, unlike those before him, like D.W. Griffith, Keaton’s comedy took a more apolitical stance while including traces of the Lost Cause Mythologies. According to Kaufman (2019), Keaton’s film is not a comic portrayal of the American Civil War but of any war in general. This is because there is no mention or portrayal of key issues like secessional, slavery, or who was in the wrong between the Union and the Confederate. These, in essence, were among the key issues that fueled and even sustained the Civil War.
Both Bilton (2006) and Kaufman (2019) agree that this depoliticization of post-Civil War films was a central theme in the mythologization of the war. In essence, as argued by Chadwick (2001), The General falls under the films that came after the historical narrative of the war had been rewritten. This rewriting was intended to frame the war in a manner that united the country, quelled bitterness, and, most importantly, assuaged the ego of the defeated Southern States. Thus, in The General, Keaton highlighted this aspect of the Lost Cause narrative that helped to downplay the issues of slaveholding, emphasize the issues state’s rights, and simultaneously embrace soldiers from both sides so that the war does not seem like a loss cause. Keaton allows civilians to play a central role in the war. He takes back a stolen train from the Union spies while rescuing his fiancйe.
Further, Kea...