introduces the reader to basic issues related to the phenomenon of American cinema. It looks at American film history from the 1890s through today, but it does not always explore this history in a purely chronological way. In fact, it is not (strictly speaking) a history. Rather, it is a cultural history, which focuses more on topics and issues than on what happened when. plays a crucial role in the process of identity-formation. Films not only serve as texts that document who we think we are or were, but they also reflect changes in our self-image, tracing the transformation from one kind of America to another.