Narrative technique · used in 1 film

Technology as Social Change

Showing a new machine slowly wearing away an old social order. The invention starts as a joke or a rival's hobby and ends as the force that changes everyone's fate.

Examples

Where you can see it

  1. The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) poster

    The Magnificent Ambersons

    Orson Welles · 1942

    Eugene's cars are laughed at by George and the family. By the end the Amberson money is gone, and George is injured by an automobile.

    Where to see it: The ball and the ending: George mocks Eugene's cars early, and a car later injures George after the family loses its money.

Questions

Quick answers

What is technology as social change in film?
Showing a new machine slowly wearing away an old social order. The invention starts as a joke or a rival's hobby and ends as the force that changes everyone's fate.
Which films use technology as social change?
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942).
What kind of technique is technology as social change?
It is a narrative technique. Related narrative techniques include Character Arc Inversion, Symbolic Object, Observational Restraint.

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