Skidmore College American Studies professor Daniel Nathan stands inside his office at Tisch Hall Friday, Feb. 21, 2025 after concluding a '10 Movies that Changed America' class.
Skidmore College American Studies professor Daniel Nathan stands inside his office at Tisch Hall Friday, Feb. 21, 2025 after concluding a '10 Movies that Changed America' class.
Skidmore College American Studies professor Daniel Nathan stands inside his office at Tisch Hall Friday, Feb. 21, 2025 after concluding a '10 Movies that Changed America' class.
Skidmore College American Studies professor Daniel Nathan lectures inside Tisch Hall Friday, Feb. 21, 2025 during a '10 Movies that Changed America' class.
Skidmore College American Studies professor Daniel Nathan lectures inside Tisch Hall Friday, Feb. 21, 2025 during a '10 Movies that Changed America' class.
Skidmore College American Studies professor Daniel Nathan lectures inside Tisch Hall Friday, Feb. 21, 2025 during a '10 Movies that Changed America' class.
Skidmore College American Studies professor Daniel Nathan stands inside his office at Tisch Hall Friday, Feb. 21, 2025 after concluding a ‘10 Movies that Changed America’ class.
Skidmore College American Studies professor Daniel Nathan stands inside his office at Tisch Hall Friday, Feb. 21, 2025 after concluding a '10 Movies that Changed America' class.
Skidmore College American Studies professor Daniel Nathan stands inside his office at Tisch Hall Friday, Feb. 21, 2025 after concluding a '10 Movies that Changed America' class.
Skidmore College American Studies professor Daniel Nathan stands inside his office at Tisch Hall Friday, Feb. 21, 2025 after concluding a '10 Movies that Changed America' class.
Skidmore College American Studies professor Daniel Nathan lectures inside Tisch Hall Friday, Feb. 21, 2025 during a '10 Movies that Changed America' class.
Skidmore College American Studies professor Daniel Nathan lectures inside Tisch Hall Friday, Feb. 21, 2025 during a '10 Movies that Changed America' class.
Skidmore College American Studies professor Daniel Nathan lectures inside Tisch Hall Friday, Feb. 21, 2025 during a '10 Movies that Changed America' class.
Skidmore College American Studies professor Daniel Nathan stands inside his office at Tisch Hall Friday, Feb. 21, 2025 after concluding a ‘10 Movies that Changed America’ class.
Skidmore American Studies professor Daniel Nathan offers a class called “10 Movies that Changed America.” It was developed with assistance from several current seniors.
With the 97th Academy Awards set for Sunday evening, The Daily Gazette sat down with the professor, historian, and author to discuss the creation of his class, movies through the years, his thoughts on the Academy Awards, and some things that didn’t make the final cut.
Answers have been lightly edited for clarity and space.
Question: How did this class “10 Movies that Changed America” become a part of this semester’s course catalog?
Answer: It came about partly because of another class I teach, “Books that Changed America,” and that class has been a big success.
Some American Studies seniors said we could use this idea as a template to talk about another important cultural form, and that’s film.
It’s a testament to the kind of freedom that Skidmore gives faculty, that I could work with these students to create this new course. I’m pleased with the outcome.
Q: Did their query about a film studies class surprise you?
A: Students are visually literate. They are immersed in a visual culture. We must talk about things that engage them. So we’re trying to come up with ideas to experiment in ways that stimulate and excite students. And so far, this class has done that.
Q: Have you always been a moviegoer or have you been watching movies with a critical eye?
A: No. I think I am wired to be like a critical media consumer, and there are times where I can watch a show just for fun, but most of the time when I’m watching it, I’m thinking about, ‘Wow, that’s a complicated shot. Look at how they composed that or how they got that shot. Or this is some really good casting. Or this writing is not that.’
Q: Do your students also look at movies critically?
A: A lot of these students are similar; most are not passive consumers. They’re not just there to enjoy the films; they want to get after them and critique them. They want to talk about them formally. They are interested in the production history, they’re interested in reading the criticism of the films, which comes in multiple forms, like contemporary criticism.
Q: In today’s class, which I sat in, you discussed ‘Gone with the Wind.’ Were you students aware of the movie’s massive consumer appeal and history?
A: For a lot of them, they’re old, old movies. We watched ‘The Wizard of Oz’ last week and that’s 1939. That’s older than most of their grandparents, but at the same time, these films are so powerful that many of them have seen them.
Q: Why is ‘Gone with the Wind’ part of the syllabus?
A: Visually, it is a masterpiece and part of it’s the Technicolor, part of it’s the composition of the shots, part of it’s the terrific acting performances, the editing is clever, and the musical score is beautiful. It was among the most expensive movies ever made. It was over a $4 million production in 1939.
Q: Are you surprised that ‘Gone with the Wind’ would spark some of the comments I heard in your class?
A: I was surprised that one student said much I could relate to Scarlett. That’s incredible. You know, I mean this, this film is over 80 years old, and you’ve got a 20-something student being able to identify with this character. That’s amazing. That speaks to the, I usually don’t like talking about this, but like the timelessness of the film.
Q: What films did not make the class?
A: ‘Rocky’ did not make the cut, which is a shame. It is an Academy Award-winning film, Best Film of the Year, spawned all these sequels, and the theme song became synonymous with it.
Some students argued that it was important to have a musical. ‘The Wizard of Oz’ is a good one, but I felt bad that ‘Singing in the Rain’ did not make it.
A: The academic year before I came to Skidmore I was in Finland on a Fulbright Scholarship. There was an opening in [American Studies] department and it was just a fantastic opportunity.
I went to a small liberal arts school as an undergraduate, Allegheny College in Pennsylvania. My goal all along had been to get back to where I was, a kind of small liberal arts community, where you got to know students, develop relationships with students that would maybe last years, and that has been the case. I wanted basically to do for students what my professors did for me. This is my 22nd year and I’m not going anywhere.
Q: The Academy Awards are this weekend. Where do they stand, and what impact do they have now?
A: The Academy Awards are still very important. It still means something to be an Academy Award nominee. If you’re a winner, it’s worth a great deal. An actor or director, they could skate by on that for the rest of their lives
The Academy Awards takes itself seriously, and we should think carefully about which films are considered among the Best of the Year, and over time, how many of them will stand up? When you look at the list of nominees from 50 or 60 or 70 years ago, many of those films have fallen out of the consciousness of people who are film buffs. But for the winners, it provides almost a kind of immortality.
Q: What is the top Academy Award that you watch or want to know?
A: Best Picture and I’m also interested in Best Director. I always look for Best Actor and Best Actress and Supporting Actor and Actress. I do because some of the acting performances are just so spectacular, just so wonderful and impressive. I’m not an actor, but I do have some appreciation for people who can craft a character.
Q: What is your opinion of films that win so many Academy Awards in one night? Did they do everything the best in that film?
A: Awards are tricky because they’re not just subjective, but also political. If a movie is fantastic and in many different ways, then I’m OK with it. If a film like ‘Schindler’s List’ is so outstanding, it’s an important film, and there were great performances in it, and it’s well crafted, and if it wins a whole bunch of awards, I’m OK with that.
Q: Do you think the Marvel Universe and other comic-book universes will see more honors at the Academy Awards?
A: The Academy, the members of the Academy, and the people who get to vote. It seems that they haven’t embraced the idea that they think they’re more like pop culture kitsch rather than serious works of art or cinema. That shouldn’t be the case.
Some of those films are thoughtful and interesting and don’t always take risks. But think about a film like ‘Black Panther,’ which got a lot of attention, that got some respect. That’s a film that had an impact on America. A film like ‘Black Panther’ deserves to be in a serious conversation about cinema in ways that I’m not sure like all the ‘Captain America’ or ‘Avengers’ films do.
Q: What are four of your all-time favorite movies?
A: I’m going to start with something that’s probably obscure to most people, but I do think about it a lot, and it won’t surprise people who know me, but I think quite highly of Barry Levinson’s ‘Diner.’ I also think very highly of Martin Scorsese’s ‘Goodfellas.’ I love that film. It’s so well crafted, so clever.
I think about Tom Hanks and ‘Castaway’ almost every day. Something about that film resonated with me: a guy struggling to survive against all odds and in isolation. That’s a powerful film for me. One that might surprise you is Steve James’ ‘Hoop Dreams’ because it’s a documentary. It combines my interest with sport and cinema. It’s an amazing work of social history, as well as art.
Q: While teaching about film at Skidmore College, you are also writing about it? What have you done?
A: I’ve written some film reviews for The Journal of American History and others. I wrote a review of George Clooney’s ‘Boys in the Boat’ not too long ago, ESPN’s ‘The Last Dance’ about Michael Jordan, the Chicago Bulls, and have written some film reviews, but they’re academic periodicals, which give me a little bit more time and space.
A: I just finished a book ‘Sports Through the Lens’ with my colleagues Maureen Smith and Sarah Field. I edit a journal — The Journal of Sport History — and I’m going to do some innovative things that we’re working on — special editions and some forums that I’m looking forward to working on.
I do have a couple book projects in mind. One is a book about sports films. I’ve made some progress, but I’m behind on where I want to be on that. I’m interested in a Negro League project about the Baltimore Black Sox, specifically, their 1929 season.
People don’t believe me, but I’m never bored. I always got something going on.
