Biography of Joseph Patrick Kennedy Essay -- Motion Picture Industry F

Biography of Joseph Patrick Kennedy Joseph Patrick Kennedy was a very successful banker and film executive, born in Boston, Massachusetts, on September 6, 1888. Considered by many to be America’s version of the â€Å"royal family,† the Kennedy’s of Boston, Massachusetts have enjoyed triumphs and seen tragedy during the 20th century. As the family patriarch, Joseph Patrick Kennedy instilled values of commitment to public service, determination to succeed, and loyalty to family. His father, Patrick Joseph, was a prosperous saloonkeeper. Patrick also was active in Boston politics, as Irish ward boss, a five time state representative, and state senator. Kennedy’s parents were anxious for their son to succeed, however in the Boston social environment of the time, success was difficult to achieve for people of their Irish-Catholic background. It was Kennedy’s mother, Mary Augusta, who decided that her son should be called Joseph Patrick rather than Patrick Joseph, after his father. She feared that â€Å"Patrick Kennedy† sounded â€Å"too Irish.† Mary Augusta believed that in elitist Brahmin Boston, being Irish and Catholic would obstruct entry into â€Å"better† society. Mary arranged for her son to work for a millinery shop, delivering hats to affluent women. She instructed her son that, if asked his name, to reply simply â€Å"Joseph,† so as to avoid drawing attention to his ethnic background. Both parents were aware that entry to the higher levels of Boston society dictated that Kennedy mix with those outside his Irish community. They sent their son to Catholic schools for his early education, but when he was older he attended Boston Latin School and Harvard University, to be educated with Boston’s elite Protestant families. Although Kennedy made a few friends at Harvard, especially among the minority of Irish students there, and was popular with young Irish women, Kennedy never was accepted by a majority of the students---anti-Irish, anti-Catholic sentiment was strong. One friend warned Kennedy to be very careful in his behavior because Boston Brahmins were watching for any sign that would justify their prejudices. Kennedy’s determination to ingratiate himself with the socially prominent Protestants was viewed by some as distasteful and pretentious. He was never invited to join any of Harvard’s â€Å"better† clubs. Friends indicated what they felt was one of Kennedy’s more commendab... ...n its heyday (1930-49) was managed by a number of omnipotent studios, including Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Brothers, RKO, Paramount, Twentieth Century-Fox, and Universal. They produced endless cycles of films in imitation of a few successful original types. The range of themes included the criminal underworld, behind-the-scenes newspaper dramas, westerns, musicals, costume romances, and character series such as the Charlie Chan films, prison stories, mysteries, comedies, and Broadway shows. Because of their enormous investments and gargantuan rewards (the film industry’s gross income for 1946, its best year, was nearly $2 billion); the studios were encouraged to repeat conventionalized formula pictures. Today, the motion picture industry is an always changing, ever thriving business. Media corporations seem to be replacing true media moguls, buying out all aspects of the entertainment industry and forming one large conglomerate operating everything from radio to television to print to motion pictures. This semester I learned that the coming years will demonstrate a transformation of the motion picture and entertainment industry, not seen since its inception over a century ago.