Following Sheila O’Malley’s lead, Lance Mannion asks us to explain America via ten movies.

Viewing the comments at her blog and his, I can’t help thinking that I could guess the age range of each commenter by their choices. I could also be tempted to choose movies based on what I liked a lot and how I was influenced to view America. But I’m going to try to find ten that would do the best job of explaining America’s evolution to what it seems to be today, as if I were trying to define it to a space alien who knows nothing of America at all.

And it’s hard to limit it to an arbitrary number like ‘ten’. To do so, I’m eliminating some that offer messages so universal that they exceed any claim to be America-specific.

My choices are closest to those of ‘Words Have Power’, a commenter at Lance’s blog:

1) To Kill A Mockingbird - racial issues, biases against ‘the different’ (Boo Radley) and pursuit of colorblind justice are all well-encompassed here. Much of our country’s politics from its conception revolves around race and equality. No movie covers this better.

2) Little Big Man - though a comedy, it definitely covers many sordid themes in our history: dehumanizing those we steal from, slaughtering them, treatment of homosexuals, respect for calm philosophizing in the face of chaos and despair, an appreciation of the absurd, and more.

3) Twelve Angry Men - the power of individualism and the tricky pathfinding that occurs on the way to justice.

3) Being There - luck plays a part in an individual’s advance, and simple philosophies permit wide interpretation (and spin) of what those philosophies mean. It certainly has some parallels with our current President.

4) I’ll risk disqualification by calling a TV miniseries one movie: Lonesome Dove. It was probably closer to the actual Wild West that was. And if that gets disqualified, its replacement would provide a narrower, darker definition of that era - Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven.

5) Corporatism in a realistic light probably has many possible nominees. Erin Brockovich comes to mind among others. But I think Silkwood is the better choice here. It’s pretty much a tie with The China Syndrome, though, so either could do.

6) Corporatism should have its counterpart, in labor. This is really a hard one because so many films cover this well. Consider The Grapes of Wrath, Norma Rae, Coal Miner’s Daughter and several others that are clear classics. But by a nose, I think I’ll go with Matewan.

7) Conquest and the realities of war have many great options. All Quiet on the Western Front, Saving Private Ryan, The Killing Fields, Apocalypse Now…. there’s quite a feast to consider here. Again, by a nose, I’m going with Platoon, because it best ( I feel) covers the Vietnam War, whose impact has influenced American foreign policy ever since.

8) Hmmmm, And I have just three left to sum up America? How can we possibly cover gender politics, patriarchy, women’s equality, or even recreational things that provide metaphorical definitions of our country (such as baseball)?

Maybe by combining all those things in one movie: A League Of Their Own.

9) Another, that covers ground like big business, labor, gangsters, corruption - and has its roots in the corruption of McCarthyism - is On The Waterfront. In fact, I think I’ll replace #5 Silkwood, with this one. Which still leaves just two more.

9, again) Geeze, back to war again. And no movie encompasses our modern foreign policy choices better than Dr. Strangelove.

10) So how to sum up so many positives that remain to describe America? There’s arts, music, science and discovery, theology and the role of religion, creativity, entrepreneurialism, family, community and so much more. Among my faves:

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington - because of its innate decency and commitment to representative democracy.

Apollo 13 - exploration, courage and creative troubleshooting. And The Right Stuff works as well.

Era films that cover chapters in American life, like The Birth of a Nation, Rebel Without A Cause, Annie Hall, Citizen Kane, and Easy Rider, among others.

Families and communities: A Place In The Sun, Steel Magnolias, On Golden Pond, The Color Purple, Fried Green Tomatoes, and others.

Creativity: can we cover Einstein, Henry Ford or Preston Tucker? Or Martha Graham, Andy Warhol, Robert Frost, Dali, O’Keefe? Or Disney, Spielberg, Lucas, Welles, Monroe, Stephen King, and Hitchcock? Wizard of Oz or Rocky Horror Picture Show or Princess Bride or Lord of the Rings?

The simple answer is ‘No’. It’s impossible to cover so much territory with just one remaining choice. I’m tempted to go with Tucker, because automobiles are central to the US culture. Or with Catch-22, about bureaucracy, hierarchy and military madness. Or with another critically important mini-series… Roots. Or what about ‘X’? I’m even tempted to choose the quirky ‘Insignificance’, because it touches on Einstein, Monroe, Dimaggio and Joe McCarthy (science, war, popular film, celebrity, women’s place, baseball, fidelity, Cold War politics)

I’m not happy with just one choice here, but since I have to choose one, I’ll lean towards one that includes someone coming to America to make it big, independent spirit, celebrity, relationships, talent, comedy and more. It has archival footage of Hitler, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, Jackie Coogan, Paulette Goddard, Joseph McCarthy and others. And it has a star-studded cast that includes David Duchovny, James Woods, Diane Lane, Milla Jovovich, Marisa Tomei, Kevin Kline, Dan Ackroyd, Anthony Hopkins, Geralsine Chaplin, Robert Downey, Jr, and other well-knowns. My choice is Chaplin.

But as I said, no one movie can cover so much about America. I think a top 20 or 25 list would provide a more complete definition of who we are and how we got here.

But these are my Ten… what are yours?