1990s: The Player

Screening + Discussion
Our pick for the 1990s

For our stop in 1990s film history, we screened The Player (1992), directed by Robert Altman. The film follows a Hollywood executive who may have murdered a screenwriter, set against an industry obsessed with power, image, and selling stories about itself. It’s a satire that doubles as a thriller, using Hollywood’s own language to expose its values.

After the film, we talked about:

• Hollywood as a closed system that rewards the right behavior

• Power and consequence, and who is allowed to escape accountability

• The film’s use of cameos and why they matter

• Satire versus complicity — is the film part of what it critiques?

• The opening long take and what it establishes about control and performance

• How stories are packaged, softened, and sold

• Violence as something that disappears when it’s inconvenient

• Why the ending feels both cynical and accurate