Graduation Year
2026
Date of Submission
4-2026
Document Type
Campus Only Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Film Studies
Reader 1
James Morrison
Reader 2
Jon Shields
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
2026 Charles D Coluccio
Abstract
This thesis examines how American media has used rural America to express broader ideas about identity, values, and national change. It focuses on three periods: the rural sitcom boom of the 1960s, the rise of rural horror films in the 1970s, and contemporary 21st-century narratives shaped by economic insecurity and political division. Rather than treating these portrayals as direct reflections of rural life, the project analyzes them as responses to the historical and cultural conditions in which they were produced. Through close textual analysis and historical context, the thesis traces how rural America shifted from a symbol of stability, to one of danger and social breakdown, and later to a space associated with displacement, grievance, and uncertainty. Across these periods, representations of rural America reveal changing national concerns about modernization, inequality, and belonging.
Recommended Citation
Coluccio, Charles, "Imagining Rural America: Media, Myth, and National Identity" (2026). CMC Senior Theses. 4165.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/4165
This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.
