Steven Spielburg as a Genius

Essay by deitcha33High School, 10th gradeA+, November 2006

download word file, 2 pages 4.3

Steven Spielberg is known as one of the most successful and legendary figures of the film industry. He is believed, by many, to be one of the most innovative and influential people of his field (Wales 1). It can even be said that this director, producer, and writer is a genius. A genius, by definition of Merriam Webster's Collegiate dictionary, is described as a person who influences others for good or bad and a person capable of extraordinary intellectual power, especially as manifested in creative activity. Steven Spielberg, then, is a genius because of his creative pioneering of the film industry and his strong influence on others by covering controversial topics.

Steven Spielberg is a great film director who has covered a wide variety of topics and genres through his work. He began his Hollywood career as an editor of a classic western series (Maltin 1). He has produced movies of all genres, from small scale sci-fi flicks, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, to large-scale box office sensation such as Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List. Since then, he has progressed in his career to become a widely acclaimed director, writer, and producer of some of America's greatest and most popular films (Maltin 1).

Spielberg's genius, though, lies not in his success or popularity. It is derived from his originality and innovative style. With this, Spielberg's name has been credited to many "firsts" of the industry. Through one of his earlier works, the classic shark tale, Jaws, Spielberg is credited with having started the tradition of summer blockbusters (Maltin 1). Also, Spielberg is known to have made money an important part of Hollywood. He used the advertising of Rieces Pieces in one of his greatest films, E.T. the Extra- Terrestrial (Maltin 2). This was another innovative "first"...