American Film Flashcards
(29 cards)
Is the spectator ‘passive’ and ‘active’ in the act of film viewing?
● Is there a dynamic interaction with film narrative and film
features designed to generate response?
● What are the reasons for the uniformity or diversity of response by
different spectators?
● What are the preferred, negotiated, and oppositional ‘readings’ of film?
Technically, there is no such thing as a passive audience; if you are watching a film, you are engaging with it.
The question becomes more about your level of engagement.
Some films allow us to be more passive and encourage us to primarily enjoy the pleasure of emotional response.
Some films demand more engagement and interrogation because of choices made by the filmmaker. This means we must become more active in our viewing of the film.
Passive Spectatorship
A passive spectator is someone who, when watching a film, reacts in the same way that a mass audience would.
They accept the director’s intended meaning and don’t question the messages presented to them.
They enjoy the immersive experience and don’t seek to engage beyond a superficial level.
It is made very clear how the filmmaker wants the audience to think and feel about the characters, story and events in the film.
Passive
Spectatorship in
Joker Pt.1
A passive spectator might focus solely on the narrative arc of Arthur Fleck’s personal tragedy. They might see him as a misunderstood individual who faces a series of unfortunate events, without delving deeply into the societal conditions that contribute to his descent into madness. They may view the film simply as a character study of someone who was pushed to the edge, without reflecting on the causes or moral implications of his transformation into the Joker.
Passive
Spectatorship in
Joker Pt.2
A passive spectator might primarily engage with Joker on an aesthetic level, appreciating the film’s dark, gritty atmosphere, the striking cinematography, or Joaquin Phoenix’s powerful performance. They might be captivated by the disturbing imagery and the intense emotional scenes without fully considering the broader context or significance of those moments.
Active Spectatorship
On the other hand, some films (often independent films targeting more niche and highbrow audiences) encourage spectators to become more active producers of meaning by having to think about how to feel and respond to the film.
When an active spectator watches a film, they watch it as an individual, and can take their own meaning from it.
Active spectators generally analyse films and their meanings.
Active spectators can react differently to a film due to their personal experiences.
Active
Spectatorship in
Joker Pt.1
An active spectator would not only track Arthur’s descent into madness but would also critically examine the causes behind it. They might explore the interplay of mental illness, societal neglect, and class inequality that contributes to his transformation. Rather than simply viewing Arthur as a victim of circumstance, they might question how his environment—his interactions with society, his neglect by institutions, and his treatment by individuals— shapes his identity and decisions.
Active
Spectatorship in
Joker Pt.2
Joker is a sharp critique of social inequality, poverty, and the erosion of social safety nets.
An active spectator would examine the class tensions in the film, where Arthur’s poverty and struggles are compounded by a lack of institutional support.
They might reflect on how the film mirrors real- world systemic issues, such as the underfunding of mental health services, wealth inequality, and the exploitation of the working class.
Peele is encouraging an active form of spectatorship where we are open to interpret the film in different ways.
Get Out is a sharp critique of racism— specifically, liberal racism—and the ways in which white people may believe they are “progressive” while still harboring deeply ingrained prejudices.
An active spectator would consider the film’s portrayal of microaggressions, such as the seemingly innocent comments about Chris’s physicality or the uncomfortable interactions with the white characters.
An active spectator would reflect on the cultural appropriation of Black culture and the commodification of Blackness by white individuals.
Active spectators would also recognize how Get Out plays with and subverts horror tropes.
Responses
Our response to a film draws on the whole of the self, a self that includes:
* A social self who can make meaning in ways not very different from other with a similar ideological formation
* A cultural self who makes particular inter-textual references (to other films, other kinds of images and sound) based on the bank of material s/he possesses
* A private self who carried the memories of his/her own experiences and who may find person significance in a film in ways very different from others
* A desiring self who brings conscious and unconscious energies and intensities to the film event that have little to do with the film’s ‘surface’ content
Introduction:
There may be an element of passive spectatorship when watching a film, getting drawn into the narrative and enjoying the spectacle can be an immersive experience where a spectator accepts the preferred message from the director. I believe however, there is always an element of active spectatorship where an individual will actively engage with the themes and ideas on a deeper level.
Ideological lens- Get out:
Applying an ideological lens to Jordan Peele’s Get Out (2017) is not only useful but central to unpacking the film’s deeper meanings and its critique of societal structures. The film is layered with symbolism and subtext that reveal its ideological concerns, particularly regarding race, power, and systemic oppression. Here’s an analysis of why this approach is effective:
- Understanding the Critique of Liberal Racism
What It Reveals: Peele critiques not overt racism, but the subtler, insidious racism present in liberal, supposedly “progressive” spaces. The Armitage family embodies this, with lines like “I would have voted for Obama for a third term,” signaling performative allyship that masks deep-seated entitlement and exploitation.
* Why It’s Useful: An ideological lens exposes how these attitudes perpetuate systemic inequalities even when cloaked in politeness or political correctness. It reveals the tension between surface-level inclusivity and underlying exploitation.
Examining Capitalism and Commodification
What It Reveals: The Sunken Place and the Coagula procedure (brain transplantation) symbolize the commodification of Black bodies and the erasure of Black identity for the benefit of white individuals. This ties to historical ideologies of slavery, colonialism, and the objectification of Black bodies for economic or personal gain.
* Why It’s Useful: Through this lens, Get Out critiques how capitalism exploits marginalized groups, dehumanizing them into resources or tools for others’ gain.
Deconstructing Power Dynamics
What It Reveals: The film interrogates who holds power and how it is maintained. The Armitage family’s practices mirror historical systems of oppression: domination through science (eugenics), cultural appropriation, and control of narratives about race.
- Why It’s Useful: An ideological lens highlights how these power dynamics are not just personal but systemic, representing broader societal structures that sustain racial hierarchies.
- Critiquing Cultural Appropriation
What It Reveals: The white characters’ obsession with Blackness, from Jim Hudson’s desire for Chris’s “eye” to the guests’ comments about physical traits like athleticism, speaks to cultural fetishization. Blackness is commodified as something to be consumed or co-opted.
* Why It’s Useful: This perspective unpacks how white supremacy reduces Black culture and identity to desirable parts, while disregarding the humanity and autonomy of Black individuals.
Highlighting the Role of Ideology in Maintaining Racism
What It Reveals: The Armitage family’s actions aren’t just rooted in personal prejudice; they reflect larger ideological systems. The Sunken Place metaphorically represents the silencing and marginalization of Black voices in white-dominated spaces.
* Why It’s Useful: This lens shows how cultural and societal ideologies perpetuate racism by normalizing or justifying structures that silence and exploit marginalized groups.
Counterpoints and Limitations
While an ideological lens is invaluable, it should not overshadow other ways of interpreting the film, such as:
* Psychological/Emotional Perspectives: The individual trauma experienced by Chris and its relation to racism on a personal level.
* Genre Analysis: Understanding Get Out as a horror-comedy rooted in traditional genre conventions and subversions.
* Intersectionality: Considering other identities (e.g., class, gender) that intersect with race in the narrative.
Conclusion
Applying an ideological lens to Get Out allows viewers to engage with the film’s social critique on a deeper level, particularly its analysis of race, power, and systemic oppression. This approach not only enriches our understanding of the film but also underscores its relevance in contemporary discussions about racism and privilege. However, combining this with other perspectives ensures a more holistic interpretation.
Joker- Cinematography
Joker is a film about masks and ‘shadow selves’.
To compliment the two sides of the protagonist, the frail Arthur and the graceful yet demonic
Joker, the colour palette uses contrasting colours and lighting levels. This externalises the inner conflict of the protagonist.
A mix of close-ups (of Arthur’s face) and POV shots (from eye- line of other characters) reflect the key theme of alienation.
The close-ups make us feel emotionally close to Arthur, at the start the proximity provokes sympathy, but as he grows more deranged it becomes scary.
Joker- Mise en Scene
The clown costumes that Arthur dons reflect his deranged state of mind. In the opening scene, the clown costume is traditional and cute but it also looks loose-fitting and bedraggled. The costume and makeup when he gets fired seems tawdry, especially the fake-looking green wig. Shortly after, on the subway, the rich guys steal his wig and Arthur’s face now looks demonic. Near the end of the film, as he prepares for his TV appearance, he dyes his hair green, symbolising that the Joker has taken over Arthur’s psyche completely.
Though the time period isn’t specified, the film’s location of Gotham City has numerous references to New York of the early 1980s and particularly the seedy areas featured in Taxi Driver (Scorcese, 1976) – another story about an alienated young man.
Sets and locations can often be used symbolically. Consider the meaning of the staircase by Arthur’s apartment. At the beginning of the film, it seems to represent the uphill slog of Arthur’s life, with his warm apartment and doting mother at the end of it.
What is the significance of the staircase
in the scene where he dances down them?
Joker- sound
The Oscar winning score by Hildur Guðnadóttir is all based around a cello
performance that the composer improvised whilst reading the screenplay.
In the opening scene, when Arthur is beaten in the alley, the cello is
the only instrument. As darker forces begin to dominate the protagonist,
more and more instruments in the orchestra are used, the sound of the
full orchestra in the end overwhelming the cello entirely.
Joker- performance
Joaquin Phoenix did multiple takes for each scene, radically altering his demeanour, posture, face and vocals. This gave the director the choice of which ‘version’ of Arthur could be used.
Critics praised Phoenix’s performance, especially the way he humanises an iconic character that has previously been portrayed as an unfathomable sociopath. Particularly when Arthur succumbs to his ‘condition’ of inappropriate laughter, Phoenix communicates the character’s pain (and shame) whilst still cackling hysterically.
Consider Phoenix’s performance at different points in the plot.
How does posture and facial expression
show Arthur’s frailty and pain at the
start of the film.
How does rage, and then violence, fill
him with energy?
How does Phoenix show Arthur/Joker’s
growing confidence, but also his menace?
Preferred Reading of Joker:
The dominant preferred reading of Joker portrays the character as a product of societal failure, mental illness, and systemic neglect, with the film encouraging viewers to reflect on issues of social justice, mental health, and inequality in modern society.
Oppositional Reading
when the audience rejects the preferred reading, and creates their own meaning for the text.
This can happen if the media contains controversial themes that the audience member disagrees with.
It can also arise when the media has a complex narrative structure perhaps not dealing with themes in modern society.
Oppositional reading can also occur if the audience member has different beliefs or is of a different age or a different culture
