American Film 2.0 Flashcards
(17 cards)
Our response to films (pt.1)
shaped by multiple aspects of our identity:
Social, cultural, private, desiring SELF
SPECTatorship exists on a SPECTrum
Active -> Passive engagement
Passive spectatorships
viewers = primarily enjoy the emotional experience
without questioning the films intended meaning.
follow the film makers guidance:
>accepting the characters,
>responding to closed endings,
>embracing familiar genre conventions.
What do films that encourage passive viewing often present
often present messages that align with dominant cultural ideologies
clear how they should think and feel.
Active spectatorships
Active spectatorships = a more critical response,
Viewers interrogate films as individuals,
analysing its techniques + meaning.
recognise how a film
>challenges traditional narrative structures,
>deconstructs genre conventions,
>or present morally ambiguous protagonists.
What do films that encourage active viewing often present
explore messages that challenge dominant ideologies
require intellectual engagement as well as an emotional response.
Joker (Phillips, 2019) - what spectatorship to use (passive then active)
Passive spectatorship = limits our engagement with + understanding of Arthur flecks personal tragedy:
viewed simply as a victim of circumstances;
appreciating the films aesthetics + pheonix’s performance without deeper reflection.
However, active spectatorship critically examines the societal causes behind Arthur’s transformation.
Joker -opening scene: Phillips intentions (pt.1) (what’s revealed about Arthur + society)
how isolated, bullied, and disregarded by society Arthur is.
Spectator feels sorry for him.
questions consequences of not looking after those in need.
highlights effects of poverty and inequality on mental health.
Joker -opening scene: film analysis (pt. 2)
In the therapists office:
Long take close ups of Arthur laughing are used,
audience feel uncomfortable.
An insert shot of his journal
also reveals he “hopes my death makes more cents than my life, “
establishes his tortured insanity, and also comments on capitalism.
Joker -opening scene: question focus (pt.3) (what does the film explore and critique)
The film explores how
mental illness,
institutional neglect,
and systemic inequality
shaped Arthur’s identity.
The film serves as a critique of
social safety net erosion,
poverty,
class division,
mirrors real world issues.
Joker -second scene: analysis
In the subway scene:
a close up of Arthur being beaten is used,
the lights flicker in the background,
represent his internal conflict,
after the shots have been fired a handheld camera is used,
reinforcing the chaos that’s unravelled,
Arthur even briefly turns the gun on himself,
stressing the ongoing battle inside his head.
Get out (peele, 2017) - what spectatorship to use (why does peele encourage and want the audience to analyse)
Similarly, Get out encourages active viewers=
critique of liberal racism + white progressivism = masks deep prejudice.
Peele wants the spectator to analyse:
microagrressions
cultural appropriation of blackness
films subversion of horror tropes = tool for social commentary.
Get out (peele, 2017) - opening scene peeled intentions and what he wants to convey
In the garden party scene
the insidious nature of covert racism = seemingly polite yet objectifying behaviour of the white guests.
Chris = commodity being inspected and evaluated,
parallels to the historical practice of slave auctions,
maintaining a facade of social normalcy.
Get out (peele, 2017) - opening scene Analysis
talking to guests = two person close ups
captures Chris’s awkward smile + avoiding eye contact
Rose’s reaction = straight faced blank stare
interpreted as both annoyance at their outward racism, or worry he’ll catch on to their intentions with him.
Get out (peele, 2017) - opening scene question focus (what does peele expose and examine)
ideological lens -> Get out = liberal racism beneath performative allyship.
commodification of black bodies through the sunken place
metaphor represents oppression of marginalised groups.
Get out (peele, 2017) - sunken place scene analysis
a close up of Chris with tears in his eyes = audience uncomfortable,
we can hear the spoon scarping lightly = tea plantations.
flashback + ped shot = sunken feeling the audience too can feel,
reinforced by the warped sound and slow motion,
remain immersed in the diegesis of the film,
close up of the horror on Chris’s face.
Get out (peele, 2017) - sunken place scene question focus (forced to do what)
forced to internalise white expectations
lose their true selves.
metaphor = deconstructs power dynamics that sustain racial hierarchy’s.
Get out- overall: (critiques and highlights societal…)
critiques cultural fedisations= blackness becomes something to be consumed rather than respected.
This approach highlights how societal ideology perpetuates racism by normalising structures that silence marginalised groups.
