Postcolonial Theory and Film

Postcolonial theory explores the cultural legacy due to colonialism and imperialism. Post colonialism can be explained in much simpler terms “Imagine this: people come over to your house, while you’re still living there, and decide to settle down. Permanently”, this refers to countries being taken over by force. It then goes on to explain the lasting effect colonialism has on countries even when they regain independence “they’ve been over for so long that your house no longer feels like your home. Worse yet—you might not even remember how things were before these folks came in” (Post Colonialism 2016: online).

The legacy of a country is a key concept of Postcolonial Theory, they ask the question, do we now actually live in a postcolonial world? Many countries inherited the languages of other countries, the religions, the food and the culture. “By the very nature of his or her location the postcolonial subject embodies the contradictions and ambivalence’s of the two cultures” Hayward (2006:pg.297), this refers to the idea of plural identities, they have both the identity of their original culture and a colonized one.
Bell Hooks explores ‘Loving Blackness’, within colonialism black people have often been the ones to face the most harm, due to slavery. The British Empire was built through slavery. Hooks believes black members of society are still classed as different, “most folks within this society do not want to openly admit their blackness” Hooks (1992: pg.10). He found society teaches black people to have a self-hatred for their skin colour “white supremacy ways of thinking allowing this perspective to determine how they see themselves and other black people” Hooks (1992: pg.11), this suggests the slavery involved with colonialism has had a lasting effect on societies view of black people.

Western values refers to the social norms, beliefs and traditions of a European world, the values are often explored in terms of post colonialism. There is the view that the rest of the world would be much better conforming to them. Khalid Hosseini is a famous Afghan- American author he wrote ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ and ‘The Kite Runner’ which was also turned into a successful film. Both novels are based in Afghanistan and explore society when it was controlled by the Taliban. Western values are a major focus in both novels and through the film, they explore how the Taliban planned to eradicate all western values. They banned films, music, books, televisions, radios, Western clothes. They made men grow beards, women wear full burkas and banned female education and independence. ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’, has the character Laila a modern Afghan girl, educated and dating. She is forced into an abusive marriage to an older man and then controlled by the Taliban, her almost Western life is completely eradicated. In both his novels he explores how much better the main characters lives are due to Western values, himself being Afghan- American, seems to appear he is Westernised and reflects on how awful the traditional laws in a country like Afghanistan are.

Overall it appears although we are now classed as a post-colonial world, the effect of colonialism lives on, there is still much racism, history ignores the past and western values are still enforced on other countries through war and violence.

Word Count: 544

References:
• Hayward, S. (2006) Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts. 3rd ed., Andover: Routledge, pg. 297
• Hooks, b. (1992) Black Looks: Race and Representation. Boston: South End Press, pg.10
• Shmoop (2016) Postcolonial theory introduction. Available at: http://www.shmoop.com/postcolonial-theory/ (Accessed: 28 November 2016).

Filmography:
• The Kite Runner, (2007), [Film] America: Mark Forster

Whiteness within film

Race has often been explored within film, Richard Dyer wrote the essay ‘The matter of Whiteness’ exploring whiteness within society and also in film. He believed white people are seen as the universal human race “as long as white people are not racially seen or named they / we function as a human race” (1996: pg 1-2). He found that within life and through film white people were not labelled as white in comparison to other races, such as describing a ‘black actor’ on screen, if he was white his skin colour would not be made reference to.

He found a number of examples in which non-whites are labelled within film descriptions, “comedy in which a cop and his black side kick investigate a robbery” , “skinhead Johnny and his Asian lover set up a laundrette”. In both cases the main character is not labelled by race because they are white. Instead white people may be labelled by other aspects of their lives “they are variously gendered, classed, sexualised and abled” (1996: pg 3).

Dyer believes “whites are represented everywhere” (1996: pg 3), however black people are still hugely unrepresented within film, looking at ‘UK Genre films featuring black actors’ some of the statistics show that in the genre of dramas they only featured 13 % , in comparison to the genre of crime where they featured 63 %. This can also be linked to stereotypes of black people associating them with crime, on television series many gang culture programmes mainly focus on black gangs and culture.

Dyer goes on to assess how racism is enforced within society, he believes “racist thought is part of the cultural non consciousness that we all inhabit” (1996:pg7). If we were to live in a world with racial equality, blackness would not be highlighted just as whiteness is not. The British Institute are celebrating black actors from October to December, however the question arises why are these actors being celebrated as ‘black actors’, why can they just be celebrated because they are good actors?

The film Get Hard can be explored in terms of whiteness. The main character James played by Will Farrell is a white upper class male who is sentenced to prison, he seeks the help of a black lower class character Darnell who owns a car valeting business played by Kevin Hart. The film plays perfectly to every stereotype of white and black people, James goes to Darnell for help of how to survive in prison and assumes he will know just because he is black. The film highlights James’ whiteness as he ends up in situations where he is placed in a fully black gang and is constantly left out due to his whiteness. This relates to Dyer’s view that whiteness is only highlighted when is compared to non-whiteness. The film plays off the stereotypes within society to create comical scenes, as in reality Darnell is not a black thug he is just like James, he has no clue about gang culture and James soon realises that not all black people are in gangs.

Upon reflection of Dyers essay it is true that within society whiteness is not highlighted in comparison to other races. The white race is constantly assumed to be the norm, as time changes this may become a thing of the past as we work towards a more equal society.

Word Count: 563

References:

Dyer, R. 1996. ‘The Matter of Whiteness.’ In White: Essays on Race and Culture. London: Routledge, pp. 1-40.

Filmography:

Get Hard, (2015). [film] America: Etan Cohen

Senses and Affect theory

Affect Theory refers to how a film affects an audiences senses, within recent times it has become a popular theory when studying film. Steven Shaviro believes when exploring film we must consider the body and senses. He found films were no longer created just for meaning, instead they were created to have an affect on the viewer’s senses “ a moment by moment manipulation of the spectator’s affective state” (2010:118).

When exploring an audiences senses three different responses are explored, these responses are nonlinear as everyone responds to certain events in different ways. In Shouse’s online journal he suggests the three responses are Affect, Feeling and Emotion. Shouse explained Affect as a “non-conscious experience of intensity”. In simpler terms this is a natural reaction that is not thought through, this could be when a spectator jumps at a scary scene within a film without knowing why. He described Feeling as “a sensation that has been checked against previous experiences and labelled”. This is a personal response when we recognise a situation, this could be when an audience sees the man on screen with a white mask and knife and they are scared by him. The final response is Emotion which he found was “the projection/display of a feeling”, this can be seen as a public display of emotion, when a film is sad an audience member may begin to cry to show they are having feelings of sadness.

Vivian Sobchack explores the phenomenology of film, she found when watching a film or television all the senses are involved. As an audience we feel the texture of objects on screen and “sometimes even smell and taste the world we see on screen” (2014:65). An example of this can be cooking shows such as Great British Bake Off, as an audience we watch the contestants bake and feel as though we are there with them, feeling the texture of the dough, smelling the melted chocolate, all our senses are at play and we are often left feeling hungry.

Many horror films use the senses to get the desired affect from their audience. A recent BBC Arts article studies “How do film-makers manipulate our emotions with music?” Stewart (2013:online). They use the example of the film ‘Paranormal Activity’ , who use the noise of infro sound,which are low frequency sounds with extreme base waves and vibrations. This type of sound has been linked to “induce anxiety, extreme sorrow, heart palpitations and shivering”. The horror film makers can use sound to affect their audience, whether it be vibrations or high pitched music to create a tense and uncomfortable atmosphere. Nursery rhymes are also often used in horror films, linking child hood memories to a creepy character can create a really unsettling feeling within.

Exploring senses and responses of films is extremely interesting, although the meaning behind a film can be seen an important aspect, it also appears an audiences response whether it be their emotions or what feelings they attach to a film can be seen as equally important. Directors use audiences senses to make their films successful, In terms of films like ‘Paranormal Activity’ and other horror films they may have a number of meanings, however it is most likely to be remembered because of how it made a person feel rather than what its message was.

Word Count: 554

References:

• Shaviro, S. (2010) ‘Post Cinematic Affect’, John Hunt Publishing
• Shouse, E. (2005) ‘Feeling, Emotion, Affect.’ M/C Journal, 8:6 [Online] [Accessed 22 September 2016
• Sobchack, Vivian (2004) Carnal Thoughts: Embodiment and Moving Image Culture. 1st ed., University of California Press.
• Stewart, H. (2013) How film music manipulates emotions. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/0/24083243 (Accessed: 28 November 2016).

Filmography:

• Great British Bake Off, (ongoing) [Television Series]: BBC One
• Paranormal Activity, (2007). [film] America: Oren Peli

 

Spectatorship beyond the Male Gaze

Laura Mulvey’s ‘Visual Pleasure in Narrative Cinema’ (1975) can be seen as a base for many feminist theories within media. Within her writing she presented the idea of the ‘Male Gaze’, where she believed women on screen were seen as sexual objects, placed there for the eye of the heterosexual male viewer,“The film opens with the woman as an object of the combined gaze of spectator and all the male protagonists in the film. She is isolated, glamorous, on display, sexualised” Mulvey (pg. 21). She thought women were presented through three different ‘views’ , the first being how the director / camera man captures the actress in a certain way on camera. The second being how the male characters within the film views the female characters. The third being how the spectator views the character, which Mulvey believed was always through the eye of a heterosexual male.

Although Mulvey’s work was seen as a key contribution to feminist film theory it has often been subject to criticism. Many theorists have argued there is also a ‘Female Gaze’, Magic Mike is a great example, the whole film is focused on Channing Tattums body who is a male stripper. The target audience for this film was majorly women and Mike can in many ways be viewed as a sexual object on screen.

Jackie Stacey wrote ‘From the Male Gaze to The Female Spectator’ (1993) where she presented the idea of the female spectator who actively desires. Stacey talks about homoerotic desires a female spectator can have for a female character, homoerotic refers to unconscious thoughts that can be sexual, however the thoughts are not acted on, and the spectator may just have a fascination for the female character.  Stacey believed “pleasures of spectator ship work on unconscious as well as conscious levels” (pg. 29). This then leads on to idea that female spectators can also have homosexual desires for females on screen and see them through the eye of a lesbian spectator rather than a heterosexual male as Mulvey suggested.

Stacey found films about “one women’s obsessive fascination with another” (pg. 28), could not be watched by spectators through the eye of a heterosexual male. She argued films of this nature explored the possibility of female spectators feeling the same way as the obsessive character on screen. The film “All about Eve’ was described by Stacey as a great example of “the pleasures and dangers of spectatorship for women” (pg. 50). The film is about a young fan called Eve who is obsessed with Margo a Broadway star, Eve manages to get into Margo’s life which ends up threatening her career and relationships.

Stacey uses a lot of Freud’s theory when analysing ‘All about Eve’, she believes “Eves journey to stardom could be seen as the feminine equivalent to the masculine Oedipal trajectory” (pg. 54). Which can be seen as Eve having a desire to be just like Margo, however when the rivalry develops it appears Eves desire of Margo becomes more of wanting to take over her life. Stacey also suggests Margo is seen as a “desirable feminine” (pg. 56), it is not just Eve who identifies with her, we as an audience also do. She is seen as a powerful women and many of the male characters within the film are intimidated by her, therefore the male characters do not objectify her as Mulvey has previously suggested. Throughout the film we see Margo through the eyes of Eve, not through the eyes of a heterosexual male.

Overall it appears there is a clear counter argument to Mulvey’s original idea of ‘The Male Gaze’,  women can also have desires for women or men on screen, they may be sexual or they can just admire a character, this view appears to be a lot more updated in terms of the society we now live in.

Word Count: 585

References:

• Mulvey, L. (1975) ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.’ Screen, 16(3) pp. 6-18
• Stacey, J. ‘From the Male Gaze to the Female Spectator’ In Star Gazing: Hollywood Cinema and Female Spectatorship. London, New York: Routledge, pp. 19-48

Bibliography:

• Cowie, E. (1997) Representing the Woman: Cinema and Psychoanalysis. Basingstoke: Macmillan
• Freud, S. (1961) ‘Fetishism.’ In Strachey, J. (ed.) The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Vol. 21., London: Hogarth Press, pp. 152-159

Filmography:

• All About Eve , (1950). [film] America : Joseph L. Mankiewicz
• Magic Mike, (2012). [film] America : Steven Soderbergh

Psychoanalysis Within Film

Psychoanalysis was created by Sigmund Freud in the late 19^th century, it was a clinical practice which he called ‘the talking cure’. He allowed the patient to talk freely to allow their unconscious to take over their conscious thoughts. The method was used to treat personality disorders such as depression and anxiety through psychotherapy. He believed unconscious thoughts often tried to escape repression and called dreams the “the royal road to the unconscious”, Mcleod (2007: pg.11). He believed the conscious mind could no longer repress and sensor our real thoughts when asleep.

Freud believed our child hood was the foundation for our understanding of the world. He had a number of theories such as the ‘Oedipus complex’, he believed a male child has a desire for his mother and begins to resent the father due to jealousy. However he then believed the child identifies with his father due to his mother not having a penis, she begins to be seen as a threat of ‘castration’. This leads on to the son desiring to be like his father and following ‘The law of the father’ and therefore conforming to a patriarchal society.

John Berger explored this view and called it ‘Ways of Seeing’, he believed “men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at.” Berger (1972: pg.20). He believed women in paintings and on screen were always viewed in the same way – passive, naked and were created for a male audience.

Laura Mulvey published the article “Visual Pleasure and Narrative theory” in 1975, she explored Freud’s theories and related them to cinema. She believed Freud’s idea of the unconscious, referred to patriarchal society, “The unconscious of patriarchal society has structured film form” Mulvey (pg. 6). She believed Freud’s idea of the child identifying with his father and resenting the mother , created the benchmark for all women. She found within films women were seen as a threat and were only explored through a sexual nature. Women were used as a strong visual impact to draw in the male spectator. The films were created with a patriarchal language which belongs to men, therefore women within films were only seen through the eyes of a male ‘The Male Gaze’.

Mulvey also presented the idea of ‘The pleasure of looking’ , She believed an audience were ‘scopophilic’, which she described as “pleasure in using another person as an object of sexual stimulation through sight” (pg 11).  In simpler terms this meant objectifying the character and gaining sexual pleasure from her. She described another way of viewing as “narcissism and the constitution of the ego, comes from identification with the image seen” (pg 11). She believed an audience were able to identify with a character and be able to relate to their experiences.

The  ‘Carry on’  franchise of films can be explored in terms of psychoanalysis. Barbra Windsor is a key female character in a majority of the films, she always plays sexy, dipsy and flirty character. She is seen as ‘the perfect image’, in comparison to Sid James aggressive, bitter and unattractive wife. Every time Barbara is on screen there is a huge focus on her petite perfect figure and she often has clothing popping off, her most well known scene would be ‘Carry on Camping’ when her bra popped off. Mulvey would argue Barbra Windsor is seen through the ‘Male Gaze’, the audience are placed behind the eyes of the heterosexual male and objectify her.

However many argue Freud’s psychoanalytic approach completely rejects the idea of a female child’s process, he only focuses on male progression. Mulvey also fails to address the idea of the ‘female gaze’, as many films also objectify men and are created through the eyes of a female.

Word Count: 625

References:

• Berger, J., 1972. Ways of seeing: Based on the BBC television series with John S Berger. London: British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books.
• Mcleod, 2007, Psychoanalysis, [online], [accessed on 17th October 2016] –www.simplypsychology.org/psychoanalysis.html
• Mulvey, L. (1975) ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.’ Screen, 16(3) pp. 6-18

Bibliography:

• Freud, S. (1961) ‘Fetishism.’ In Strachey, J. (ed.) The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Vol. 21., London: Hogarth Press, pp. 152-159

Filmography:

Carry on Camping, (1969). [film] British : Gerald Thomas.

Ideology and Realism in Film

I have also explored the ideas of realism within films which refers to “the quality of being very much like real life: the quality of seeming to be real” Webster (2011: online). There is the saying that ‘the camera never lies’, this of course is not true. Many films are a story and not a true representation of life. People may argue reality television or documentary films and programmes are real life, but of course they have also been shot and edited in a certain way for a certain reason.

The Oxford dictionary definition of Ideology is “A system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy”. Marx and Engels wrote ‘The Ruling Class and the Ruling Ideals’ , within this reading they presented the view that the ruling class (who they believed were the people who owned the means of production), were the class that controlled society, “the class which has the means of material production at its disposal consequently also controls the means of mental production” (pg 9). They thought that material relations controlled society  , which is the idea that money is the bass of everything within society, which allowed the ruling class who have the money to exploit the lower class who do not.

In Althusser’s writing of ‘Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses’ (2001), he believed ideology was enforced on us through institutions such as schools, churches and even the family. “Ideology is reproduced in familiar, apparently benign institutions that are part of every day social life” (pg 33). Within each institution we are taught different ideologies which makes us subject to the ‘Ideological State Apparatus’, which can be seen as the norm and way of life, Marxists believed this was to conform to the ruling class.

The media can be explored as a institution which spreads ideological ideas and ideals. “Almost every film has a slant based on the director’s sense of right and wrong, an ideological perspective that privileges certain characters, institutions, and cultures”. Hughes (2012: online). Many ideological messages are spread through media platforms, such as how we should behave, what we should aim for and what is socially acceptable.

I have also explored the ideas of realism within films which refers to “the quality of being very much like real life: the quality of seeming to be real” Webster (2011: online). There is the saying that ‘the camera never lies’, this of course is not true. Many films are a story and not a true representation of life. People may argue reality television or documentary films and programmes are real life, but of course they have also been shot and edited in a certain way for a certain reason.

The television series Sex and The City can be seen as a great example of ideology spread through media. Each episode is focused on Carrie Bradshaw’s newspaper column about sex, relationships and the difference between men and women. Although the four main characters can be seen as independent modern women, the traditional need for marriage and a partner are a main focus throughout. You have Miranda who can be seen as modern business women, rather butch looking and feisty however she fears growing older and being on her own. You have Carrie a confident sexy character who isn’t scared to talk about sex however lets herself constantly be taken advantage of by her boyfriend Big. You then have Samantha who is obsessed with sex and loves sleeping with lots of men, however she is constantly frowned upon and has to leave her apartment due to neighbours gossiping about her. Then finally you have Charlotte the most traditional female character she is obsessed with finding love and marriage, she sees herself as unsuccessful unless she is married and is always seeking a perfect husband. Although the show tried to display new social issues such as safe sex, promiscuity and femininity ,the characters still follow ideological messages for women in regards to what is socially accepted for them and the idea that you are not a successful women unless you are married.

Overall it is clear that ideological messages are constantly spread throughout society, whether it be in schools, churches, on our television or in our newspapers. Although we now live in a more diverse society it appears these messages makeup a large part of our beliefs and control how we behave.

Word Count: 736

References:

• Althusser, L. (1971). Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses. In L. Althusser (Ed.), Lenin and Philosophy and other Essays. New York: Monthly Review Press.
• Hughes, 2012, Film and Ideology, [online] , [accessed on 12th October 2016] – http://public.wsu.edu/~hughesc/film_and_ideology.htm
• Marx K. and Engels F. (1970). Ruling class and ruling ideas, in Storey J (ed.) Cultural theory and popular culture: A Reader. 4th ed. Essex: Pearson, 2009.
• Mulvey , 1975, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema , Essay, pgs 6-18
• Webster, 2011, Realism, [online], [accessed on 12th October 2016] – http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/realism

Filmography:

• Sex and The City, (1998-2004). [television series] America : Darren Star.

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