Introduction to Film Studies 1 Hollywood Cinema Lecture
- Slides: 10
Introduction to Film Studies 1: Hollywood Cinema Lecture Four: Spectatorship
Examining Audiences Context: Poststructuralism (Barthes, Derrida) n Key questions: n 1. Who watches films – gender, ethnicity, age, class n 2. Where are films watched – national or regional contexts n 3. What time period are we referring to – historical placement n 4. What does the audience enjoy and n
Examining Audiences Two approaches: n 1. Empirical research – any problems with this? n 2. Textual analysis – any problems with this? n
Dominant Ideologies Marxist model – Karl Marx to Louis Althusser n Capitalism n Bourgeoisie and proletariat n Exploitation through the creation of surplus profit n Capitalism will be replaced by socialism n
Dominant Ideologies The feminist model – Kate Millet n Patriarchy n Gender roles and inequality n The Women’s Movement n
Films and Dominant Ideology n n n Christian Metz Films communicate dominant ideology, whilst giving the appearance of having no overt values A passive audience become indoctrinated – this achieved by two strategies: 1. Apparatus theory 2. Textual system theory The individual is encouraged/pressured to accept social norms; popular culture helps to achieve this
Feminist Film Theory Laura Mulvey, “Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema” n Psychoanalytical techniques for a political purpose n ‘The male gaze’ n Woman as object of desire n Woman as source of anxiety n Female spectatorship as ‘masochistic’ n
Alternatives to Mulvey Mary Ann Doane: role-playing and multiple identification – ‘the masquerade’ n Jackie Stacey: historical context, independent readings made by the audience n
Marxist Film Theory Marcuse: a passive audience ‘brainwashed’ by popular culture n Raymond Williams: audience resistance, popular culture as subversion n
Psychoanalytical Approaches n n n n n Sigmund Freud Repression of fears and desires Subconscious and conscious mind Id and Ego Oedipus and Electra ‘The return of the repressed’ – dreams, Freudian slips, storytelling Cinema as a projection of desires Cinema as projection of fears – ‘catharsis’ Cinema as voyeurism Is cinema an innocent pleasure?