#5) Cultural Studies

            The study of culture correlates with the study of other important facets of human existence and interaction, such as historiography and performance. Furthermore, historiography explores how people choose to represent themselves simultaneously in the present and the past; the way in which history is recorded directly reflects a current culture and where they place importance, and how they choose to perceive those who came before. This is pertinent to media studies because we use all forms of media to capture, comment on, create and even recreate history and culture. As media and technology advance, and communication becomes easier (telephone, texting, email, skyping, etc.), the technology itself becomes a part of our culture, and an expression of who we are and how we interact. For example, the movies that a generation creates will always reflect what their current society found important, popular, interesting, relevant, etc. 

            So how exactly should we analyze culture, in order to better comprehend how culture exists and develops, and its relationship to our various methods of communication and media? Raymond Williams, wrote “The Analysis of Culture” and outlined three approaches to analyzing culture:

                        1) Lived culture: only fully accessible to those living in that time and place

2) Culture of a period: the recorded culture, of every kind, from art to the most everyday facts

3) Culture of Selective tradition: the factor connecting lived culture and period cultures.

This order reflects the changes that occur as we move further and further from the original culture, and attempt to recreate it for our current culture. To elaborate on selective tradition, Williams states, “From the whole body of activities, certain things are selected for value and emphasis. In general this selection will reflect the organization of the period as a whole, though this does not mean that the values and emphases will later be confirmed.” So people today can emphasize certain people, places, or events from the past, but it is still possible that we are remembering them or perceiving them incorrectly, or giving them the wrong amount of significance, compared to how they were experienced in the “lived culture.”

            In the 2008 film, Be Kind Rewind, these approaches to cultural studies are explored, particularly the culture of selective tradition. This film creates a commentary on how media and recording inevitably factor in (and record) the current culture in which it was recorded, even if it attempts to reenact a moment from the past. In order to save Mr. Fletcher’s video store from being demolished, Jerry and Mike rally up their community and create a video on the history of Fats Waller, a famous jazz musician from the 1920’s who supposedly was born in that building. The truth is, the building is not a historical landmark because Fats was NOT actually born there; Mr. Fletcher just told Mike that when he was young so that he would be proud to live there himself. The town mainly knows Fats Waller from using analysis approach #2: “culture of a period.” They listen to his music, see pictures of him, etc. Only those who knew Fats Waller when he was alive could analyze it from approach #1, yet since that was so long ago, the people of this town use approach #3 of “culture of selective tradition” to reenact scenes and make them appear to be from Fats Waller’s life and time period. They interview people who follow a script and lie to the camera, claiming to have known him, testifying that he was indeed born in that building. Here, the town is putting emphasis on an event that did not actually happen; by creating this documentary, they are using media to create their own interpretation of history.

At the end of the film, as the town gathers together to watch their final project, their bright faces and feelings of success and pride are much bigger than the original goal to make a film about Fats Waller. They are not watching the film for historical accuracy or being proud of their town’s association with a famous jazz musician. Instead, this town experiences pride in watching the documentation of their individual roles in the film, and their ability to create a great movie together. At the end of the day, it really did not matter what the movie was about because the movie itself was more accurately a recording of THEIR culture, their town, their people, and what THEY found important: keeping their video store from being demolished, and supporting their friends.

Thus in their attempt to use approach #1 and display the life and times of Fats Waller (with the cardboard cutouts of cars, the old-fashioned clothes and instruments, the running fan in front of the video camera), these people were actually embracing #2 and #3. Yet this is because it is impossible for them to even approach #1 fully, because their recording will only ever be a recording of the culture in which they currently exist; the time period when it was actually filmed. Their media was advanced, even if they tried to make the camera footage look dated. Yet not capturing the 1920’s is nothing to be ashamed of; Williams explains how these approaches are inevitably different by the nature of time: “Theoretically, a period is recorded; in practice, this record is absorbed into a selective tradition; and both are different from the culture as lived: ‘No, that really isn’t what it was like; it is your version.’”

            These concepts are also highlighted in Mike and Jerry’s attempt to recreate many other films throughout the movie, particularly Ghostbusters. Since they no longer had a copy of the original, they had to recreate the scenes that they remembered the best, in the way they perceived them. By the same token, whenever we attempt to study or perform history, it will always be a reenactment to an extent. If we did not live in the culture, we are always creating our own version of what it was like, and the audience will always perceive it according to THEIR current culture. Thus how we write, act, use media, communicate, is always connected to our lived culture (our current time and place), and the recordings absorb over time into selective tradition.

#4) Media Effects

I did not budget my time effectively in order to complete this reading response on time. Sorry. :(

(I also feared I would not have enough to say about it, regarding the film and the reading.)

#3) Text & Genre

In American Film Genres (from Sharon’s notes), Rick Altman states that genres create a particular “world” and as audience members, “we follow its rules; when we enter into a genre film, all our decisions are self-consciously modified to support a different kind of satisfaction…From one genre to another, the genre spectator always participates in overly counter-cultural acts.” (280) As we become familiar with a genre, we begin to expect certain outcomes, characters, stylistic choices, etc. Then our satisfaction comes from the action in that world, which differs from our reality. For example, “in the western and the gangster film, we long for the spectacle of a type of violence that society roundly condemns.” (280) We could conclude that the motivation for recurring themes, motifs, and styles in genres is the unspoken situation of the people creating and finding pleasure in these genres. People’s ideologies are therefore reflected in their movies, and the way we interpret, categorize, or utilize the genre is a demonstration of our understanding of its purpose in our current culture and society.

In Paul Schrader’s Notes on Film Noir, he exemplifies how a genre naturally forms out of the issues and mindset of the time period. Film noir is rooted in America’s involvement in the world wars, thus it reflected post-war realism. It “suited America’s post-war mood; the public’s desire for a more honest and harsh view of America would not be satisfied by the same studio streets they had been watching for a dozen years…It was now taking place in the streets with everyday people.” (55) Furthermore, all characters had elements of secrecy, crime, and deceit to them, yet the satisfaction was found in the detective characters, attempting to stop the crime and solve the mystery to save the innocent and condemn the bad. America enjoyed this type of escape, where crime didn’t pay, yet an unrealistic state of happiness and bliss was not being shoved in their faces. The noir world was cold, dark, and sinister, formulating a nightmarish world of American mannerism, and creating artistic solutions to sociological problems.

In his essay, Ideology, Genre, and Auteur, Robin Wood states that genres “represent different strategies for dealing with the same ideological tensions.” Film noir is dealing with stresses and tensions (depression, pessimism, and hopelessness) in a very blatant and literal fashion, and we can still determine that from the stylistic choices because these same ideological tensions can be felt today through the film, and in our own society. Although this genre is used more ironically today (perhaps we believe we have advanced in our methods of storytelling for the screen, that film noir can no longer be taken seriously, due to its melodramatic “black and white” structure), the elements that make up the “noir” genre are still effective in addressing emotions of fear and a need for a hero.

In The Maltese Falcon (1941), the film noir elements are found within the cinematography, particularly regarding angles and lighting. As for lighting, much of the film’s deepest interrogations take place in the small detective office, at night, with the camera very close to a lit lamp. Furthermore, light often streamed in through the open blinds which established an eerie mood, as if the light resembled someone outside of the building, possibly spying on the intimate conversation taking place in tight quarters. The sharp, contrasting lights against the dark room (and the darkness outside) also accentuates the interrogation aspect of the conversation typically taking place: someone is being questioned about their involvement with or knowledge of a crime, for example. The lighting therefore intensifies the heat of the conversation, and the need to bring the dark, secretive things to light.

            The low camera angles, particularly in the office during an interrogation, makes the actors look taller and more menacing, since the camera is filming essentially from the ground up. Also, it was quite often that someone’s back was to the camera. While this is a pretty standard procedure for filming two characters talking to each other, it is more stylized and exaggerated in film noir to add to the mystery; this camera angle conceals the reactions of the other person (the listener), and makes it seem like the two people are therefore not seeing eye-to-eye. Perhaps one is hiding something from the other, which is often the case. This angle also makes the audience feel like they are not getting the full story or the full effect of the conversation, further highlighting the enigmatic and puzzling nature of the plot and characters’ true motives. There is a level of discomfort and distance felt when we are to look at someone’s back during a scene. We feel cut out from it—not in the conversation or able to “read the room.”

By using mainly medium shots and close-ups, the film is accenting the small, tight nature of the spaces in the shot. The camera consequently cannot reveal much of what is happening around them. It enhances the tension and the forced intimacy, which the detectives must create in order to get answers from those under question. This also intensifies the violence (physical and gun shots), and the sexual tension between Spade and Brigid. The close-up shots of her reflect the way in which Spade might be fooled by her attempt at looking innocent, or captivated and distracted by her beautiful, womanly features. Yet she receives her proper punishment at the end, thank goodness.

In conclusion, the formation and utilization of genres reflect the worlds into which people desire to escape, and the manner in which film can satisfy their needs, by creatively displaying their ideologies and societal issues at the time. The film noir genre/mood reflected the mental, psychological, and emotional state of the American people during and after the world wars, through the reflection of everyday people in real environments (not sets) dealing with the darkness of crime, deceit, and hopelessness. The cinematography accentuates this mood through the contrasting abilities of both lighting and camera angles. Yet viewers still received much satisfaction from the characters and plot. After all, crime never pays in the end. The whereabouts of the Maltese Falcon remain a mystery, and the crazy chick finally goes to jail. Justice is served.