Research Paper – David Lynch
Today, many ways of life and beliefs in terms of culture and tradition have become old. They are no longer what people really live by. Further, in media especially in films released in the late 1900’s there are many things that are shown which at the time were considered a phenomenon. Additionally, these films are known as “Postmodernist films”. “Postmodernist film attempt to subvert the mainstream conventions of narrative structure, characterization and destroys (or, at least, toys with) the audience's suspension of disbelief. Typically, such films also break down the cultural divide between high and low art and often upend typical portrayals of gender, race, class, genre, and time with the goal of creating something different from traditional narrative expression.” (Wikipedia) I feel that postmodernism is largely portrayed in Lynch’s films and we see this a lot in “Mulholland Drive” and “Blue Velvet”. Therefore, in this paper I will research how David Lynch uses dominant and recurring themes and techniques such as sex, loss of personal identity and use of profanity in his films showing the postmodern culture in USA.
Sexual relationships are very dominant in both of Lynch’s films. In Mulholland Drive Lynch shows us a homosexual affair between the two characters Betty and Rita. Specifically with Rita’s character we can determine that she is bi-sexual as she has and affair with both sexes. Additionally, homosexuality was something that was not accepted in society in traditional times when Lynch made this movie. Therefore, when he released the movie sexual relationships between the same sexes was a cultural phenomenon. I feel this was a cultural phenomenon because according to the laws in USA “[s]ex...
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...urning over a new leaf” allowed for many people to freely do what they felt or desired. This was the losing of traditionalism thus what Lynch shows in his films was a cultural phenomenon at the time and many began to accept these changes in lifestyle as media influenced lives a lot and now I can safely say that many of the themes in Lynch’s films are considered to be normal with some exceptions such as violence.
Works Cited
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Bartyzel, Monika. "Cinematical Movie Club: Mulholland Drive." The Moviefone Blog. N.p., 27 Aug. 2010. Web. 13 May 2014.
"LGBT Rights in the United States." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 Nov. 2013. Web. 12 May 2014.
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ALCU of Ohio. “LGBT Rights on the Docket.” ACLU of Ohio, 25 Sept. 2015, www.acluohio.org/archives/cases/obergefell-v-hodges
Racist characteristics in films and stories are something that can be perceived in this generation, but was something that was normal and expected in the 1930’s. Sexuality and raciness were items that made films a commodity in the 30’s and King Kong uses both of these to attract a wide audience. These qualities are also a factor as to why King Kong remains a classic throughout the generations.
In the classical Western and Noir films, narrative is driven by the action of a male protagonist towards a clearly defined, relatable goal. Any lack of motivation or action on the part of the protagonist problematizes the classical association between masculinity and action. Due to inherent genre expectations, this crisis of action is equivalent to a crisis of masculinity. Because these genres are structured around male action, the crises of action and masculinity impose a crisis of genre. In the absence of traditional narrative elements and character tropes, these films can only identify as members of their genres through saturation with otherwise empty genre symbols. The equivalency between the crises of genre and masculinity frames this symbol saturation as a sort of compensatory masculine posturing.
Have you ever had one of those days that were so bad that you desperately needed a night at the ice cream or candy store? The 1970’s was that really bad day, while the night of self- indulgence was the 1980’s. Americans love to escape from our daily stress, and of all the products that allow us to do so, none is more popular than the movies. Movies are key cultural artifacts that offer a view of American culture and social history. They not only offer a snapshot of hair styles and fashions of the times but they also provide a host of insights into Americans’ ever-changing ideals. Like any cultural artifact, the movies can be approached in a number of ways. Cultural historians have treated movies as a document that records the look and mood of the time that promotes a particular political or moral value or highlights individual or social anxieties and tensions. These cultural documents present a particular image of gender, ethnicity, romance, and violence. Out of the political and economic unrest of the 1970’s that saw the mood and esteem of the country, as reflected in the artistry and messages in the movies, sink to a new low, came a new sense of pride in who we are, not seen since the post-World War II economic boom of the 1950’s. Of this need to change, Oscar Award winner Paul Newman stated,
Aside from its acting, the other major influence which Mean Streets had upon American film-makers was through it's use of a rock n' roll soundtrack (almost perfectly integrated with the images), and in its depiction of a new kind of screen violence. Unexpected, volatile, explosive and wholly senseless, yet, for all that, undeniably cinematic violence. The way in which Scorsese blends these two - the rock and roll and the violence - shows that he understood instinctively, better than anyone else until then, that cinema (or at least this kind of cinema, the kinetic, visceral kind) and rock n' roll are both expressions of revolutionary instincts, and that they are as inherently destructive as they are creative. This simple device - brutal outbreaks of violence combined with an upbeat soundtrack - has been taken up by both the mainstream cinema at large and by many individual `auteurs', all of whom are in Scorsese's debt - Stone and Tarantino coming at once to mind.
In Hollywood today, most films can be categorized according to the genre system. There are action films, horror flicks, Westerns, comedies and the likes. On a broader scope, films are often separated into two categories: Hollywood films, and independent or foreign ‘art house’ films. Yet, this outlook, albeit superficial, was how many viewed films. Celebrity-packed blockbusters filled with action and drama, with the use of seamless top-of-the-line digital editing and special effects were considered ‘Hollywood films’. Films where unconventional themes like existentialism or paranoia, often with excessive violence or sex or a combination of both, with obvious attempts to displace its audiences from the film were often attributed with the generic label of ‘foreign’ or ‘art house’ cinema.
Among New American Ghost Cinema, one can witness the re-emergence of an interesting sub-genre: the Found Footage Cinema. We can observe this new fascination in many modern horror films such as 2008’s Cloverfield, 2009's Paranormal Activity, and 2011's Apollo 18. Digging below the surface of a literal reading of some of these movies, one finds a genre that can be far more intelligent than what meets the public eye. For example, within Cloverfield, the screams and images of smoke heaving through the city of Manhattan hint at post-September 11th. To understand the growing popularity of Found Footage Cinema and why we discover these political undertones, this paper will examine The Blair Witch Project (1999, Myrick and Sanchez) in the context of theorists Robin Wood and Jürgen Habermas’ discussion on humankind’s senses of truth and what our society represses or oppresses. Both Habermas’ essay “The Public Sphere” and Wood’s “Introduction to the American Horror Film” touch on the inner workings of the public’s mind. With these essays and an analysis of these films, I will be able to propose theories working towards a mode of critical engagement with the success of The Blair Witch Project. It is then that we will connect it to the wider social and political jungle surrounding America as it stood on the edge of the Twenty First Century.
Dean, Adam. "Pulp Fiction." Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia. Ed. Philip C. DiMare. Vol. 2. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2011. 404-405. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
Rascaroli, Laura. "The Essay Film: Problems, Definitions, Textual Commitments." Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media 49.2 (2008): 24-47. JSTOR. Web. 08 May 2014.
The Horror Movie in Late Modern Society’ that labelling films such as these as postmodern may be an overreach. He argues that the hybridity of the genre as seen in horror-comedies such as ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ and ‘Scream’ are nothing ‘new’ and that comedy has always played a prevalent role in the horror genre. He goes on to state that, “much of the comic fun to be had (in contemporary horror-comedies) derives from the excess of gory detail. The other aspect, in this case more a development characteristic of the 1990s than the 1980s, is the tendency to reflexively generate humour by openly appealing to a knowing audience’s familiarity with the genre conventions.” This view suggests that Tudor views the emergence of a more comedic element to horror movies as more of an evolutionary step in horror, than a deliberately postmodern outlook. He cements this as his view as he uses the example of ‘Scream’ and the films made in its wake (such as ‘Scary Movie’ (2000)), Tudor claims “It is films such as these that have so often attracted the designation ‘postmodern’, if only superficially, because of their studied self-consciousness and their use of pastiche.” (Tudor, p.107) Tudor’s view is that films such as these bear only surface-level post-modernism that the term is used too liberally and the films would be better suited towards the term parody than a post-modernism. Tudor argues that their “studied self-consciousness” disqualifies them from being labelled as postmodern, however it can be argued that parody and self-consciousness elements of these films are what make them postmodern at
Film scholar and gender theorist Linda Williams begins her article “Film Bodies: Genre, Gender and Excess,” with an anecdote about a dispute between herself and her son, regarding what is considered “gross,” (727) in films. It is this anecdote that invites her readers to understand the motivations and implications of films that fall under the category of “body” genre, namely, horror films, melodramas, (henceforth referred to as “weepies”) and pornography. Williams explains that, in regards to excess, the constant attempts at “determining where to draw the line,” (727) has inspired her and other theorists alike to question the inspirations, motivations, and implications of these “body genre” films. After her own research and consideration, Williams explains that she believes there is “value in thinking about the form, function, and system of seemingly gratuitous excesses in these three genres,” (728) and she will attempt to prove that these films are excessive on purpose, in order to inspire a collective physical effect on the audience that cannot be experienced when watching other genres.
The 2001 film Mulholland Drive directed by David Lynch is as thrilling as it is confusing to some people. As I watched it for the first time, I couldn't help but wonder the point that Lynch was trying to make was. To me, there was a comprehensible meaning to the story and it mainly involves the character Betty. Although, I later found out Betty was someone entirely different, Diane. Betty being a dream of Diane's is at the root of the story I believe Lynch was trying to tell. I see this film as a sort of cautionary tale. It is not so much a film about things not always appearing as they seem, as it is what happens when things do not turn out the way planned and a person gives up hope. By analyzing the character Betty/Diane at different points in the film it becomes a little more clear what the meaning behind Mulholland Drive is.
Homosexuality was also seen as a mental disorder up until the year 1973 in which it was officially removed from the list of mental disorders from the American Psychological Association. Andra Gault discusses in ‘The Hypocrisy of Hollywood: How the People in Hollywood Hurt the Causes They Try to Champion’, the varying attitudes towards homosexuality. Also discussing the subject of being considered gay because of how one acts that is “Not considered normal for that gender”.
"Milestones in the American Gay Rights Movement." PBS. WBGH Educational Foundation, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.
“Entertainment has to come hand in hand with a little bit of medicine, some people go to the movies to be reminded that everything’s okay. I don’t make those kinds of movies. That, to me, is a lie. Everything’s not okay.” - David Fincher. David Fincher is the director that I am choosing to homage for a number of reasons. I personally find his movies to be some of the deepest, most well made, and beautiful films in recent memory. However it is Fincher’s take on story telling and filmmaking in general that causes me to admire his films so much. This quote exemplifies that, and is something that I whole-heartedly agree with. I am and have always been extremely opinionated and open about my views on the world and I believe that artists have a responsibility to do what they can with their art to help improve the culture that they are helping to create. In this paper I will try to outline exactly how Fincher creates the masterpieces that he does and what I can take from that and apply to my films.