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Challenge Post 17: Normalizing Sociopathology

There’s little question that the term “sociopath” gets bandied around a lot more today than in years past. This is ironic given that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), is the “bible” of diagnostics published by the American Psychiatric Association removed the term from its 5th edition, instead placing that “disorder” under the wider blanket term of Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD or ASPD). From films to pop psychology, the media has created an image of the “elite” or high-functioning sociopath who appears more like a glamorized anti-hero capable of outsmarting everyone else around him (and the person is usually male). Think of the titular character in Sherlock or Hannibal in Silence of the Lambs. Or, Jessica Jones in the television series of that name.

IF you follow this link, you can read a sociologist explain why Sherlock is, in fact, NOT a sociopath despite all of the media discussion of his so-called sociopathic tendencies.

Similarly, this article presents a similar challenge to claims that Jessica Jones is a sociopath, or even has sociopathic tendencies, instead arguing that she suffers from profound trauma.

My challenge for you is to find such a glamorized so-called ‘sociopath.’ Provide a brief description of why you think this character, or real-life person, fits the definition of a sociopath. Include an image or links to information about them in your post.

#criminalminds #challengepost #barretthonorsseminar

Challenge Post 16: Gendering the Serial Killer Label

As I explained in class, the FBI gave Aileen Wuornos the title of “America’s First Female Serial Killer” when she was charged with multiple murders in 1992. While that title may be somewhat misleading given that other women, like Dorothea Puente, who killed at least 9 residents of her boarding house in the 1980s, or Amy Archer-Gilligan, who may have poisoned as many as 48 people, committed their crimes well before Wuornos. One has to wonder if gendered assumptions/misconceptions about women’s “propensity for violence,” or lack thereof, have caused fewer of these female murderers to be labelled “serial killers.” My challenge to you is to find an example of serial murder committed by a woman, in any country. Provide a short description of the criminal/suspect and briefly discuss the case. Provide a link or image to supplement your description.

Dorothea Puente on trial in 1992.

The front page of the Hartford Courant in 1916.

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Challenge Post 15: Serial Killer and Celebrity

As you all well know by now (and likely knew before taking this class), many serial killers end up “earning” celebrity status. People consume their stories with considerable zeal, with serial killer true-crime stories representing one of the most profitable genres in nonfiction publishing. Similarly, serial killer films that represent both fictionalized and “ripped-from-the-headlines” stories have enjoyed popularity on both big and small screens for decades. My challenge to you here is to choose a serial killer from any point in history or from any geographic region and post at least two items that you find on the web about them. Present some brief commentary about the case and its representation in the media.

My selection will be Ed Gein, who inspired Tobe Hooper’s celebrated horror film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I’m going to post two video clips, one from the “real” home of Gein and the other showing the fictionalized version in Hooper’s film. Enjoy!

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Challenge Post 14: Documenting the “crime of the century”

In making The People v. O.J. Simpson, the producers of the Netflix series had to contend with the fact that they were depicting one of the most watched criminal cases in American history. If they weren’t careful, audience members, even those who might be too young to remember/know the case directly, might find it jarring to see dramatic departures from historical “fact.” The series never claimed to be a documentary; yet, they clearly struggled to get the facts “right.” The series also presents a very complex and compelling combination of dramatized footage and actual found footage from history. Still, there are some striking “errors” in how they depict the case, taking liberties for dramatic effect. For example, prosecutor Bill Hodgman did not collapse in the middle of courtroom. He did fall ill and had to be taken to the hospital, but that happened when he was at home, not in the middle of his team’s opening statement!

The real versus the fictional Hodgman.

My challenge to you is to find another distortion from the series. Provide a link or description of how the series alters the truth and perhaps speculate a bit about why this distortion occurred.

#criminalminds #challengepost #barretthonorsseminar

Challenge Post 13: Spoofing is the Highest Form of Flattery?

The saying goes that you’ve truly made it once you’ve been referenced in or spoofed by The Simpsons. Well, in January of 2009, about fifteen years after the film was released, The Simpsons spoofed Heavenly Creatures in its “Lisa the Drama Queen” episode. In it, Lisa and her new friend, Juliet, invent a world known as Equalia that allows them to escape their torturous reality. I can’t show you a clip from it because The Simpsons is almost as effective as Disney at protecting the series from unauthorized streaming. So, this simple picture will have to suffice.

My challenge for you is to find a film from our syllabus that is spoofed or referenced by The Simpsons. A simple google search will bring up a great many. Then post a still or a link to a video clip of the reference.

#criminalminds #challengepost #barretthonorsseminar

Challenge Post 12: Juvenile Offenders in Popular Culture

In representing the juvenile offender, there’s often a fine line between the rebel and the outlaw. Many of Hollywood’s young offenders start off as simply misguided youth who take their rebellious tendencies one step too far, thus falling too far outside the bounds of the law. Still, even when they do commit crimes, Hollywood tends to glamourize these young offenders even more than they might with adult criminals. Perhaps the most famous example is James Dean in the 1955 film Rebel without a Cause. He became the voice of an entire generation via the character of Jim Stark, a troubled young man who’s simply looking for some stability and direction in his life.

My challenge for you is to find a representation of juvenile crime that limns this boundary, that suggests the young offender is admirable despite, or perhaps because of, their crime(s). Provide a link to a clip, or some sort of imagery and brief description of the representation.

#criminalminds #barretthonorsseminar #challengepost

Challenge Post 11: Stories Coming from Inside the “Big House.”

https://www.wbez.org/series/written-inside/7b02369b-9927-472b-a5cc-c16ae7bab94dEven though there are myriad “prison narratives” out there, told mostly via the glossy methods of Hollywood or mainstream television, it’s very difficult to find honest, engaging representations of life inside American’s prisons. I have discovered that in this “age of the podcast,” the genre is particularly adept at allowing us to see what it is like to live inside prison walls. In fact, there seems to be a growing number of prison podcasts at the moment, perhaps because the genre is less invasive and can allow for recordings that are less likely to compromise security than video cameras and more able to “capture” the immediate moment than fiction. I introduced you to Ear Hustle, told from within the walls of San Quentin, a maximum-security state prison for men near San Francisco. Another podcast that I’ve found particularly interesting in depicting issues around incarceration and prison life is Written Inside, which is adapted from essays written by prisoners at Stateville Correctional Center near Chicago. While clearly more edited than the stories in Ear Hustle, this podcast provides a very intimate look at prison life. CHeck it out here: https://www.wbez.org/series/written-inside/7b02369b-9927-472b-a5cc-c16ae7bab94d

I also find that poetry can provide the “outsider” with a much more vivid understanding of prison life, or of a prisoner’s anxieties, frustrations, and experiences. I’ll leave this poem by JOseph Aragon for you to consider. He was a prolific poet and essayist who wrote frequently about his prison experiences, especially his time in isolation, and lobbied for the end of the practice of prolonged isolation as punishment for inmates before his death in 2015

My challenge to you is to find some sort of story from “the inside” that you feel provides useful insight into prison life. Look for something that seems more intimate, honest, real than what you might have posted about in relation to Orange is the New Black, a dramatized version of a real former inmate’s experience.

#challengepost #barretthonorsseminar #criminalminds

Challenge Post 10: If these (prison) walls could talk

Even though Orange is the New Black draws from a personal memoir written by a former inmate, Piper Kerman, no one who watches it is likely to see it as “truth,” as a documentary representation of prison life. However, it does address many real issues that plague America’s prison system. For example, it depicts the problematic economic system within the for-profit prison, with inmates often struggling to acquire even the most basic supplies from an over-priced commissary, like feminine hygiene products.

You can read more about the real-life issue of prison commissaries and how they connect to what you see in OITNB here: https://www.businessinsider.com/orange-is-the-new-blacks-prison-commissary-2013-8

My challenge to you is this: take some sort of debate or issue about prisons that you saw emerge in Orange is the New Black. Then find a link to an article that discusses that issue as it relates to American prison systems. In other words, where is the series “ripping stories from the headlines” by engaging with a real-world issue that concerns incarcerated people or prison systems?a

#criminalminds #challengepost #barretthonorsseminar

Challenge Post 9: Big Brother: Security and Surveillance

Hollywood has long exhibited a fascination with The Panopticon, showing the myriad ways in which “big brother” tries to monitor the behavior of average citizens in order to “protect” the populous.

The 1998 film, Enemy of the State, is one of the most famous Hollywood depictions of government playing the role of “Big Brother.” In fact, the Will Smith star vehicle clearly presented the NSA as the villain and, while the organization initially helped the film’s producers get “facts right,” the federal government’s “spy agency” wasn’t terribly happy about the film’s depiction of the NSA. While the organization denied that the government was interested in, or even capable of, the kind of information they’re shown to collect in the film, the Edward Snowden leaks later confirmed many of the activities depicted in Tony Scott’s film.

In the 2007 The Simpsons movie, we see a similarly invasive NSA in action, with a not to Jacques Tati’s 1967 film, Playtime. As with many scenarios in The Simpsons, only precocious Lisa seems to recognize the dangers of this snooping.

My challenge to you is this: find a film that depicts “big brother” in action. It can be about government surveillance, or the invasive actions of some other organization or powerful body. Discuss how the image(s) or scene engage with ideas found in Foucault’s “Panopticon.”

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Challenge Post 8: Touches of the Real

Despite dealing with many real, pressing social issues, Deborah Granik’s 2010 film, Winter’s Bone, is fictional, based on the 2006 novel by Daniel Woodrell. However, like many of Granik’s films, it has a kind of quiet realism that might seem more reminiscent of documentary films. Some of this might be due to Granik’s ongoing interest, as both a student and a filmmaker, in documentary film history and neo-realism. While I’ll say more about that stuff during class when we discuss the film, I want you to simply think about where these moments of heightened realism emerge. For me, the black-and-white dream sequence that appears 3/4 of the way through the film is just one such example. While this mini-montage might seem insignificant, to my mind, it works to reinforce Ree’s deep connection to the land, to this particular part of the Ozarks that she’s called home for the entire seventeen years of her life. While she knows that selling the land could provide one solution to her family’s problems, that would be, it seems, like giving up her history and even a bit of her soul. She must give up a lot, but her connection to the land is not a sacrifice she’s willing, or even able, to make.

My challenge to you is to find another film that similarly blurs the lines between the real and the fictional. What techniques does the director use to create such blurring? What is the “purpose” of this merging of styles? Include some still images or a video clip if you’re able.

#criminalminds #challengepost #barretthonorsseminar

Challenge Post 7: Extremes of Representation

I certainly know my share of viewers who avoid Quentin Tarantino films, feeling his use of violence is over-the-top and gratuitous. I don’t disagree with those criticisms in some cases, but I also think that Tarantino often finds a way to make violence “work” in the service of something more meaningful. In the case of Reservoir Dogs, I see the best and the worst of this use. He very effectively makes use of off-screen space, sometimes allowing the most horrific moments of the film to take place beyond the frame. In many regards, this means the most violent moments, like Mr. Blonde’s cutting off the police officer’s ear, is left to the viewer’s imagination. Just as we think we’re about to see the ear being lopped off, the camera switches focus and pans right, showing viewers the wall--but we can still hear the officer’s anguish. In many cases, what we only imagine, what don’t see, is often worse than what’s right in front of us.

My challenge to you is this: describe a scene in a film that makes use of off-screen space. It might be to depict something violent or inflammatory, but it could also be used to depict things that are more “innocuous.” The subject matter is up to you. I’d just like to see you referencing an example of something happening beyond the frame.

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Challenge Post 6: Meme-worthy quotes

Even though a great many of you were likely watching The Godfather for the first time, I’m confident that several of its images and lines felt familiar. The film is certainly very “quotable,” with certain lines have taken on a life of their own. And images of Vito Corleone have been turned into countless memes.

So, my challenge to you is to find a meme, or a quote, from a film other than The Godfather. If it’s a crime film, so much the better! Share the image or quote that you feel has taken on a life beyond the film itself.

#challengepost #criminalminds #barretthonorsseminar

Challenge Post 5: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

We’ve all heard that expression before, though as a scholar and a lover of the written word, I am often skeptical of that claim. The image is powerful, but so is a finely-tuned, description. Well, Penn’s Bonnie & Clyde brings together both worlds in brilliant fashion. One of the things I admire the most about the film is how images, and how they are strung together, are used to build character. For example, without Bonnie Parker saying a word, the film’s opening scene allows us to understand her personality and why she might be temped to run off with a man she just met, a man who readily admits he so recently spent time in prison. Her body movement, the props in the room, and what she’s wearing (or, not wearing, as the case may be) give us insight into her personality and a sense of what’s going on inside her head.

Another compelling example of such visual character building occurs in Dorothy Arzner’s 1933 film, Christopher Strong. Although the film is named after her lover, a married man who ultimately tries to “clip” the female aviator’s wings, the film is all about Cynthia Darrington. A fitting name for a woman who appears as she does in the above two stills, no? The first image shows her dressed for a costume ball at which she meets the film’s titular character. The second shows her about to embark on a record-braking solo flight. What kind of character do you imagine her to be based on these images? My guess is you’re assumptions will be realized if you were to watch the film!

My challenge to you is to identify a film character you find compelling, one that is “built” via the film’s visual landscape. Perhaps locate a shot from the film, or include a clip from a scene if you can find one that works, and say a little bit about how the image reinforces what you know about the character. You could pay attention to clothing, the character’s body language, the way the camera frames them in relation to other objects or people in the frame, how the shot is lit, etc. You need not know any of the film terms for discussing those things; just describe what you see and how it meshes with the character’s larger presentation.

#challengepost #barretthonorsseminar #criminalminds

Challenge Post 4: Good guy (or gal) turned bad

Wilder’s Double Indemnity is a classic filmic example of the good-guy-turned bad. Walter Neff begins the film as a simple insurance adjuster with a keen eye for clients’ desires to pull one over on his firm. In fact, he’s the mentee of the company’s unflappable, brilliant, investigator Barton Keyes. But even Neff proves to be no match for the ultimate femme fatale, Phyllis Dietrichson. This shift in moral standing makes Neff a complicated character: most viewers cannot help but root for him, can’t help but want him to outsmart the true good guy, Keyes. His smooth talking, calm demeanor, and handsome looks make him seem like the film’s hero, not the villain. His demise, to my mind, is quite hard to watch and viewers may find themselves hoping he’ll get away.

My challenge to you: identify a film character who shifts from good to bad, who loses his moral standing and joins the proverbial “life of crime.” How does the film encourage you to root for the corrupt character? What narrative and formal techniques are used to muddy the waters between sinner and saint?

#challengepost #barretthonorsseminar #criminalminds

Challenge Post 3: Criminals as Celebrities

As we discussed briefly in class on Thursday, some criminals become veritable celebrities, with fans clamoring to get a glimpse of the offender and collecting every bit of information about the criminal’s case and/or personal life. This type of celebrity is no passing fade either; such criminal celebrities have existed as long as there was a means of spreading news of individuals’ crimes and misdemeanors. However, the rise of the printing press, photography, film, and now digital media have all, in turn, bolstered the links between crime and celebrity.

One of my favorite criminal celebrities was a young Brooklynite named Celia Cooney. She became famous for robbing grocery stores during a short 61-day period in the spring of 1924. Despite the record showing that 200 officers with shoot-to-kill orders were assigned to the case, Celia and her husband, Ed, committed about 17 robberies during this period. Toward the end of the spree, the twenty-year-old Celia, who was only five feet tall and quite clearly pregnant at the height of her crimes, became famous for her bobbed hair style and on-trend flapper style. The couple finally fled to Florida, all-but penniless because they left in such a rush after a botched robbery lead to them being identified by the police. While in Florida, Celia gave birth to a baby girl who died when she was only two days old. The undertaker who prepared their baby for burial turned them in to police and they were arrested and escorted back to New York State, where they stood trial.

With most people assuming the Cooney’s robbed out of desperation during the height of the Great Depression, they quickly became a cause celebre, with fans seeing their crimes as almost admirable. In fact, thousands mobbed Pennsylvania Station to get a glimpse of the infamous gunwoman as the couple arrived in New York two days after their arrest.

People appeared by the 100s outside of the courthouse when the Cooney’s were scheduled to appear. Though they were tried together, it seemed quite clear that the public really wanted to see the “Bobbed-Haired Bandit.”

The front page of the New York Daily News on May 7, 1924. Celia and Ed Cooney were sentenced to 20 years in prison, but were released from prison after 7 years. Ed suffered severe injuries while in prison and died in 1936 from complications related to those injuries. Celia died in 1992 of complications related to Alzheimer’s disease.

My challenge to you: Identify a “celebrity” criminal whose crimes seemed to capture the public imagination. Why do you think they held such appeal? Share an image or newspaper headline, or some other bit of ephemera, that showcases their celebrity “clout.”

#challengepost #criminalminds #barretthonorsseminar

Challenge Post 2: Heist Film or Movie Musical?

Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver has been called more ‘movie musical than heist film.’ While I firmly believe it can be both things at once, the film does present a uniquely musical take on the crime sub-genre. Wright inventively uses the film’s music not just to advance the narrative but synchs it with much of the action--and the link between music and actions gives us tremendous insight into the film’s characters.

The most dramatic version of this takes place in the film’s opening six-minute scene. Every action and image is perfectly choreographed to music. While this clearly stretches the bounds of “believability,’ that is, to my mind, beside the point. It’s about getting us inside Baby’s head, among other things.

While the musical is not a genre I tend to spent much time watching, I do have a few musical favorites, like the pre-Code back-stage musical, The Gold Diggers of 1933. This is one of my favorite moments from that classic early-sound musical.

But like with Wright’s film, there are many non-musicals that incorporate scenes that appear choreographed to music, even when it appears to be non-diegetic to the scene (not part of the characters’ world, but only “heard” by spectators). The Coens’ celebrated gangster film, Miller’s Crossing, includes such a scene, using the Irish ballad “Danny Boy” ironically and thus making a rather gruesome moment laugh-out-loud funny.

Or, there are the films that merge the diegetic and nondiegetic worlds, showing characters reacting to music that is clearly part of the film’s narrative world. This scene from Jenkins’s 2000 film, American Psycho, is one of my favorite examples.

CHALLENGE: So my challenge to you is this: find a scene from a film that makes unusual use of music. It can be a scene in which the characters are hearing and responding to the music (diegetic music), or non-diegetic music (music that is part of the soundtrack and clearly only heard by spectators). Say a few words about why you like the use of music in that scene. What is unusual or particularly effective about it?

#challengepost #barretthonorsseminar #criminalminds

Challenge Post 1: Defining Justice

Plato spent a great deal of time grappling with the concept of justice: how might it be defined? How might it best be meted out? How was justice being compromised in Athens during his lifetime? Basing his definition off of the concept of “Dikaisyne,” Greek for what might be called ‘morality’ or 'righteousness', Plato insisted it should also include the ‘whole duty of humankind,’ as well as an individual’s conduct. He believed that in order to achieve justice one must set aside personal, irrational desires and instead focus on the general benefits to humankind or to the community. Although we might like to believe that some things are innately justice and others unjust, that there is some essential, human understanding of what falls under the term’s defintion, justice is culturally and historical specific. There are many ways to define justice; it is an incredibly fluid term.

For this challenge, I’d like you to present your own personal definition of justice. Try to avoid quoting anyone or relying on anyone else’s definition (as I’ve done above!). Next, I’d like you to provide an example from some cultural object or representation that grapples with the notion of justice. This could be a film, a painting, a work of poetry, etc. This “object” could either align with or diverge from your own vision. Explain why you’ve selected this particular example.

The above posted video is my example: Edwin S. Porter’s The Kleptomaniac. A silent film from 1905, it depicts two women appearing before a judge after committing the same crime: shoplifting. However, the criminals’ outcomes and motives couldn’t be more dissimilar. This is a legal system that is devoid of justice; this is a legal system that allows a wealthy woman to get off “scott free” for stealing a luxury item that she could afford to pay for, and insists a poor woman be harshly punished for taking the loaf of bread she needs to feed her children. The film ends with an image of lady justice blindfolded, her scales decidedly out of balance.

#challengepost #criminalminds #barretthonorsseminar

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