#critical perspective

[egyptian-sun-god]

RRR (a little more critical)

Okay I’ve had some time to take my RamBheem shaped rose tinted heart glasses off and relook at the movie.

Was it good? Hell yeah. I loved it, Jr NTR and Ram Charan had such a fun dynamic and I liked the songs, visuals and metaphors were all simple and strong. Water and Fire is such a good metaphor and the angsty scenes were adorable. Getting bitten by a snake and have your crush bhaiyya save you and then simulataneously find out that he’s the “Bad guy” you’re searching for your mission. PEAK ANGSTY SHIT. 

Was there slightly concerning/problematic stuff in there? Yeah a little. I mean we have the Ram Sita metaphors and Bheem is sort of portrayed as a “servant” hanuman type figure, especially at the end when he says he’ll bring Ram and Sita together. I really don’t know whether Rajamouli-sir decided he wanted to make Ram & Bheem as equal and as friends, or did he want to go for a more hierarchal relationship of sidekick/hero. Basically I’m not sure if it’s a dual hero story or a side-kick and hero story. 

What’s the issue if it’s a sidekick hero story? Well the implications are slightly off. Because Komaram Bheem is supposed to be an equally strong and valiant freedom fighter as Alluri Sitarama Raju. They’re both important equals historically. But if you have Bheem as a sidekick figure when he is a tribal Gond as compared to Ram who’s the hero when he’s an upper caste figure, the implications aren’t great.It ends up reinforcing the caste system by not playing them as equals. 

I don’t think it’s entrenched in every minute of the story though. There’s many scenes where Bheem seems to be the upper hand of knowledge and he teaches Ram about importance of people and faith in a revolution. But especially as they really started playing up the Ram Seetha metaphor I feel like the implicit message became slightly problematic. 

What about the rest of the RRR fandom y’all? Am I the only one that noticed the implication?

- AAdhi 

[dr-amer]

النظرية الخضراء في حقل العلاقات الدولية - ما بين النظرة النقدية والطموح الواقعي

النظرية الخضراء في حقل العلاقات الدولية – ما بين النظرة النقدية والطموح الواقعي النظرية الخضراء في حقل العلاقات الدولية – ما بين النظرة النقدية والطموح الواقعي The Green Theory in the Field of International Relations: Between Critical Perspective and Realistic Ambition المؤلف: عادل زعلوك  جامعة الاسکندرية،کلية الدراسات الاقتصادية والعلوم السياسية المستخلص: استهدفت الدراسة التعرف على نشأة…

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[alewaanewspaper1960]

النظرية الخضراء في حقل العلاقات الدولية - ما بين النظرة النقدية والطموح الواقعي

النظرية الخضراء في حقل العلاقات الدولية – ما بين النظرة النقدية والطموح الواقعي النظرية الخضراء في حقل العلاقات الدولية – ما بين النظرة النقدية والطموح الواقعي The Green Theory in the Field of International Relations: Between Critical Perspective and Realistic Ambition المؤلف: عادل زعلوك  جامعة الاسکندرية،کلية الدراسات الاقتصادية والعلوم السياسية المستخلص: استهدفت الدراسة التعرف على نشأة…

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[gordoncstewart]

America the Morning After

America the Morning After

INTRODUCTION

Words don’t come easily this morning. Some 2020 election results seem firm. Others are yet to be determined. Whatever happens will leave America more black-and-blue than red and blue. There will be no “winners” when all the votes are counted.

If we are to escape a future of delusion and confusion, we need more distance, some space and time outside the ropes of the wrestling…

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[g-willow]

Critical Perspective

For this assignment, I had to choose a scholarly reference and apply its claims to a reading of a film of my choice (Inception).

Grade: 74/100 - Distinction

CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE – INCEPTION (2010)

Erlend Lavik (2008) The battle for the blockbuster: discourses of spectacle and excess, New Review of Film and Television Studies, 6:2, 169-187, DOI: 10.1080/17400300802098305

Christopher Nolan’s 2010 film Inception is a curious case study of the links between spectacle and narrative. Incredibly fascinating visual appeal – not all special effects, some surprising scenes were made by hand – coupled with a slightly hard to follow narrative makes me wonder where it falls on the cinema of attraction to narrative cinema scale.

Lavik discusses the blurred definitions of spectacle and narrative in his paper, and suggests that a possible distinction, at least in classic Hollywood cinema, may be that “spectacle is presentational, narrative is representational”. This idea means that narrative is representational of “the way in which viewers relate to this self-contained fictional world”. For Inception, a fictional world is the entire plot of the film; the audience can quite literally insert themselves into different ‘levels’ of their own minds. A narrative is also tied to the audience’s “recognition and evaluation of the characters’ plights and their psychological properties and motivations”. Nolan’s film explores the idea of a man haunted by his wife, suffering from the guilt of being responsible for her death; this empathy or sympathy makes the audience want to watch characters “strive to overcome obstacles and achieve goals”. However, Lavik concedes that the relationship between the audience and the narrative is disputed, especially for contemporary cinema.

Another approach to the connections between attraction and narrative cinema is that the terms blur due to the insufficient definitions available. Lavik argues that “since neither the concept of spectacle nor the concept of narrative progression has been adequately theorized (at least not in a manner on which there is any sense of widespread agreement), it is hardly surprising that analyses of their relationship appear highly confusing.” He also believes “it seems that what counts as ‘advancement of the plot’ is equally mystical”.

In Inception, it is hard to say what is pure spectacle and what is plot advancement. What exactly is seen as an attraction, a spectacle, a plot device, can all be construed as a cause-and-effect model. There are truly impressive scenes in Inception, such as the revolving corridor fight scene with limited gravity, and Ariadne’s creation and destruction of Paris whilst dreaming. Much discussion of narrative and cinema of attraction implies that the two are exclusive, yet Lavik points out, “there is no necessary opposition between narrative and spectacle.”

Furthermore, with “no necessary opposition between narrative and spectacle”, it is possible for a film to contain both. Inception is built for attraction; explosions typical in an action film, unusual and inventive camera rotations, flashbacks to memories and embodiments of them, plus shows of affection. These spectacles, in some way or another, expand the story through cause and effect. By slowing the pace of Inception down to linger on these elements, it “propels the narrative forwards”. Certain elements pertain to a cinema of attraction; according to Lavik, “the frequency with which film critics and commentators use the phrase ‘gratuitous violence (or nudity)’ is just one demonstration of how common and deep-rooted the view is that some elements ‘truly belong’ in a story, while others do not”. Whilst Inception does not have any nudity, there is a strong emphasis on violence, whether it be through physical combat, guns, or mental blocks. These spectacles are justified due to “the so-called demands of the story”; however, for these elements to work, “you need a satisfying story and interesting characters too, since spectacle alone is not enough.”

Lavik agrees with Geoff King’s idea that contemporary films do not lack narrative, but certain attributes of narrative are absent, like complex characterization and narrative depth. Inception focuses on two main characters who have a deeply complex past history, but doesn’t concentrate on the side characters as much as viewers might have liked. It cannot be denied that Inception’s narrative is quite deep, and at times hard to follow.

Therefore, I come to the conclusion that narrative and spectacle must be conjoined in order for a contemporary film to be successful, and Inception falls pleasantly in the middle. A film based entirely on spectacle would fail due to it’s lack of plot-driven narrative – and as Lavik points out, “the main reason why effects-driven films generally have been frowned upon: the suspicion that narrative is merely a pretext for the less esteemed gratifications of spectacle”. Inception has no deeply disturbing scenes; for the most part, it is a pleasant cinema of attraction. Likewise, whilst the narrative can be hard to follow, it is of great depth and delves into the audience’s desire to empathise with the characters. The importance of both narrative and spectacle is equal in Inception.

[comtech109-blog]

All images are encoded with meanings in their creation and production that is decoded by viewers

Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture by Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright

[jadeinnesuwecriticalperspec-blog]

Creativity and Authorship Lecture- Clare Johnson

What does it mean to do something creative?

- It’s part of ‘Being Human’. - It’s part Part of human experience. - It comes as an individual - It can involve collaboration - To facilitate- enable something to happen - It can be a consumer- Buying an outfit, watching a documentary, going to a gallery etc. - You can be a ‘hybrid manager’. Charles Crial- Composer, creates apps and games, author, first resident artist at Radio One. - You can be a conceptual thinker- one who constructs ideas. - You can be a maker. - Culture jamming. - Expressing something in you historically specific. Comes from the environment? - 20th Century- came from God.

- Many different areas/ kinds of creativity can clash.

- Creativity can make you employable- it can drive economic growth. - Creative industries is the fastest growing economically. - Temple Meads Creative Hub (example in Bristol).

- Creativity can also be used by chefs, computer scientists, engineers etc. - The definition of creativity has changed many times. - There is no real universal definition.

- Modern creative arts are European and are 200 years old. - Before this, medicine and sport were considered creative too.

- The works of Neville Brody for instance wouldn’t have been valued before. 18th Century

- Art was about separating from everyday life - singling out things to show importance. - Galleries and museums were the place to separate it.

19th Century

- Romanticism showed imagination, originality, progress, genius figure.

Late 19th Century and 20th Century

- More avant-garde. - Artists were groundbreaking, radical, revolutionised. - They were looking forward, not back. - Breaking away from museums. - More experimental, risky. - They separated the practice from entertainment. - Design and art are a social function to a better life. Technology can help this. - Disney animation was rather realist. This was broken away.

Jan Tschi Chold

- Always used sans serif fonts. - He broke away from unnecessary ornamentation. - The Nazi’s considered his work ‘not German’ and was arrested.

Postmodernism- Mid to late 20th Century.

- Was completely different from the past. - Goes against the established strict rules of modernism, yet still borrowing ideas and mixing retro styles.

Sin City

Taken from comic book, yet still kept the style within new technology.

Wallace and Gromit

- Considered nostalgic. - Still handmade yet in the digital age.

David Carson

- Thought of as an ‘anti- typographer’. - His work was sometimes illegible. - Was an art director for ‘Ray Gun’. - Was stylised to be anti functional. - Bryan Ferry gave a boring interview, so he decided to publish it in dingbats.

Creative Industries

- Creative Arts - Industry- Makes it a marketplace - European - New media, political interest, enterprise, business, financial

‘Culture Industry’ 1930’s- 40’s. Frankfurt School.

- They were German Jews, which was considered dangerous. - Social research. - They moved to New York to escape Nazi Germany. - They returned after the war. - New York was an interesting cultural scene. Many fled there. - They observed US music, flags etc and were horrified as it almost linked to propaganda. - Notion of persuasion.

- Culture Industry is a product of mass culture. - Uniformity- work in the same way and is almost predictable.

- Pop culture repeats the same messages, ideas etc.

- It encourages people to conform. - This means people are less likely to revolt, complain, feel exploited.

- Short term fun/ entertainment makes people less likely to complain.

- Art’s job is to challenge every day life. - Culture and industry are considered as opposites.

- Economy- growth in Western slaves to consumerism. - Do we choose to be slaves or not? - Consumerism is targeted at everyone and we buy into what we want, which leads back into creativity and culture. - For instance, clothing. Says who we are, where we’re from. It shouts our status. - Do we buy things because we want it or because other people have it.

- iPods for instance- cultural technology. What is it culturally in third world countries?

- What if films were based on gay couples? Would this influence people or not reach out to people?

Walter Benjamin: A More Optimistic View- Mechanical Reproduction

- Reproduction- destroys the aura of work, but reaches out to a further audience. - Why do I need to travel to another country to see a painting in a gallery? You can see it in a book or on the internet. Is it the same? Probably not, but it makes it more accessible and not exclusive to those who visit galleries. - Industrial reproduction is sometimes thought to be good, but people don’t always agree.

Active Consumers

- Unpredictable, innovative, critical. - But still makes decisions of what you’re buying into. - Authors of creative content, like on youtube etc. - People are influenced by what is considered a ‘good’ consumer product or not via creative content such as youtube and blogs.

Roland Barthes “The Death of the Author” 1967

- A short essay translated from French. - It is against creative producers being ‘God’ and the centre of meaning. - Consumers should be the one who holds the meaning and how it’s interpreted. - Do not be obsessed with the intended meaning of the creator. - Meanings are not fixed but plural.