Taylor Hochuli
Project Proposal – Narrative and Technology
Movie Antagonists:
Paper and/or Visual Representation
Overview
I intend to analyze
socially-destructive and idealistic antagonists in film and their impacts on
society. Characters like Hannibal Lecter, John Doe from Se7en, Tyler Durden, and villains from the
Christopher Nolan Batman movies stick with audiences with their social
commentary and manipulation of American culture. They embody either anarchistic
or highly individualistic ideals that show the more appealing side of being
bad. I will specifically examine these characters origin, portrayal, and impact
in both film and reality. Included in this subject are “copycat” crimes that
came from these movies or even crimes that inspired these movies.
Argument
These characters, despite being anarchistic and
individualistic, do not impact society on a large scale. Casting the characters
as villains and having the system triumph over them perpetuates societal
control rather than refutes it. The fact that they are in the medium of movies
also helps reject their message since it is incorporated into the system rather
than outside of it.
Possible Counter-Argument
The trend of using villains to communicate social commentary
is causing acts of terror in an attempt to replicate these antagonists. “Copycat”
crimes such as a bombing of a Starbucks, the Aurora Dark Knight Rises shooting, and other smaller crimes are the result
of these violent portrayals on-screen.
Connection
to Marcuse
I will use Marcuse’s concept of the Great Refusal as well as
the absorption of antagonistic elements into our society in my project. The antagonists
attempt to participate in the Great Refusal and certainly bring up a discussion
on societal issues, but ultimately fail in this respect. These characters are
absorbed into society and used as icons and fads rather than actually inciting
change.
Medium of
Project/ Notes on Project
Here is where I am still deciding how to best present my
project. This project is essentially a broadening of my Tyler Durden analyses
and the Batman movie discussion in class. I am very interested in movies and
have always been interested in these antagonists that really stick with you
rather than just being threatening or crazy for no reason. Heath Ledger’s
portrayal of the Joker seems to have inspired several new and similar
characters in upcoming movies like the second J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie and
even supposed The Mandarin in Iron Man 3. However, it seems like the Aurora
shooting might indicate that this kind of villain portrayal is harmful, so I
want to do a more general analysis to see if this is the case. The first option for this project is to
strictly do the essay portion by writing about these characters in relation to
Marcuse and society in general. This would involve heavily cutting down my
second revision and still my general style of commentary on Tyler Durden to
apply this to more characters and their impacts in the real world. I am also
thinking that a visual presentation might go well with the paper or even
supplement some of it. This would involve either transferring my main points to
a PowerPoint with movie clips in it or splicing together footage of these
villains along with narration overtop by me to be posted on YouTube or simply
submitted for the project. I feel that the medium will become more apparent as
I research but suggestions are welcome.
Initial Bibliography
Fahraeus,
Anna, and Dikmen Yakah. Çamoğlu. "'Wait till They Get a Load of Me!': The
Joker
from Modern to Postmodern Villainous
S/laughter." Villains and Villainy: Embodiments
of Evil in Literature, Popular
Culture and Media. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2011. 71-88. Print.
This source analyzes both Heath Ledger and Jack Nicholson’s
portrayal of the Joker. I will use their analysis of how both Joker’s reflect
societal troubles and their criticisms of it in my paper.
DiPaolo,
Marc E. "Terrorist, Technocrat, and Feudal Lord." Heroes of Film,
Comics and American
Culture : Essays on Real and
Fictional Defenders of Home. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland &, 2009. N. pag.
Print.
This source analyzes Nolan’s Batman movies and how their
antagonists are used for social commentary through terrorism to help aid me in
this analysis.
Ling, L. H. M. "The Monster Within: What Fu Manchu and Hannibal
Lecter Can Tell Us about
Terror and Desire in a
Post-9/11 World." Positions: East Asia Cultures Critique 12.2 (2004):
377-95. Web. <http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/positions/v012/12.2ling.html>.
This
source discusses Hannibal Lecter in the context of Orientalism and terrorism in
the 21st century. This will help in showing how the portrayal of
Lecter affects the real world.
Note:
I will also use the sources from my Revision #2 for critique on the character
of Tyler Durden.
Also, another character that frequently came up in preliminary research was the antagonist of A Clockwork Orange. I will watch the movie as soon as possible to see if this is also a viable character to analyze.
1 comment:
Overview - good, although most of these works should be refered to briefly, if at all, in the essay/presentation itself.
Argument - One way you could word this is that Marcuse is essentially correct: apparent oppositional figures in our current cultural/artistic moment do not function as an authentic opposition. Or, if you *don't* quite agree with Marcuse, you could use whatever you (possibly subtle) points of disagreement are to make your argument more precise.
Possible counter-argument counter-argument: You are conflating terrorism with antagonism. While that's not obviously wrong, it's also not obviously right - you need to think through what you're trying to do here carefully, and express it clearly.
Connection to Marcuse - this is fine, of course, though you want to look at the specifics of what he has to say about antagonists.
Medium - I'm not opposed to anything you want to do here, but I think that using a visual element to supplement rather than replace an essay is the more obvious choice. Obvious isn't always the same as better, of course, so do as you like - that's just my default suggestion.
Looks good!
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