Geog200 film assignment PDF

Preview

Summary

Film assignment worksheet in Mace Bentley's class....

Description

GEOG200

Name

Instructor Mace Bentley Film Assignment

Class Day/Time: Monday/ Wednesday 2:30-3:45

TYPE UP YOUR NOTES ON THIS SHEET IN ORDER TO UPLOAD TO THE COURSE WEB PAGE

1. Title of Movie: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert 2. Your rating of the movie on a scale of 1 (the worst) to 10 (the best) 7 3. Setting (What city or region of what country?) Australia 4. Approximate year or decade of when the movie takes place (not necessarily when the movie was made): I would assume the movie takes place either late 1990’s to early 2000’s because it is about drag queens, but still demonstrates some discrimination to gays which would indicate that it is not very present, but also not too old.

5. One or two sentence summary of the plot : The three main characters are drag queens that decide to buy a bus and travel across Australia together, performing along the way. They meet a lot of different people that they preform for including indigenous crowds and homophobic ones. In the end, every one of the main characters seems to find where they truly belong and who they are- one being a father, one being a possible girlfriend, and one being a full drag queen.

6. Physical Geography Terrain/Landscape, Natural Hazards Once the 3 women leave the city, the landscape for the rest of the movie is the desert. The terrain is fairly flat with a few small hills and plateaus here and there. They occasionally stop at some small towns that consist of the same terrain of the flat, desert like landscape. The desert is also very dusty and sandy as seen when they are driving. There are no natural hazards that are present throughout the movie. Climate, Natural Vegetation The climate remains consistent throughout the movie consisting of moderate climate. There are no signs of it being hot or cold, simply just moderate. During some nights, the main characters light fires indicating that it might get chilly during the night time. The vegetation is limited as they are in the desert through most of the movie. However, there are occasionally some trees, sometimes bare, and other times full. Other than that however, the vegetation is very limited throughout the movie. Water Features, Wildlife There is minimal wildlife shown throughout the movie as they are in the desert for the majority. However, there are a few lizards shown every now and then. Also, in one scene, a couple that had been hunting comes along with a dead deer in their car. Other than that, there are a few domesticated dogs along the way. There is also one water scene featuring the three women jumping into what seems like a lake in the middle of the desert.

7. People (Migration, Population Density, Family Size) The three main characters are transgenders that work as drag queens all from Australia, traveling through the middle of the Australian desert. They are all from families that they mention occasionally, but that they are no longer associated with after coming out indicating unacceptance from their families. Other than the three main characters, there is one man that joins them, named Bob, who is also a native Australian and was married to an Asian woman, which he later explains her migration with him as she forged him as her wife. Other than that, there are occasional indigenous groups along the way- large in population and family size. They so run into a few people along the way, mainly men, that are all also native to Australia, and all very discriminatory towards gay people. The one main character, later meets up with his son and former wife.

8. Standard of Living/Economy (Examples of living standards – wealth, poverty) The standard of living is difficult to determine because the main characters are in a van the entire duration of the movie. However, there are no indicators of the main characters being extremely wealthy or poor. A few of the towns they stop in, however, do not look the safest or very wealthy as seen through the houses and culture of the community. Other than that, the standard of living seems moderate- nothing too wealthy or too poor, nothing noticeable; everyone seems well off enough.

9. Agriculture (type of farming – crops, livestock, hunting/gathering) There is no agriculture seen throughout the movie except for in one scene where a couple comes to help the main characters in the middle of the desert and seem to have recently come back from hunting as they were carrying a dead deer in their car. There are no crops, livestock, or farming shown throughout the movie.

10. Language (What language? Dialect of English? Examples?) The language spoken throughout the movie is English, all in an Australian accent. The one mans wife who is Asian, sometimes speaks in a language that is never clarified during the movie.

11. Culture Food, Drink, Drugs Food is rarely shown throughout the movie and if it is, it is casual food such as cake or fruit every now and then, almost always accompanied by alcohol. Alcohol is very present in the movie and is shown very regularly, whether casually sipping on a beer or taking shots, it is there. A lot of night scenes and their drag queen shows take place in bar scenes. Drugs are not very common in the movie except for in one scene where one of the main characters takes some sort of pill, never clarified what, and provokes a fight with a large group of discriminatory men. Other drugs that are present throughout the movie is the main characters hormone medications that they take daily. Clothing, Jewelry, Cosmetics, Hairstyles The clothing worn by the main characters is very extravagant for the most part. They usually are seen dressing as women, but occasionally are seen in their show attire which consists of bright colors, lots of feathers, and extravagant outfits. This is usually accompanies with lots of extravagant makeup with very bold colors and a decent amount of jewelry along with wigs and headwear. On a daily basis, when they are not dressed up for a show, they are seen wearing more feminine looking outfits, without makeup and with a normal amount of jewelry. One of the main characters is more feminine and has long hair and is always seen wearing feminine clothes and makeup. Dancing, Music, Art The main characters are all drag queens and lip-sync and dance for a living, so music and dance is very present throughout the movie. The music mainly consists of ABBA, and more 80’s type of music. The dancing is always choreographed for the most part and goes along to the music. Art is not very present during this movie. Superstitions, Customs, Rituals, Festivals, Celebrations (don’t discuss religion in this part) There are no superstitions, customs, rituals, festivals, or celebrations that seem to occur throughout the movie. There is one scene that could be considered a celebration where the three main characters meet up with a group of indigenous people and they are seemingly having a party, but it could have been a celebration, it was never specified. Sports/Games/Entertainment There are no sports or games present throughout the movie. The source of entertainment, other than drag queen shows, are casinos and drinking.

12. Religion (Which religion(s)? What signs/examples of religion are in the movie?) The only time religion is ever mentioned is when the main characters are talking about marriage and a flashback of one character and his former wife getting married shows a priest with a bible. Other than that one scene, religion is never mentioned throughout the movie.

13. Buildings/Settlement Patterns (Architecture, Building Material, Type of Roof, Building Size, Colors, Other City Patterns – markets, plazas, monuments) There are few building actually seen throughout the movie because for the most part, they are always traveling in the van. However, when there are buildings, they seem fairly run down and kind of western. Mainly grey or brown, made of wood with hand painted signs on the outside of the buildings. The buildings are never very big or very nice for that part. There aren’t really any city scenes except for about two in the very beginning of the movie, both which show busy streets with lots of shops along the way. Other than that, there are really just towns never really consisting of plazas or markets or anything.

14. Transportation (Modes of Transportation, Roads) The main mode of transportation seen throughout the movie is the van/ bus that the main characters travel through the desert in. It is kind of run down, but very home-like inside- fully decorated and outfitted with all of their personal belongings. The roads seem very nice when they are actually driving on the highway, but for the majority of the movie, they seem to be off-roading in the desert on old trails, more so than roads. Therefore, the “roads” don’t seem very nice during the movie.

15. Political Geography (Government Influence, Nationalism, Civil War, Cultural Influence on Politics, Refugees) There is really no political or government influence throughout the movie. I would have to say that the main cultural problem present during the film is the discrimination towards gays. The main characters come across a lot of people that are very hateful and intolerant and call them derogatory names. In one scene, after a night out at the bar and almost being kicked out, the main characters wake up to find their bus vandalized with offensive words. In another scene, a group of guys try to beat up one of the main characters simply because he is gay and a drag queen. Other than the ever so present discrimination, there is no other political geography present throughout the film....