Midterm 18 February 2017, questions PDF

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Question: with reference to the in class discussion and films watched in class, what were the conditions by which the star system was created. How does the medium theory help us to understand the creation of the star system. Who were the first stars? And who were some of the first movie stars of the silent and early sound era. What kind of screen personas did they established. To what extent is this legacy found and established in contemporary movie stars and what degree are aspects still alive.  Star system - working actors becoming stars through being in a lot of film and having a rise in popularity  GEMEINSCHAFT(community) vs. GESELLSCAFT (society) o Rise of modernity - Community to society shift o Movement of ideas o There's a dislocation that occurs when you go from a small city to a big city  Urban amenity  They don’t know who they are anymore  They look up to stars to find their personas  The content and stars speak to them but movies themselves also  Movies are a cause as it gives them something in common  Technological achievement o Medium theory (a set of approaches used to convey the difference in meanings of the message conveyed with regards to the different channels used to communicate it) is driven by what technology is available o Railroad  First stars were baseball players  Negros teams  Deliver stars to cities  First thing that contributes to star system  The star system is everywhere  First medium  Can have an interconnected country and send people all over the world o Telegraph  Able to distribute the schedules, stats, news stories o Photography  People can hold the star in their hand  You have to give a head shot  The pictures can be distributed and can "hold" star in their hand  This is still evident now o Film  The stars become personas that people can look up to  When film becomes created, you can see the stars in action  When film becomes popular, people can identify them  Camera lens have changed over time  Close up shots allows you to breaches the intimacy between spectator and actor  Film provided rituals for people to unite  Studios would promote stars as their main attraction. o Stars started in B movies and if fans liked them they would go to A movies

The First Stars 1. Charlie Chaplin: the physical comedian o The inspiration for Mr. Bean, the Riddler, Jack Black o Speed in comic scenes were under cranked to emphasize speed 2. Douglas Fairbanks: the action hero and anti hero a. Jackie Chan, Mafia Leaders b. Speed in dramatic films: Generically comic Scenes were over cranked it slow down the action 3. Mary Pickford: the girl next food who takes initiative a. Most extreme example of the star system and people were so attached to it b. Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts,

Question: how does boss nigga challenge black stereotypes The Western as Carnivalesque What is it?  Carnivalesque is marked by an often mocking or satirical challenge to authority and the traditional social hierarch  Taking the normal and making it abnormal … fucking it  Restrictions that determine the structure of ordinary (non-carnival) life are suspended. o Hierarchical structure, forms of terror, and etiquette suspended o All distance between people is suspended  Combines certain oppositions: the sacred with the profane, the lofty with the low, the great with the insignificant, the wise with the stupid. Carnival Culture Vs. Official  Laughter vs. Seriousness  Body vs. Mind  Horizontal vs. Vertical Boss Nigger: Challenging the Sambo and Zip- Coon  Characters were created to reinforce slavery Boss Nigger may perpetuate stereotypes. o Sambo: a child like man o Zip-Coon: Black man failing to assimilate to white culture outside of slavery o Mammy: happily obedient to her master. Docile and loyal to the white house and she understood the value of society. She does not have the qualities of beautystripped of sexuality – if she was then she would become a threat to the system, capable by being desired by the master of the home  Carnival and non-carnival may be upheld.  “A” challenging “B”, may just reinforce “B” as official.  Using the word nigger is adding to stereotypes of black people  Good for bringing to light existing power relations and getting on the track to challenging or subverting them 2 ex slaves going into a town of white people and turning them into the characters that were stereotypical of black people  The main point of this movie is that it challenges the main stereotypes of black people historically

“…the [fetishization] of gadgets is indirectly narcissistic…gadgets provide the subjects with some memories of early feelings of omnipotence”. - QUOTE FOR TEST o Meaning, users give power to objects that enhance their own images to make them look better than others o Narcissism: fixation on the self- excessive and erotic interest in oneself and ones physical appearance o We are narcissistic as we give power to things for ourselves, we don’t do it for any other reason than to distract ourselves from real conditions of life o Fetishized gadgets, or popular culture distracts us from the real conditions of existence o people are only consumed by power and distraction o social media is a main form that causes distraction on people o F a c e b o o ki sa b ou tpo we ra n da s s e r t i n gc o nt r o lo v e ry ou rwo r l da ndi de n t i t y o Weg i v ei tp o we rt hr o u g hu s i n gi t , i th a sn op o we ri fi tj u s ts i t si nc y b e rs p a c eno t b e i n gt o u c h e db yu s e r s o Commodity fetishism - you don’t think about what goes into making a product o We fetishize gadgets to assert power over our world. Gadget- something that is given power o Cellphone, you give power to the cellphone and give it life  Fetish – To give power to something that never had it in the first place.  In a world where we don’t have control, in order to gain control, you fetishize gadgets. You want to gain control over the world that you don’t have control over. Your born powerless  The only power we had is when we were kids as we were more creative them, we were g-d  In the process of fetishizes products, it’s a retrogression as we become kids again  This power is about as powerful as kid who plays with toys....