AMERICAN FILM: A WOMAN'S PLACE? S y l l a b u s ˜–˜ Ode to a Village Movie Theater by Pablo Neruda Come, my love, let's go to the
movies in the village. Transparent night turns like a
silent mill, grinding out stars. We enter the tiny theater, you and
I, a ferment of children and the strong
smell of apples. Old movies are second hand dreams. The screen is the color of stone, or
rain. The beautiful victim of the villain has eyes like pools and a voice like
a swan; the fleetest horses in the world
careen at breakneck speed. Cowboys make Swiss cheese of the
dangerous Arizona moon. Our hearts in our mouths, we thread
our way through these cyclones of violence, the death-defying duel of the
swordsman in the tower, unerring as wasps the feathered
avalanche of Indians, a spreading fan on the prairie. Many of the village boys and girls
have fallen asleep, tired after a day in the shop, weary
of scrubbing kitchens. Not we, my love, we'll not lose even
this dream; As long as we live we will claim
every minute of reality, But claim dreams as well: we will
dream all the dreams. Required
Texts: Erens,
Patricia, editor. Issues in Feminist Film Criticism. Bloomington: Indiana University
Press, 1990, 450 pp. Haskell,
Molly. From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies. Chicago: The University of Chicago
Press, 1973, 425 pp. LaSalle,
Mick. Complicated Women: Sex and Power in Pre-Code Hollywood. New York: Thomas Dunne Books-St.
Martin's Press, 2000, 279 pp. Shalit,
Wendy. A Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue. Free Press, 1999, 304 pp. Description of Course The Question at Hand Film
scholars and film fans often remark that during what has often been referred to
as Hollywood's "Golden Era," variously identified in terms of years,
but certainly including the early thirties to the late forties, women, as
onscreen, lead characters that drove the plot, were far more prominent than
they have been in the films made since, and more prominent than in films made
today. Further,
female stars of the Golden Era included older women, fat woman, young women,
and women identified as physically unattractive. Such women are conspicuous by
their absence from today's films. Their roles are few and small, especially in
big-budget, high-production-value, box office successes. Their names are often
unfamiliar to film fans. There is a
strong irony here. The Golden Era is commonly understood as a pre-feminist era,
or as an inter-feminist era, coming after the heroic thrust of feminist
Founding Mothers from Susan B. Anthony to Alice Paul, and preceding the wave
that included Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem. The Golden Era is often
unquestionably presented as a time of foolish self-delusion when, under the
pressure of stereotypically evil Catholics, Hollywood's brilliant, courageous,
creative geniuses (script writers, directors, producers), each one a Prometheus
eager to steal fire from the Gods (the evil Catholics) had to needlessly
restrain themselves in their artistic endeavors and produce, at best, coded fare
that could never match the power of freer films produced later (For an example
of this narrative, starring these stereotypes, see "Celluloid
Closet.") One must
ask - how could such closeted, repressed, unliberated, pathetic, silly censors,
imposing such silly strictures, contribute to some of the most powerful female
characters ever presented onscreen, and the most powerful female stars, and how
could our supposedly hyper-free and progressive era so thoroughly erase women
from view, except as utterly debased objects of a brutalized male lust, devoid
of all affection, respect and mutuality? Various
answers have been proposed: that television claimed the female audience member,
who is more comfortable at home, and that the cinema claimed the male viewer,
who is more comfortable out in the world; that the Friedan-Steinem era of
feminism so frightened both men and women that film needs to provide viewers
with a safe world without women or one in which powerful women appear only to
be punished and vanquished, that with the fall of the Hays office and its
production code, women became useful onscreen only as "tits and ass,"
fully exposed, and so there was no need to develop female characters … other
theories could be advanced. However one
answers this question, its ironies, and its fallout, must be considered. One reason
the question of the existence of women in American film must be considered: a
powerful argument can be made that film is today's myth. As myth scholar
Bronislaw Malinowski stated, myth is a "Charter for belief." As Mary
Bray Pipher, author of "Reviving Ophelia" has powerfully shown,
images that young people imbibe from media affect lives, sometimes in positive
ways, often in destructive ways. Myth, including in its form as film, can
inspire great achievement; it can help inspire suicide, or the slow suicides of
self-destructive behaviors such as body image obsession. Ideological Agenda First, it
must be stated that this course takes as its subject matter material that is
highly charged. Powerful institutions, including world religions, have been
based on, and wars have been fought over, the questions this course will
engage: What constitutes an adequate or acceptable woman? By extension, given
that identity presupposes alterity, what constitutes an adequate or acceptable
man? How do gender non-conforming persons fit into this mix? What role do class
and race play in the consideration of these questions? Whereas it
is unlikely that a shooting war will break out on a US college campus any time
soon over these questions, these questions have played a role in making and
breaking academic careers. Power groups identify perceived "right"
and "wrong" answers, and take aim at those who do not comply with
their interpretation of "right" and "wrong." The teacher
for this course rejects that approach. Readings and students who do not conform
to her interpretation of events are invited and encouraged. The criterion for
inclusion and approval will not be that the reading or that the student
conforms to the teacher's point of view. Rather, the criteria will be that
presentations of points of view will be based on close and accurate observation
of high-impact films ("high-impact" being decided based on critical
reception, both by critics and by peers in the filmmaking industry, for example
as evidenced by awards, and large box office receipts), acknowledgement of
received interpretations of such films, and coherent syntheses of these
features into a final argument. Similarly,
the teacher herself will present points of view that are contrary to many
received interpretations of appropriate feminist stances. The teacher will
present these points of view as questions, rather than as final answers, and
will invite students to acquire the information and skill necessary to respond
to the teacher's questions in an adequate way. In sum, the
goal of this course will not be to gain students' adherence to any given
worldview, philosophy, or ethos. If students neither enter into nor depart from
the class as feminists, they will not be penalized for that. Classes Will Address: Why Do
Humans Need Narrative? Aren't films mere entertainment, mere fluff, not to be taken seriously?
Are films doing any sort of serious cognitive, psychological, and cultural
work? If so, what is that work, and what does it say about women's place in
society that women used to occupy a prominent place in American feature films
that they no longer occupy? The relatively new academic field of narratology
will provide us with part of our answer. Suffering.
Trauma. Domestic Violence. Are Women Naturally Masochistic? What is the Role of Suffering in
the Woman's Film? Are
Films that Show Women Suffering Sado-Masochistic Porn, Lessons in
Disempowerment, or Possible Routes to Empowerment? Films discussed will include:
"The Passion of Joan of Arc," "Mildred Pierce,"
"Interrogation," "Bandit Queen," "Osama,"
"Closetland," "Broken Blossoms," "The Mother of
Kings." The
Woman's Movie / Chick Flix What is a "woman's movie"? Films discussed will include:
"Mildred Pierce," "Gone with the Wind,"
"Casablanca," "Thelma and Louise," "Beaches." Fat,
Old, and Ugly Women and the Geezer-Babe Phenomenon Where have all the positive fat,
old, and ugly women gone? Why, during the thirties, were Margaret Dumont, Marie
Dressler, and Beulah Bondi international film stars, while today they would be
unknowns? Why are elderly men today like Sean Connery and Michael Douglas
co-starred with nubile starlets, while, once upon a time, stars like Cary Grant
were featured with co-stars, like Myrna Loy, in "Mr. Blandings Builds His
Dream House," who were their own age mid-forties? Tallulah Bankhead, at
age 42, was costarred with hunky John Hodiak, 30, in Alfred Hitchcock's 1944
classic, "Lifeboat." Films discussed will include: "Duck
Soup," "Dinner at Eight," "Desire," "Saratoga
Trunk," "Entrapment," "Lost in Translation,"
"Love in the Afternoon." Laura
Mulvey's Theories, and current film theory on women and film. Males We've Gazed
At The Mulvey
school argues that the camera is a phallus and that "gazing" is
always a male activity. Is that correct? Have women ever taken the power of the
gaze? If so, what does that do to the males upon whom women have gazed? Films
discussed will include: "Son of the Sheik," "Saratoga
Trunk," "Gone with the Wind," The Bond films, "Thelma and
Louise," "Fight Club," "The Piano." Can a
Man Tell a Woman's Story? Does the multivocality demanded by programs like affirmative action
demand that a speaker be a member of a given underrepresented group? Can a man
tell a woman's story? Were auteurs like George Cukor, Joseph Mankiewicz,
Preston Sturges, and Boaz Yakin correct in the words they put in women's
mouths, and the feelings they put in female characters' hearts? Films discussed
will include: "All About Eve," "Letter to Three Wives,"
"A Price Above Rubies," "A Woman's Face," "Remember
the Night," "Gone with the Wind," "Strictly Ballroom." Tracy
and Hepburn, Onscreen
and Off Some view
Katharine Hepburn as a role model for feminist film fans; some feminists regard
her and merely weep. Why? Why, after certain facts about her affair with Tracy
came out that her brother was a suicide whom she regretted not saving; that
Tracy was a drunk whom she regretted not saving; that Tracy abused her, struck
her, and cheated on her did people begin to think twice about their
conclusions of what sort of role model Hepburn provided, and see her films in a
new light? How did these films look to their audience of their day, and how do
they look today? Films discussed will include: "Adam's Rib,"
"Without Love." Noir
Dames Some see the
women in film noir as pure projections of male paranoid misogyny. On the other
hand, noir dames have provided female viewers with images of women with pure
power; their male leads are often mere toys in their hands. Films discussed
will include: "Double Indemnity," "Body Heat," "LA
Confidential," "The Last Seduction." Class
and Race What do
class and race have to do with all this? Do the conclusions we reach regarding
women in films whose protagonists are white, middle class characters fail to
apply when we discuss non-white, or otherwise "ethnic" (coded
Italian, coded Jewish, coded immigrant), working class characters? Or, as
Stokely Carmichael argued, did audiences of all races and classes identify with
white, middle class leads? Films discussed will include: "Gone with the
Wind," "Imitation of Life," "Stella Dallas," "The
Searchers." The
Hatshepsut Phenomenon Hatshepsut was a female pharaoh of c. 1400 BC. After her death, her name
was erased. It was too disturbing to the powers that be that a woman once ruled
Egypt. This section will be devoted to something this course will call
"The Hatshepsut Phenomenon," the erasure or distortion of women's
stories. Some argue that men are appropriate protagonists for stories because
men's lives follow the route of classical narrative. Men seek adventure and
prominence; men's lives follow a linear progression; men behave heroically.
Women hang out at home; women's lives proceed in a more circular fashion; women
live mostly internal lives of quiet moments. Such lives are not worthy of
filmic treatment, except for small, art house films like "Dancing at
Lughnasa" or "Mrs. Dalloway." This course will not reject this
theory out of hand and yet ... some women have lived truly heroic lives, and
their heroic lives have been erased, trivialized, or distorted in mainstream
cinema. Films discussed will include: "Guys and Dolls,"
"Becket," "Lion in Winter," "Lawrence of Arabia,"
"Artemesia," "Catch Me If You Can," "Schindler's
List," "The Last Temptation of Christ," "The Passion of the
Christ," the silent version of CB DeMille's "King of Kings." Nuns'
Stories A man who
wishes to dress for success wears a navy blue suit, a white shirt, and a red
tie. What does a woman wishing for success wear? Women's very clothing
identifies her as sexual, as existing to tempt and please men. Some women have
avoided identification with that role altogether by choosing the convent.
Ironically, the second a film heroine takes the veil, she finds herself
surrounded by sexually predatory men. What is behind these depictions of women
who wish to escape from a role as a sexual being, and function in the world as
professionals, as nun health care professionals, nun human rights activists,
and nun educators? Films discussed will include: "Nun's Story,"
"Black Narcissus," "Nunsense," "Change of Habit,"
"Sound of Music," "Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison," "Dead
Man Walking." Jane
Austen / Merchant Ivory / the Brontes / Elizabeth Gaskell Movies inspired by 19th
century British authors have become the de facto "woman's movies" for
many viewers. Why? Films discussed will include: "Persuasion,"
A&E's "Pride and Prejudice," "Room with a View," "Jane
Eyre," "North and South." Is This
Movie Misogynist?
What makes a film misogynist? Do all feminists agree that a given film is
misogynist? Can a female filmmaker make a misogynist film? Films discussed will
include: "Swept Away," "Secretary," "The Women." Documentaries Is the presentation of women, or
the roles of women, different in non-feature films? Films discussed will
include: "Nanook of the North," "Man of Aran," "Rosie
the Riveter," "Celluloid Closet," "The Wonderful, Horrible
Life of Leni Riefenstahl." Can a
Woman Make or Participate in the Making of a Misogynist Film? Films discussed will include:
"Lost in Translation," "The Women," "Swept Away."
Women
Behind the Scenes
What impact have women writers, directors, and producers had? Films discussed
will include: "Thelma and Louise," "Gone with the Wind."
Women discussed will include: Callie Khouri, Ida Lupino, Lina Wertmuller, Dawn
Steel, Julia Phillips, Kathryn Bigelow, Barbra Streisand. Boys
with Tits Some
argue that films that depict anatomically female characters doing traditionally
male, "heroic" things are the answer to women's film needs. Is this
true, or do "boys with tits" movies further denigrate the feminine by
depicting the only worthy female as a traditionally masculine female? Films
discussed will include: "Aliens," "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,"
"Terminator Two," "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider." Slasher
Flix Teen slasher
flix have been favorites for decades. Do these films denigrate women by
depicting women as idiotic victims of evil males? Do they denigrate sexual
females by showing them victimized by evil males? Do they play the same role as
cautionary urban legends that depict sexual females as being victimized by evil
males? Carol Clover presents a different point of view. (Clover, Carol.
"Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher Film." Representations, 20
(1987), 187-228.) Films discussed will include: "Psycho,"
"Friday the 13th." Course Objectives Sharpening of Visual Acuity and
Critical Skill A huge
percentage of the human brain is devoted to the visual function. Phrases like
"I see," and "Seeing is believing" attest to the importance
of sight. This course will sharpen students' visual acuity and ability to
process visual stimuli. It will also sharpen students' ability to process one
of the most pervasive and powerful cultural media humanity has ever known, the
American feature film. Students
will demonstrate this improvement in visual acuity by detailing the content of
scenes of films they are assigned to view. They will place these details in the
context of cinema in general and wider cultural symbol systems, for example,
the use of purses as vaginal symbols in the films of Alfred Hitchcock, and
Freudian theory on such symbolism, and they will further locate these details
and symbol systems in relation to their own personal belief systems. Thus,
students will gain power over a powerful medium that takes as its stated aim to
gain power over them, both their pocketbooks and their fantasy and real lives,
as in the often repeated Hollywood phrase, "You've got to get the audience
by the balls and never let them go." Expansion and Deepening of
Cultural Literacy American
film provides one of the basic cultural vocabularies that an educated person
requires to function in modern American society. When we hear that a given
president watched "High Noon" before making a given decision, the
educated person will want to know exactly what that means. When a woman is
referred to as a Scarlett O'Hara type, when someone alludes to the Garbo line,
"I want to be alone," when a woman says she got through a difficult
experience by pretending to be Ripley, the educated person will want to know
what is being referred to. A complete understanding of ideas of the female in
modern American culture includes an understanding of ideas of the female
promulgated by film. Provision of a Vocabulary with
which to Name and Manipulate Highly Volatile Concepts Robert
Coles, the scholar of narrative, argues in his book "The Call of
Stories" that stories are important at least partly because they provide
the teller and the audience with a vocabulary that can manipulate key facets of
reality without actually touching or changing any concrete aspect of reality. A
metaphor: with stories, we can do what scientists who test nuclear material via
computer modeling do. Actual manipulation of nuclear material is dangerous.
Manipulating images on a computer screen may not be as dangerous, and can teach
the same lessons. Just so, people exploring the realities of sexual identity,
gender roles, and class and race issues, risk damage to themselves or others if
they acted out experimental choices in real life. By imbibing, retelling, and
manipulating stories, though, these same persons can test out answers to many
of life's great questions, without undertaking the same risk that real life experimentation
would entail. The Gaining of Expertise in
Critical Viewpoints That Can Be Applied to Other Disciplines Many of the
skills and approaches used in analyzing film can be applied to other
disciplines, and, indeed, to life outside the academy. Again, humans are visual
creatures and process information, primarily, visually. The skills needed to
read body language of a character onscreen can sometimes be applied to real
life. The Freudian theories used to interpret film can be used in literary criticism.
Problematizing Hegemonic Critical
Stances In a great
irony, while film is one of the most popular of media, equally accessible to
almost all social and economic classes, and while feminism is meant to be a
liberatory exercise, Feminist Film Criticism has arisen as a growth industry,
one that belittles film fans, including female ones, excoriates film as a
popular entertainment, and leaves little room for alternative points of view.
Either one is with the Mulvey school, or against it. Laura Mulvey's article on
film is so de rigueur that in rejecting it, one rejects a powerful dogma. This
class will invite students to express their viewpoints, not just of film, but
of the canonical critics on women in film. Facilitating Students' Access to
Their Own Critical Voice Students
will be emphatically invited to give heed to their own critical voices, voices
that academia, intentionally or not, often stifles. Students will be invited to
see what they see and voice what they see, and not to discount their own perceptions
in order to gain the teacher's approval, but, rather, to add what they see to others'
perceptions, in order to form powerful and coherent arguments that, in turn,
empower and uplift those advancing them. ::::::::::::
|