Screening “The Other”: The Movies, Race and Ethnicity Gary Handman Director Media Resources Center Moffitt Library

“What Is Cinema?” --Jacques Bazin

A wildly popular, 125-year old diversion and entertainment. A wildly popular, 125-year old diversion and entertainment. An increasingly complex artistic endeavor involving various “authors” and “actualizers” (screenwriters, directors, actors, technicicans)An increasingly complex artistic endeavor involving various “authors” and “actualizers” (screenwriters, directors, actors, technicicans) A highly exportable commodity: a global good with impact on global culture.A highly exportable commodity: a global good with impact on global culture. A unique form of “grammar” (a new way of describing/viewing/representing the world and/or of telling stories)A unique form of “grammar” (a new way of describing/viewing/representing the world and/or of telling stories) A cultural product that comprises various genres, styles: fiction to non-fiction and forms in-betweenA cultural product that comprises various genres, styles: fiction to non-fiction and forms in-between

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar! S. Freud

…but a movie is NEVER just a movie!

"Film is more than the twentieth-century art. It's another part of the Twentieth-Century mind. It's the world seen from inside. We've come to a certain point in the history of film. If a thing can be filmed, the film is implied in the thing itself. This is where we are. The Twentieth century is on film....You have to ask yourself if there's anything about us more important than the fact that we're constantly on film constantly watching ourselves." --Don Delillo (The Names) The Movies reflect the culture that makes them The Movies reflect the culture that makes them Culture reflects and is shaped by the movies it makes

Every Film Is a Documentary” “Every Film Is a Documentary” --Bill Nichols

Documentaries of Wish Fulfillment Documentaries of Social Representation

Documentaries of Wish Fulfillment Deal with imagined realitiesDeal with imagined realities Reflections and shapers of culture (fantasies, prejudices, hopes and fears)Reflections and shapers of culture (fantasies, prejudices, hopes and fears) Requires that the viewer suspend disbeliefRequires that the viewer suspend disbelief Ultimate Goal: to entertainUltimate Goal: to entertain Document the image in front of the cameraDocument the image in front of the camera Document the cDocument the c

Documentaries of Social Representation Imaginative representation of historical or personal reality Lay claims to representing the “Truth” (unlike films of wish fulfillment) A “Discourse of Sobriety” (along with politics, history, economics) Make arguments/claims about the world outside of the theatre Use of evidence drawn from the “real” world Goal: to have the viewer believe in what is being represented; to act on those beliefs

So? What Did We Learn Last Week? Definition of “Documentary” = Like nailing jelly to a treeDefinition of “Documentary” = Like nailing jelly to a tree Varies with viewer, the times, viewing context, etc.Varies with viewer, the times, viewing context, etc. Doc not a genre in a formal senseDoc not a genre in a formal sense The R [Reality] Word: Definitions based on claims of “truth and reality” fall apart under scrutinyThe R [Reality] Word: Definitions based on claims of “truth and reality” fall apart under scrutiny Every Film in Some Sense FictionEvery Film in Some Sense Fiction Doc is a social and artistic constructDoc is a social and artistic construct Reality is in many ways subjectiveReality is in many ways subjective Presence of camera changes everythingPresence of camera changes everything Every Film in Some Sense a DocumentaryEvery Film in Some Sense a Documentary Documentaries of Wish FulfillmentDocumentaries of Wish Fulfillment Recording of the “indexical image”Recording of the “indexical image” Act as social or cultural “texts”Act as social or cultural “texts” Documentaries of Social RepresentationDocumentaries of Social Representation

The Movies: Over 125 Years Old

What Kinds of Images Move? Cinema (aka THE MOVIES (aka THE MOVIES: ) The end product of several millennia of fooling around with moving shadows. Evolves from: A simple recording instrument (actualities…)...to a toy for manipulating images and simple, linear narratives and stories …to an art form (the advent of editing) A collective enterprise: notions of “authorship” and responsibility have changed over the years A big business with big business aims

What Kinds of Images Move? Documentaries Slick and produced (e.g. Ken Burns, Discovery Channel) Cinema verité (also called Direct Cinema) Ethnographic film / field recordings Mockumentaries and “reality programming”

What Kinds of Images Move? Educational / Instructional / Industrial films/video

What Kinds of Images Move? Promotional films (selling/explaining a program, product, institution, etc.)

What Kinds of Images Move? Newsreels (the precursor of the 10:00 news)

What Kinds of Images Move? Propaganda (governmental, political, religious, social)

What Kinds of Images Move? Primary source materials: raw footage; reality footage Amateur films (home movies)

TV: Network, Cable Programming (from sitcoms to sports to MTV to reality shows) News Commercials/Infomercials Public service announcements What Kinds of Images Move?

The Movies: Approaches to studying the Medium Nationality Genres: Sci Fi, Gangster, Film Noir, Musicals, Westerns, porn…etc. Eras Styles (e.g. expressionism, surrealism) Directors (“auteur theory”: Director as “author”) Actors (Hitchcock: “actors are cattle”) Audiences / audience reception

How to Approach the Serious Study of Movies (and TV): A diversion and popular entertainment A new and unique form of “grammar” (a new way of describing/viewing/representing the world and of telling stories) A mirror of collective cultural fantasy, fear, longing, prejudice--a mirror of the zeitgeist…a cultural snapshot or “text” A shaper of collective fantasy, fear, longing…etc. Responsible for creating culture of spectatorship A highly exportable commodity: a global good with impact on global culture.

Non-theatrical Film and Video Documentaries / Ethnographic Film Roots in the earliest years of cinema: The Lumiere Brothers -- actualities Look “real” or “honest” and immediate. Impulse toward revealing the drama in the everyday, the historical. Attempt to identify and document “Defining Moments.” Can be either wildly personal or attempt distance Techniques have been appropriated by other media forms and formats (e.g. Dockers ads)

Non-theatrical Film and Video Documentaries (and TV news, too) Like movies, a product of the times that create them. The camera is NEVER totally objective! The act of choosing/focusing on a subject is SUBJECTIVE! “Defining Moment” is a subjective construct. No matter how subtle or artfully concealed: there is ALWAYS a point of view Editing and other production factors contribute to point of view, tone, overall impact New technologies = new ways of manipulating the image and documentation of reality, new ways of potentially lying to the viewer. Critical viewing = “reading” documentary content, documentary techniques, and documentary context.

Non-theatrical Film and Video Ephemera = the fleeting, temporary. Not intended for the ages (often end up in the dumpster) Frequently produced for practical/commercial ends. Like the movies, useful for insights into hearts, minds, and culture-ways of the times in which they were created. More difficult to find than produced documentaries or feature films. Ephemeral materials: Educational / industrial films Commercials Propaganda