At 10:35 am 13/6/0, James Wallace wrote:
>American Beauty strongly positions the spectator in accord with the Spacey
>character--direct address voice-over, dominance of screen time, close-ups,
>etc. And through this positioning, we can vicariously enjoy it as he flips
>the bird to the system. And so, as he quits his job, declines
>responsibility and ambition, places an emphasis on personal fulfillment, it
>seems as though he is denying the capitalist metanarrative--and I believe
>this is the level at which the film is both promoted and received. I
>contend that this is a sleight of hand on the part of the
>filmmakers/distributors and that the film is really sending out the opposite
>message, but on a very covert level. My reasons, as detailed in the
>previous e-mail, stem directly from the plot--Spacey's rebellion is
>ultimately 'punished' by death; the neighbour boy, another sympathetic
>character, while portrayed as a loner, an outcast and a rebel, is actually
>the most successful business person in the film.
>
>I don't agree with Sirk or with you that ideology is not propagated in
>films.
Surely this is a rather simplistic view of how ideology or culture
reproduces itself, particularly with regard to AB. Is Lester's supposed
punishment designed to frighten us, or does the drama (i.e his changing
relations with his social environment) merely expose the many
contradictions of American society? It might be that the violence of his
death is the only way of resolving the tensions created by the piece. After
all, most of you still have to live and work in said society whatever your
position with regard to the film. As the wide range of opinions expressed
with regard to AB demonstrate, it is impossible to control how a film is
interpreted by an audience with diverse backgrounds. The classic example is
the furore created by Griffith and 'The Birth of a Nation', a film which
undoubtedly set out to propagate a particular view of what American society
'ought' to be with all the technical skill available to a director of real
genius. Yet 'BoN' mobilsed a considerable protest against its depiction of
race relations. In societal terms the film exposed the depth and complexity
of the race problem in the US in a way which no amount of positive
representation could. This isn't to defend the reprehensible, rather, it
illustrates the difficulties which attend discussions of ideology and film.
To cast light is also to throw shadows. Your own background, personality,
and/or theoretical position will determine what you see.
Yours aye
Kris
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