sharper focus is always good, dan [or almost always, given certain hollywood gimmicks for softening harsh visuals] and i appreciate your way of reframing it so that it has a more specific purchase . . . i hope others follow up on your post so that we refine even further, since the careless use of "the american dream" -- as a term if not as a concept -- has become ubiquitous everywhere, and in most contexts far more sloppily use than on this list
my only other comment here is that my hesitations have little to do with the idea that the term is "starting to sound hollow" . . . my own students, generally from the lower middle class, have aspirations -- often realistic ones -- of improving their lot . . . but that really has little to do with the way the tern is used as a critical tool
thanks for your post
mike
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From: Film-Philosophy [mailto:FILM-[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Shaw, Dan
Sent: Monday, January 07, 2013 10:05 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [FILM-PHILOSOPHY] FILM-PHILOSOPHY Digest - 30 Dec 2012 to 5 Jan 2013 - Special issue (#2013-1)
Hi Mike:
Let's perhaps focus the notion a little more sharply then. Getting rich is not a new desire, nor is seeking to move up in social class. But what singularly makes it the American Dream of Success is that these aspirations are supposedly realistic for the majority of people in American society. The American Dream is a unique mixture of elitism and egalitarianism. You've got to have an idea, and the resoluteness to put it into practice, and these are rare qualities. But the American political ideal of equal opportunity, and its assault on the primacy and stability of social class, is what is most at stake here. The fact that many lower middle class folks vote Republican here has got to be based on their conviction that they will be moving up in class soon.
The reason that it starting to sound hollow is that there isn't as much social mobility as there was, say, in the 1940s & 50s. The class you are born in in America is still the greatest predictor of the class you will die in. The problem, of course, is our elitist educational system, where high schools are funded by local tax bases, public universities are being reduced to trade schools, and only the rich can get a true liberal arts education any more.
Professor Daniel Shaw
Department of Communication and Philosophy
Lock Haven University (570) 484-2052
Managing Editor, Film and Philosophy
"It wasn't the airplanes...it was Beauty killed the Beast."
King Kong
________________________________
From: Film-Philosophy [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Frank, Michael [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, January 07, 2013 9:42 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [FILM-PHILOSOPHY] FILM-PHILOSOPHY Digest - 30 Dec 2012 to 5 Jan 2013 - Special issue (#2013-1)
i apologize for the no doubt curmudgeonly quality of this note, but i’m beginning to wonder [or to wonder again, since this is hardly new] about how broadly we want to draw the boundaries of that thematic territory called “the american dream” . . . do we really want to say that EVERY story about efforts to achieve material success is at root a version of that same mythos? . . . is david coppefield about the A.D.? . . . how about robinson crusoe?? . . . the prodigal son? . . . and are ALL gangsters really just gatsbys? . . . if so then it would appear that gatsby and meyer wolfsheim are really two versions of the same type, and if that’s the case then the core meaning of that book goes down the tooobs
as to malick’s movies, the first two, while set against a cultural milieu that is seen as constraining is many ways, both deal with the efforts of a couple to make a life together . . . the typical hallmarks of the A.D. play virtually no role in their aspirations – hard to imagine bill and abby, to say nothing of holly and kit, settling down in the big house that sam shephard’s farmer lives in – and little in days of heaven encourages us to see that farmer as having achieved the A.D.
i’m beginning to suspect that when the myth of the A.D. is used so broadly it loses all value as a tool for careful thinking
as i said, apologies for the dyspeptic tone of these thoughts
mike
-----Original Message-----
From: Film-Philosophy [mailto:FILM-[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Steven Elworth
Sent: Saturday, January 05, 2013 2:48 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [FILM-PHILOSOPHY] FILM-PHILOSOPHY Digest - 30 Dec 2012 to 5 Jan 2013 - Special issue (#2013-1)
For the American Dream after 1970, HEaven's Gate, the Godfather trilogy and the first five films of Terry Malick.
Steve Elworth
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 5, 2013, at 2:21 PM, FILM-PHILOSOPHY automatic digest system <[log in to unmask]> wrote:There are 8 messages totaling 752 lines in this issue.Topics in this special issue:1. The American Dream as illusion in Film (5)2. CFP: Rethinking Intermediality in the Digital Age3. Reminder CFP: Texture in Film [Deadline: January 11th 2013]4. Cinema: Journal of Philosophy and the Moving Image issue 3 available--To manage your subscription or unsubscribe from the Film-Philosophy list, please visit: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/film-philosophy.html--Film-Philosophy Journal: http://www.film-philosophy.com/Film-Philosophy Conference 2013 (Amsterdam 10-12 July): http://www.film-philosophy.com/conference/------------------------------------------------------------------------Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2013 15:11:45 +0000From: Reina-Marie Loader <[log in to unmask]>Subject: The American Dream as illusion in FilmDear Colleagues (apologies for cross-posting)I was wondering if the list can suggest some reading on the way in which US films seek to redefine the American Dream as an illusion since the 70s.It would be much appreciated.Many thanks and kindest regardsReina--To manage your subscription or unsubscribe from the Film-Philosophy list, please visit: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/film-philosophy.html--Film-Philosophy Journal: http://www.film-philosophy.com/Film-Philosophy Conference 2013 (Amsterdam 10-12 July): http://www.film-philosophy.com/conference/--------------------------------Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2013 15:52:29 +0000From: "Shaw, Dan" <[log in to unmask]>Subject: Re: The American Dream as illusion in FilmTo my mind, Reina, one of the best sources on the topic is Robin Wood's updated book Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan...and Beyond (2003, Columbia University Press), a stunning analysis of the American Democracy as Ideology.As to the specific American Dream of success as upward class mobility and the notion that anyone can become president (the myth of Abe Lincoln), I will be interested in the other recommendations from our list.Fascinating topic...Professor Daniel ShawDepartment of Communication and PhilosophyLock Haven University (570) 484-2052Managing Editor, Film and Philosophy"It wasn't the airplanes...it was Beauty killed the Beast."King Kong________________________________________From: Film-Philosophy [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Reina-Marie Loader [[log in to unmask]]Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2013 10:11 AMTo: [log in to unmask]Subject: [FILM-PHILOSOPHY] The American Dream as illusion in FilmDear Colleagues (apologies for cross-posting)I was wondering if the list can suggest some reading on the way in which US films seek to redefine the American Dream as an illusion since the 70s.It would be much appreciated.Many thanks and kindest regardsReina--To manage your subscription or unsubscribe from the Film-Philosophy list, please visit: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/film-philosophy.html--Film-Philosophy Journal: http://www.film-philosophy.com/Film-Philosophy Conference 2013 (Amsterdam 10-12 July): http://www.film-philosophy.com/conference/----To manage your subscription or unsubscribe from the Film-Philosophy list, please visit: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/film-philosophy.html--Film-Philosophy Journal: http://www.film-philosophy.com/Film-Philosophy Conference 2013 (Amsterdam 10-12 July): http://www.film-philosophy.com/conference/--------------------------------Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2013 09:46:24 -0600From: Dirk Matthews <[log in to unmask]>Subject: Re: The American Dream as illusion in FilmHere are a few off the top of my head:Blue VelvetRevolution RoadRoger and MeBest,Dirk--To manage your subscription or unsubscribe from the Film-Philosophy list, please visit: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/film-philosophy.html--Film-Philosophy Journal: http://www.film-philosophy.com/Film-Philosophy Conference 2013 (Amsterdam 10-12 July): http://www.film-philosophy.com/conference/--------------------------------Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2013 05:24:34 +1100From: Russell Manning <[log in to unmask]>Subject: Re: The American Dream as illusion in FilmSome aphorisms acutely appropriate in Jean Baudrillard's America--To manage your subscription or unsubscribe from the Film-Philosophy list, please visit: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/film-philosophy.html--Film-Philosophy Journal: http://www.film-philosophy.com/Film-Philosophy Conference 2013 (Amsterdam 10-12 July): http://www.film-philosophy.com/conference/----To manage your subscription or unsubscribe from the Film-Philosophy list, please visit: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/film-philosophy.html--Film-Philosophy Journal: http://www.film-philosophy.com/Film-Philosophy Conference 2013 (Amsterdam 10-12 July): http://www.film-philosophy.com/conference/--------------------------------Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2013 19:48:03 -0000From: Ange Webb <[log in to unmask]>Subject: Re: The American Dream as illusion in FilmMendes 'American Beauty' leapt into my mind with its haunting music.Conventional images of Middle American beauty{ or 'Dream'} are turned upsidedown to produce a different reality. I was mesmerised by the lush red imagesthroughout the film. Best, Ange.--To manage your subscription or unsubscribe from the Film-Philosophy list, please visit: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/film-philosophy.html--Film-Philosophy Journal: http://www.film-philosophy.com/Film-Philosophy Conference 2013 (Amsterdam 10-12 July): http://www.film-philosophy.com/conference/--------------------------------Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2013 18:17:13 +0200From: Ágnes Pethő <[log in to unmask]>Subject: CFP: Rethinking Intermediality in the Digital AgeDear List Members! For everybody researching questions related tointermediality, here is a new call you might be interested in:CALL FOR PAPERS*RETHINKING INTERMEDIALITY IN THE DIGITAL AGE**International Conference: 24-26 October, 2013, Cluj-Napoca, Romania,Sapientia University*deadline for applications: 20 May, 2013.In the past decades "intermediality" has proved to be one of the mostproductive terms in the domain of humanities. Although the ideas regardingmedia connections may be traced back to the poetics of the Romantics oreven further back in time, it was the accelerated multiplication of mediathemselves becoming our daily experience in the second half of thetwentieth century that propelled the term to a wide attention in a greatnumber of fields (communication and cultural studies, philosophy, theoriesof literature and music, art history, cinema studies, etc.) where itgenerated an impressive number of analyses and theoretical discussions."Intermediality is in" („Intermedialität ist in"), declared one of itspioneering theorists, Joachim Paech, at the end of the 1990s. However, wemay also note, that since then other theoretical approaches introduced evennewer perspectives that have not only revitalized the study of mediaphenomena in general but have specifically targeted the emerging newproblematics raised by the new electronic media. Facing the challenge ofthe daily experiences of the digital age, discussions of media differencesor ‘dialogues' highlighting the ‘inter,' the ‘gap,' the ‘in-between,' the‘incommensurability' between media are currently being replaced bydiscourses of the ‘enter' or ‘immersion,' and the ‘network logic' of a‘convergence culture' in which we have a "free flow of content overdifferent media platforms" (Henry Jenkins). At the same time the turntowards the corporeality of perception in all aspects of communication hasalso shifted the attention from the ‘interaction of media' towards the‘interaction with media,' from the idea of ‘media borders' towards theanalysis of the blurring of perception between media and reality, of humansand machines - media being perceived more and more not as a form ofrepresentation but as an environment and as a means to ‘augment' reality.Nowadays media continuously mutate, relocate and expand, while connectionsbetween ‘old' and ‘new' media are being established with incrediblefluidity. Accordingly, we may ask: what are the new perspectives forintermedial research in the digital age? While media are continuouslychanging and expanding, how can we relocate the "in-between"? If weconsider ‘intermediality' first and foremost ‒ as suggested by Jürgen E.Müller ‒ as a "research concept" (Suchbegriff), how can this concept beeffectively applied to the media we see around us today? And if we believethat the "ecosystem" of contemporary media can be understood not as aunified digital environment that nullifies differences, but as a thrivingand highly diversified, "multisensory milieu" (Jacques Rancière) that posesnew challenges both for the consumer/producer and the theorist, how can weaddress these challenges? How do media differences persist and how do thesedifferences still matter despite voices advocating the so called"post-medium condition"?As the former Nordic Society for Intermedial Studies launches its ownexpanded, international format (International Society for IntermedialStudies/ISIS), we think it is timely to address once more the major issuesfor which this society exists, and to invite participants to examine newforms of ‘intermedialities.' In doing so participants may address a broadrange of questions relating to ‘old media' and ‘new media,' and theirpossible interactions, focusing on the wide array of intermedia phenomenaand new type of relationships that new media have produced, but also on howpre-digital media relations can be re-evaluated, and how historicalparadigms of intermediality may already be distinguishable viewed from thestandpoint of the contemporary media landscape.*Proposals may address (but are not limited to) the following questionseither from a theoretical point of view or through concrete analyses:*- Media on the move? Media relations produced by expansions andrelocations of media (e.g. "the virtual life of film," the expansions ofthe "photographic" and of the "cinematic" over other media, e-literature,etc.), the emergence of mobile screens, the fact that media use is more andmore related to moving in the literal sense of the word: mobility andnavigation.- Relocating the ‘in-between': intermediality, inter-sensuality,multimodality and interactivity, assessing the contribution of cognitivetheories (and neuroscience), phenomenology and post-phenomenology to thestudy of understanding interactions of media and interactions with multiplemedia.- Performing in (new) intermedial spaces: intermedial performance in artand society. Being ‘in touch' with reality - being ‘in touch with media:'researching new (trans)media practices.- Intermediality and new forms of digital storytelling: new perspectivesin transmedial narratology, new media and narratology (e.g. narrativity ande-platforms, games versus "old" media etc.), the aesthetics of theintermedia flow, of complex, network narratives generated by theexperiences of the new media age.- Modelling and mapping intermedialities: historical paradigms ofintermedial relations (pre-modern, modern, post-modern intermediality); theaesthetics and ‘politics' of intermediality before and after the digitalage; historical research on intermediality related to media migration,cultural heritage and changing relationships between production,distribution, and perception.*Confirmed keynote speakers:*- *HENRY JENKINS*, University of Southern California (USA), author ofConvergence Culture: where Old and New Media Collide (2007), currentlyco-authoring a book on "spreadable media."- *JOACHIM PAECH*, University of Konstanz (Germany), author of Menschenim Kino. Film und Literatur erzählen (2000), Literatur und Film (1997),PASSION oder Die EinBILDungen des Jean-Luc Godard (1989), as well asseveral seminal articles on the theory of intermediality in film,literature, and new media.- *MARIE-LAURE RYAN*, independent scholar, Colorado (USA), co-editor ofIntermediality and Storytelling (2010), author of Avatars of Story(Electronic Mediations) (2006), Narrative across Media: The Languages ofStorytelling (2004), Narrative as Virtual Reality. Immersion andInteractivity in Literature and Electronic Media (2001), etc.Deadline for the submission of proposals: *20 May 2013.*We will notify you about the acceptance of your proposals by: 1 June 2013.*Submission of proposals:* please complete the submission form that you candownload from the conference website:http://film.sapientia.ro/en/conferences/rethinking-intermediality-in-the-digital-ageandsend it as an attachment to the following address:2013.[log in to unmask]More information at:http://film.sapientia.ro/en/conferences/rethinking-intermediality-in-the-digital-ageI have attached the pdf form of the full CFP together with the submissionform so that you can save it from here.Best regards to everybody, and looking forward to an exciting conference!Feel free to circulate this call!A happy new year!...Dr. ÁGNES PETHŐ, Head of DepartmentSapientia University, Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaDepartment of Film, Photography, and Media,http://film.sapientia.ro/enExecutive editor: Acta Universitatis Sapientiae: Film & Media Studieshttp://www.acta.sapientia.ro/acta-film/film-main.htm--To manage your subscription or unsubscribe from the Film-Philosophy list, please visit: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/film-philosophy.html--Film-Philosophy Journal: http://www.film-philosophy.com/Film-Philosophy Conference 2013 (Amsterdam 10-12 July): http://www.film-philosophy.com/conference/--------------------------------Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2013 17:00:33 +0000From: Lucy Fife Donaldson <[log in to unmask]>Subject: Reminder CFP: Texture in Film [Deadline: January 11th 2013]Apologies for cross-posting. Please forward to your networks, especially those in other arts and humanities disciplines who might be interested in this.Many thanks, Lucy.CFP: Texture in Film9th March 2013, Centre for Film Studies, University of St Andrews. Deadline for Proposals: 11th January 2013.Texture is more commonly discussed in relation to visual art and design, music and literature than film. In these other disciplines, texture may refer to the tactile quality of a surface, the way a surface is changed by light, paint or other materials, the composition of fabric or narrative (as in the root of the word, to make/weave), the pattern of sound (rhythm and register) and the ‘concrete’ properties of language (metre, diction, syntax). Texture also has an important sensory dimension: it expresses the feel of an object, surface or material, and thus offers a way of acknowledging the importance of decisions around formal properties to our responsiveness to film, and to its patterns, to its overall shape. Considering texture in relation to film involves attention to the fine detail of a film’s realization, and offers the potential to enrich discussions of form and sensation in film. This symposium will seek to explore ways in which thinking about texture can reinvigorate discussion of film form across a variety of cinematic contexts, as well as research practices (such as archival or practice-based approaches); with particular emphasis on approaches drawn from understandings of texture originating in study of visual art, music and literature.This one-day symposium seeks to provide a forum for interdisciplinary approaches to the close analysis of film, inviting papers which explore any aspect of texture in film. Proposals are invited for 20 minute papers, which should be illustrated with detail from films. Alternative presentations, such as workshops, will also be considered. In order to encourage discussion the day will run with no parallel panels.In addition, as a forthcoming issue of 'Movie: A Journal of Film Criticism' http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/film/movie/ will hope to include a special dossier on the subject of Texture, presenters will be invited to propose full-length articles based on their papers for inclusion (subject to Peer-Review).Please send your 250 word proposal, plus a short biography to Dr Lucy Fife Donaldson [log in to unmask] by 11th January 2013. http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/filmstudies/events.php?eventid=178--To manage your subscription or unsubscribe from the Film-Philosophy list, please visit: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/film-philosophy.html--Film-Philosophy Journal: http://www.film-philosophy.com/Film-Philosophy Conference 2013 (Amsterdam 10-12 July): http://www.film-philosophy.com/conference/--------------------------------Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2013 19:21:20 +0000From: Patricia Castello Branco <[log in to unmask]>Subject: Cinema: Journal of Philosophy and the Moving Image issue 3 available*Please circulate widely. Apologies for cross-postingDear colleagues,We are pleased to announce that the third issue of *Cinema: Journal ofPhilosophy and the Moving Image* is now available online for free downloadat http://cjpmi.ifl.pt*Issue 3 (December 2012)*EDITORIAL: CINEMA, THE BODY AND EMBODIMENTPatrícia Silveirinha Castello BrancoArticlesFLESHING OUT THE IMAGE: PHENOMENOLOGY, PEDAGOGY, AND DEREK JARMAN’S BLUEVivian SobchackSEDUCTION INCARNATE: PRE-PRODUCTION CODE HOLLYWOOD AND POSSESSIVESPECTATORSHIPAna SalzbergA PHENOMENOLOGY OF RECIPROCAL SENSATIONIN THE MOVING BODY EXPERIENCE OFMOBILE PHONE FILMSGavin WilsonCINEMA OF THE BODY:THE POLITICS OF PERFORMATIVITY IN LARS VON TRIER’SDOGVILLE AND YORGOS LANTHIMO’S DOGTOOTHAngelos KoutsourakisTHE BODY OF IL DUCE: THE MYTH OF THE POLITICAL PHYSICALITY OF MUSSOLINI INMARCO BELLOCCHIO’S VINCEREMarco LuceriEIJA-LIISA AHTILA: THE PALPABLE EVENT, 124-154Andrew ConioUPSIDE-DOWN CINEMA: (DIS)SIMULATION OF THE BODY IN THE FILM EXPERIENCE,155-182Adriano D’AloiaEMBODYING MOVIES: EMBODIED SIMULATION AND FILM STUDIESVittorio Gallese and Michele GuerraEXISTENTIAL FEELINGS: HOW CINEMA MAKES US FEEL ALIVE, 211-228Dina MendonçaTHE BODY AS INTERFACE: AMBIVALENT TACTILITY IN EXPANDED RUBE CINEMA, 229-253Seung-hoon GongInterviewA PROPOS D’IMAGES (A SUIVRE): ENTRETIEN AVEC MARIE-JOSE MONDZAIN [FR.],254-271Conducted by Vanessa BritoConference ReportsCONFERENCE ROUND-UP SUMMER 2012:POWERS OF THE FALSE (INSTITUT FRANÇAIS,LONDON, 18-19 MAY), SCSMI CONFERENCE (SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE/NYU, NEW YORK,13-16 JUN.), FILM-GAME-EMOTION-BRAIN (UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM, 14-21 JUL.),AND FILM-PHILOSOPHY CONFERENCE (QUEEN MARY – UNIVERSITY OF LONDON/ KING’SCOLLEGE LONDON/KINGSTON UNIVERSITY, 12-14 SEPT.), 272-283William BrownSpecial SectionCÍRCULOS E POÉTICAS EM FILMES LITERÁRIOS DE FERNANDO LOPES, 284-300Eduardo Paz Barroso--To manage your subscription or unsubscribe from the Film-Philosophy list, please visit: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/film-philosophy.html--Film-Philosophy Journal: http://www.film-philosophy.com/Film-Philosophy Conference 2013 (Amsterdam 10-12 July): http://www.film-philosophy.com/conference/--------------------------------End of FILM-PHILOSOPHY Digest - 30 Dec 2012 to 5 Jan 2013 - Special issue (#2013-1)***********************************************************************************
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