Do all films work as political rhetoric?
The clear answer is yes. There are plenty of films that may not seem to have any abiding political qualities. For example the Jim Carey film Dumb and Dumber is, I believe, not representative of any political issue or situation in a contemporary or historical sense. Any attempt to manipulate the story line to make it correlative to political theory would seem to be far too contrived. However, as Dudley Andrew my seminar leader put it, it is much like ingesting food. No matter what we eat or drink it affects our bodies in some way. That could range from the very positive fruits and vegetables to the very negative Big Mac with a wide array of possibilities in between. So if there are any allusions to masculinity or gender roles, wealth or class identity, as there positively are in the Carey comedy, it is being "ingested" by the audience and consequently there has to be some level of mental acquiescence. But to clarify, there is a broad political spectrum across which films may be placed.
How do we differentiate between films that will work for this model?
This is perhaps the most difficult task we as teachers would encounter in using this unit. I say this because there are so many variables at play that can create problems for those who are analyzing films. The problems, however, exist on two levels. First we have to provide some categorical relationship to distinguish one group of films from another. So I have created three discernible categories, each separately triggering a particular level of political intent: Open or Editorial, Allegorical, and Entertainment. The next difficulty is when we deal with realistic and animated films.
The one clarification to be made about animation is that it forms a distinctly dissimilar sort of bond with the viewer than do realistic films. I am not a film expert but do realize that an audience approaches animated films with a completely different set of expectations. Cartoon characters have no limits and so we cannot intimately relate to the world in which they exist. The result is that we do not connect with them in the same ways we do human beings. We will never take them as seriously. They may be lovable, entertaining, and even unforgettable, but we will never be cartoons and they will never be human; so our experiences will always be poles apart.
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