Difference between pages "Concept of Star (Discussion)" and "Douglas Sirk as Auteur (Discussion)"

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#Star image: a "structured polysemy" (p. 63) constructed from "media texts":
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==Equivalent characters in the 1934 and 1959 versions of ''Imitation of Life''==
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##Promotion
 
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##Publicity
 
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##Film roles
 
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##Criticism/commentary on those roles
 
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#'''All Groups:''' Dyer argues, "The star image is used in the construction of a character in a film in three ways" (127), which are listed below. Pick one current movie star and one film. How is his/her star image used in the construction of that character? Explain.
 
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#*Selective use
 
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#*Perfect fit
 
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#*Problematic fit
 
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#Explain what Dyer's signs of ''character'' are (106+):
 
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#*'''Groups 3 and 4:'''
 
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#*#Audience foreknowledge
 
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#*#Name
 
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#*#Appearance
 
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#*'''Groups 5 and 1:'''
 
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#*#Objective correlatives
 
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#*#Speech of character
 
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#*#Speech of others
 
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#*'''Groups 2 and 6:'''
 
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#*#Gesture
 
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#*#Action
 
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#*#Structure
 
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#*#''mise-en-scene''
 
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#*Apply Dyer's 10 signs of character to one of the characters from ''Petrified Forest''. That is, use ''one'' of the main characters (see below) and then discuss how the signs of character are used to build that character.
 
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#**'''Groups 3 and 4:''' Duke Mantee (Humphrey Bogart)
 
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#**'''Groups 5 and 1:''' Gabrielle Maple (Bette Davis)
 
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#**'''Groups 2 and 6:''' Alan Squier (Leslie Howard)
 
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#Dyer's signs of ''performance'' are (134):
 
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##'''Group 3:''' Facial expression
 
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##'''Group 4:''' Voice
 
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##'''Groups 5 and 1:''' Gestures
 
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##'''Groups 6 and 2:''' Body posture and movement
 
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#*On pp. 145-146, Dyer discusses how John Wayne's and Henry Fonda's performances in ''Fort Apache'' use performance signs--referring specifically to a scene that is illustrated here with a frame grab and [http://tcf.ua.edu/EO/DV/Fortapache01-1.php online video]. Explain how performance signs function in this scene--with each group looking at one specific performance sign (see above). How would you analyze Bogart's performance signs in [http://www.tcf.ua.edu/EO/DV/Petrifiedforest.php this scene]? (Dyer similarly discusses Bette Davis' performance in ''Little Foxes'', frame grabs for which are [http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T440/VisualStyleIllustrations02.php#davis available here].)
 
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<gallery mode="packed" heights=400px>
 
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File:FortApache YorkAndThursdayqq00 00 40qq00003.jpg|alt=John Wayne and Henry Fonda in ''Fort Apache''|John Wayne and Henry Fonda in ''Fort Apache''.
 
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</gallery>
 
  
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==Recommended-reading questions==
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<table width="200" border="0">
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#Richard Dyer defines "characters" as "constructed representations of persons" (89). And he argues that how a fictional character is defined has changed over the centuries. As the novel rose to prominence in the 19th century, so did a certain "novelistic conception of character" (93). Explain what Dyer means by each of these novelistic qualities of characters:
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  <tr>
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#*Autonomy
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    <td><strong>1934</strong></td>
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#*Roundness
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    <td><strong>1959</strong></td>
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#*Development
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  </tr>
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#*Interiority (how is this different for literature and film?)
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  <tr>
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    <td>Bea</td>
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    <td>Lora</td>
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  </tr>
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  <tr>
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    <td>Delilah</td>
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    <td>Annie</td>
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  </tr>
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  <tr>
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    <td>Jessie</td>
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    <td>Susie</td>
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  </tr>
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  <tr>
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    <td>Peola</td>
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    <td>Sarah Jane</td>
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  </tr>
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  <tr>
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    <td>Steve</td>
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    <td>Steve</td>
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  </tr>
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</table>
  
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== Bibliography ==
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==Readings==
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#Richard Dyer, ''Stars'', Second Edition, Supplementary Chapter by Paul McDonald (London: British Film Institute, 1998).
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==="Three-Way Mirror: Imitation of Life"===
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Lucy Fischer sums the previous approaches to ''Imitation of Life'' and then addresses her own concerns about the film:
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# "The question of women and work"
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# "The issue of race"
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# "The matter of star biography"
  
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<gallery mode="packed" heights=400px>
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Discuss these "concerns":
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File:P3090218DyerButler.jpg|alt=Richard Dyer and Jeremy Butler, Society for Cinema and Media Studies conference, 9 March 2007|Richard Dyer and Jeremy Butler, Society for Cinema and Media Studies conference, 9 March 2007.
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#'''Group 2:''' According to Fischer, what "cliché" is there about women's employment in the decade 1948-58? Why is it untrue?
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File:Jeremy Butler and Richard Dyer.jpg|alt=Jeremy Butler and Richard Dyer. London, March 2019.|Jeremy Butler and Richard Dyer. London, March 2019.
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#'''Group 3:''' Often, films place women in the position of choosing between work outside the home and staying at home and nurturing children. How does ''Imitation of Life'' deal with this conflict—both in terms of Lora ''and'' Annie? Does Annie fit a "mammy" stereotype? According to Fischer what factors present domestic labor in a negative manner?
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</gallery>
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#*And how does the presentation of work vs. motherhood differ in the 1934 and 1959 versions?
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#'''Group 4:''' It's not just work and motherhood that are inflected with issues surrounding race. Fischer also sees a connection between race and "performance," between race and imitations (plural) of life. What different forms of performance, of playing a role, are evident in ''Imitation of Life''? Who performs and why?
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#*How does changing the white mother from the "Pancake Queen" to a performer change the story's meaning?
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#'''All Groups:''' We'll discuss Turner as a star more fully next week, but what themes (or polysemy) does Fischer say were associated both with Turner (embodied in the Johnny Stompanato scandal) and Turner's ''character'' in ''Imitation of Life''?
  
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==="Distanciation and Douglas Sirk"===
  
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[[Category:JCM412/512 Discussion]]
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#'''Group 1:''' How does Sirk "intensify" elements of the melodrama genre?
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#Willemen concludes that the "distanciation effect" can be "used to parody the stylistic procedures which traditionally convey an extremely smug, self-righteous and ''petit bourgeois'' world view paramount in the American melodrama."
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#*''Petit bourgeois'' (pronounced "petty boor-jwah") is a French word meaning, literally, the "small middle-class", but more generally referring to a conservative social class of shop keepers and professionals. Thus, a ''petit bourgeois'' worldview is one that is politically and morally conservative.
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#*'''All Groups:''' How might ''Imitation of Life'' be seen to be an attack on conservative values of the 1950s? Do you think it succeeds at that?
 +
 
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==Thinking further about remakes==
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#'''All Groups:''' There are many differences between the two versions of ''Imitation of Life''. One subtle change is the endings. How does each film end? (Refer to [http://www.tcf.ua.edu/jbutler/Diss/AppC/index.htm frame grabs here].) How do the endings signify different resolutions of the black daughter plotline and the white mother-boyfriend-daughter plotline?
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[[Image:ImitationOfLife1934qq01 47 59qq.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Final scene, 1934 version.]]
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[[Image:ImitationOfLife1934qq01 49 48qq.jpg|none|thumb|200px|Final shot, 1934 version.]]
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<br style="clear:both;"/>
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[[Image:ImitationOfLife1959qq02 02 53qq.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Final scene, 1959 version.]]
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[[Image:ImitationOfLife1959qq02 03 35qq.jpg|none|thumb|200px|Final shot, 1959 version.]]
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<br style="clear:both;"/>
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==Bibliography==
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# Lucy Fischer, "Three-Way Mirror: Imitation of Life," ''Imitation of Life: Douglas Sirk, Director'' ed. Lucy Fischer (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press) 3-28.
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# Paul Willemen, "Distanciation and Douglas Sirk," ''Imitation of Life: Douglas Sirk, Director'', 268-272.
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[[Category:TCF440-540]]
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[[Category:TCF440/540 Discussion]]

Revision as of 11:44, 14 April 2010

Equivalent characters in the 1934 and 1959 versions of Imitation of Life

1934 1959
Bea Lora
Delilah Annie
Jessie Susie
Peola Sarah Jane
Steve Steve

Readings

"Three-Way Mirror: Imitation of Life"

Lucy Fischer sums the previous approaches to Imitation of Life and then addresses her own concerns about the film:

  1. "The question of women and work"
  2. "The issue of race"
  3. "The matter of star biography"

Discuss these "concerns":

  1. Group 2: According to Fischer, what "cliché" is there about women's employment in the decade 1948-58? Why is it untrue?
  2. Group 3: Often, films place women in the position of choosing between work outside the home and staying at home and nurturing children. How does Imitation of Life deal with this conflict—both in terms of Lora and Annie? Does Annie fit a "mammy" stereotype? According to Fischer what factors present domestic labor in a negative manner?
    • And how does the presentation of work vs. motherhood differ in the 1934 and 1959 versions?
  3. Group 4: It's not just work and motherhood that are inflected with issues surrounding race. Fischer also sees a connection between race and "performance," between race and imitations (plural) of life. What different forms of performance, of playing a role, are evident in Imitation of Life? Who performs and why?
    • How does changing the white mother from the "Pancake Queen" to a performer change the story's meaning?
  4. All Groups: We'll discuss Turner as a star more fully next week, but what themes (or polysemy) does Fischer say were associated both with Turner (embodied in the Johnny Stompanato scandal) and Turner's character in Imitation of Life?

"Distanciation and Douglas Sirk"

  1. Group 1: How does Sirk "intensify" elements of the melodrama genre?
  2. Willemen concludes that the "distanciation effect" can be "used to parody the stylistic procedures which traditionally convey an extremely smug, self-righteous and petit bourgeois world view paramount in the American melodrama."
    • Petit bourgeois (pronounced "petty boor-jwah") is a French word meaning, literally, the "small middle-class", but more generally referring to a conservative social class of shop keepers and professionals. Thus, a petit bourgeois worldview is one that is politically and morally conservative.
    • All Groups: How might Imitation of Life be seen to be an attack on conservative values of the 1950s? Do you think it succeeds at that?

Thinking further about remakes

  1. All Groups: There are many differences between the two versions of Imitation of Life. One subtle change is the endings. How does each film end? (Refer to frame grabs here.) How do the endings signify different resolutions of the black daughter plotline and the white mother-boyfriend-daughter plotline?
Final scene, 1934 version.
Final shot, 1934 version.


Final scene, 1959 version.
Final shot, 1959 version.


Bibliography

  1. Lucy Fischer, "Three-Way Mirror: Imitation of Life," Imitation of Life: Douglas Sirk, Director ed. Lucy Fischer (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press) 3-28.
  2. Paul Willemen, "Distanciation and Douglas Sirk," Imitation of Life: Douglas Sirk, Director, 268-272.
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