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Pisk, George M. "The Graveyard of Dreams: A Study of Nathanael West's Last Novel, ‘The Day of the Locust.’" The South Central Bulletin. Vol. 27, No. 4 (Winter 1967), pp 64-72. JSTOR. 9 Apr. 2008 < http://www.jstor.org/stable/3188923>.
This article begins with biographical details of West’s life that focus on him as a struggling writer. However, 20th Century Fox buys the rights to one of his novels and West follows it to Hollywood only to see it corrupted and adulterated. He remained in Hollywood, enjoyed financial security as a screenwriter, and was able to focus on writing novels for three months out of the year. Hollywood not only provided a backdrop for his writings, but also a wealth of subject matter. During his time in Hollywood, West wrote The Day of the Locust. The rest of the article delves into analysis of the characters and other devices used in the book. It discusses how four major characters represent four major categories of the shattered dreams of Hollywood, and how the minor character Claude Estee represents the emptiness inherent even in the realization of dreams. The article discusses the use of music to create a corrupt and sinister atmosphere, and finally delves into the artifice of the novel as represented by Faye and the Hollywood system.
This article provides key insights into how West came to write his novel. As a struggling East Coast writer, he was drawn to Hollywood with promises of financial security and success. It becomes apparent that Tod Hackett is very much a reflection of West in the novel. Both are Ivy-educated artists drawn to Hollywood and seek to capture the truth of the area with their respective art. The discussion of animal imagery is important as it lends important insight into the film adaptation of West’s novel. The scene in the film with Homer Simpson and the lizard make more sense in context of animal imagery from the book. As the article highlights the importance and magnificence of West’s compassion in the novel, it reveals an aspect of the film that is missing as compassion is highly lost for any of the characters save for Homer.
Carr then moves from the present to Bonnie and Clyde’s era, the birth of the counterculture in the 60s. Carr reminds us of the civil turmoil and transformation America as whole was undergoing. Vietnam, the civil rights movement and police brutality all excited the public’s mistrust of the state and authority as a whole. The American film industry was also undergoing a transformation of its own at the time with the demise of the studio system and the production code and the rise of influential foreign films from movements such as the French New Wave.
The 60s saw the birth of the counterculture, young adults who considered themselves on the margins of society. Many of the most influential voices of the time, such as Allan Ginsberg, were arrested for protesting the government. The government, in turn, reacted by “spying” on hundreds of thousands of citizens in an attempt to crack down on civil unrest and dissatisfaction with their government. This attempt, however, only served to solidify the defining aspect of the counterculture: their hatred of authority and control.
Carr uses these historical examples of 60s culture to place Bonnie and Clyde as the most influential film to date, and as a turning point in American cinema and consumerism. The film reflected the feelings and idealizations of the counterculture through its glorification of two criminals fight against authority and societal norms. The film was immensely popular, but received heavy criticism from film critics and public opinion groups, eventually leading to its withdrawal from theatres within the U.S. This, just like the government’s attempt to control dissent through spying, only served to bring the film to further prominence as a cult icon of sorts. The film, however, did more than just reflect the turmoil of the times and gave birth to the consumerization of the counterculture. The film helped present the counterculture, mostly young adults and teenagers, as the target audience for a new genre of film tailored directly to their desires. Bonnie and Clyde allowed the marginal, outcasts of society (as they saw themselves) to achieve consumerist prominence in America.
The essay states, “violence is the key to the rule of power” (708) and shows how mostly men and white characters use violence to capture their dominance. The research in the essay shows that heavy television viewing results in a fear of violence along with a misjudgment of the amount of violence around us. The essay concludes by saying that violence has become the easiest way for television creators to create drama due to censorship laws.
Although this essay has nothing to do with Bonnie and Clyde, the study on the consequences of violence through 1960s television is important in understanding the films plentiful use of violence. There was no doubt that violence was prominent in the 1960s with images of the Vietnam War and civil rights movements dominating the screens of the American people. Bonnie and Clyde took advantage of the American obsession with visual violence, but did so in a way that justified and glamorized violence. Although the effects that the essay claims appear from watching excessive television, Bonnie and Clyde appealed to an audience that was already overwhelmed with violence, and was eager to welcome the camp portrayal of murder and death. And the essay’s assertion that power arises from violence, Bonnie and Clyde is the supreme example because of the overwhelming pop culture influence that the original pair and film had on the cinema as a whole as well as the public’s expectations of violence and censorship.
‘Violence: The Strong and the Weak’ Devin McKinney Film Quarterly, Vol. 46, No. 4 (Summer, 1993), pp. 16-22 Published by: University of California Press Jstor, 9 Apr. 2008
Devin McKinney’s article makes a striking and brave point about the true shock value of violence in cinema, and asks what aspects fully take hold of the viewer’s internal emotional investments, and what methods are only hackneyed formulas used to merely keep what’s left of the viewer’s attention? He divides all scenes of violence into two kinds: the strong and the weak. The strong can leave the viewer physically sick, burdened with dread and plagued with nightmares; the delicacy of the miraculous human form will be reduced to “God’s garbage”. He writes that weak violence has no weight of consequence: a death will result in a moment’s pause before the plot, characters, and viewers all carry on to never think of that person again. Scenes of weak violence can claim no partiality from the viewer toward any side of any equation. They are incapable of keeping the audience from remaining neutral to all characters out of apathy. Momentary reflexes might make a viewer flinch, cringe, or shake his head, but those miniscule sensations are fleeting, only aroused by the garnish of special effects or pleasing cinematography. As McKinney puts it, the violence is used to lure the average movie-goer into the theatre, but bears no promise that there will be anything for him to take out with him.
A film like Natural Born Killers is a play on these two categories. As a satirical commentary of overblown violence in media productions, it makes an absolute mockery of what McKinney would consider weak violence, painting every stroke of his argument into an actual cinematic demonstration. Everything is exaggerated – far beyond the typical exaggerations of Hollywood blockbusters. Blood that can be seeing flying in every silly action film spurts with extra vivacity; grimaces of unadulterated barbarianism are upgraded into hellish, psychedelic snarls reminiscent of cartoons; the victims are just worthless props in the way of full-throttle heroes, rampaging across the country in drug-fuelled elation; the cinematic candy that McKinney describes as “campy” (the occasional lover’s montage, or tête-à-tête at twilight offered as a mixer for the weak violence from the director) turns to punk-rock marriages on highway bridges, and ethereal drunken dances beneath stars, on top of cars in random fields.
But ultimately, director Oliver Stone pulls off the impossible: his caricature of weak violence becomes so aggressive, so over-the-top and shameless in its soulless murders that the violence does become strong. It reminds the viewer that while he sits there watching fake violence on screen, somewhere there is real violence going on, and it is worse than those fake-blood spurts and cliché wooden shouts of pain that make up the average Hollywood production’s depiction of physical cruelty. Stone lets you enjoy the carefree spree of the killers like it’s just another movie, but he brings the reminder back again and again of the cold true world outside, with disturbing scenes of child abuse, attempted rape, fuming psychopathic looks, and mobs and mobs of born-to-kill inmates, destined to jail for the rest of their lives, desperate for a chance to tear the warden apart just one time.
Is TV violence all that bad for kids? The Age (Melbourne, Australia), March 5, 2005 Saturday, INSIGHT; Opinion; Pg. 9, 816 words, HUGH MACKAY LexisNexis Academic 9 Apr. 2008
This article is a response to a report from The Weekend Australian that asserts a child’s witnessing of violence in media will result in higher levels of aggression. Writer Hugh Mackay refers to a 1960’s American child-psychology experiment which consisted of observing the different ways children would play with a particular object after they watched different videos, ones that either showed children playing peacefully with that toy or children punching and kicking it. The findings were that those who watched a violent video would treat the toy violently, and those who watched the peaceful video would treat the toy peacefully. Mackay makes sure to point out that although the children would emulate the behavior, it has been concluded that the effects are only short-term, and that all long-term personalities remain virtually unchanged. Furthermore, he declares that the search for variables which might shed light on a child’s increased or decreased susceptibility toward emulating violence in the media result only in negligible data that cannot give any indication of why a particular child would be acting more or less violent than any other one. Mackay’s overall point is that although these experiments may show children in the act of emulating violence on television, all large-scale national crime statistics show that the introduction of television into the societies of decades past resulted in severe drops in crime, and that the age-group which watches the least amount of television today commits the highest amount of violent crime. In short, what a child views in movies or videogames has far less positive or negative impact on his personality than the benefits of extensive human interaction, or the dangers of lazy, television-filled inactivity.
This article is worth factoring into the discussion of Natural Born Killer’s potential effect on inspiring three young couples to committing separate violent murders in Europe and America, all after their viewing (and in one case, repeated viewing) of the 1994 film. Although accusations were made that the filmmakers and producers were responsible, hardly evidence has been found to support them. Mackay also says that at the time of his writing the article in 2005, the violent crime rate in America had been in steady decline for the last 10 years – which would mean the trend began in 1995, one year after Natural Born Killers was released. If violence in the media could truly influence people to emulate the brutality on screen, Natural Born Killers would surely qualify for those results, considering the rare intensity of bloodshed that is present throughout the whole movie. And considering it grossed 11 million dollars in the first weekend, and over 50 million dollars to date, enough people have seen the movie that we can say if there was a slight rise in a person’s aggressive tendencies after watching the movie, no matter how slight, the accumulation across the country would certainly be noticeable.
The relevance of this article has to do with the controversy surrounding Natural Born Killers, over what impacts a film of such incredible violence (coupled with its themes of glorifying such acts) can – and has – and will – have on the societies of its viewers. Boyle draws on three specific cases of murderous love-duos that occured after the films release. Edmonson-Darras, Rey-Maupin, and Herbert-Paindavoine were all young couples tried for committing horrendous murders as pairs, and all three couples admitted to having been influenced by Natural Born Killers, further adding to the intense question of how acts of brutality we see in the media are linked to real-world violence.
“What’s Natural about Killing? Gender, Copycat Violence and Natural Born Killers” By: Boyle, Karen. Journal of Gender Studies, Nov2001, Vol. 10 Issue 3, p311-321, 11p; DOI: 10.1080/09589230120086511; EBESCO, 9 Apr. 2008
Karen Boyle argues that Natural Born Killers leaves a dangerous impression on society, which places male violence as something more natural than female violence, and perhaps even something to be expected, while female violence is somehow a reversal of a girl’s original nature, to be drawn from or manipulated upon that female’s innately more submissive personality. She compares Mickey, the male half of the murderous love-duo, to Mallory, the female half, and concludes that the different treatment given to the characters has a drastic on the viewer, even if the viewer doesn’t realize. She points to Mickey’s depiction as an emblem of pure, glorified brutality, a hero for fellow convicts, a star on primetime television. Mickey’s calm exterior and understated personal background leaves the viewer with the understanding he’s been a man of sheer violence his whole life; and that for man, violence is somehow hereditary, and that for man, violence is ultimately nothing more or less than normal.
Boyle contrasts Natural Born Killer’s depiction of Mickey with that of Mallory: as a sex-object, a young girl who carries out violence on others only as revenge for the abuse she received from her father during her upbringing, and is brought “into” this world by its original inhabitant, the male, citing the image of Mickey riding to her house on horseback, after having escaped from jail, to rescue her and take her away – but not before showing her how to kill her parents in cold blood. She also points to interviews given by director Oliver Stone and actor Woody Harrelson, in which the two men emphasis Harrelson’s own family history, specifically his father’s murderous past, which she says is proof of the intentional perpetuation of the film’s prejudiced ideas, (or at least a complete admission of having those sentiments themselves, even if they didn’t recognize it).
The article furthermore proposes that other critics’ lack of commentary on this aspect of the film is an indication of just how easily its viewers are willing to accept it as true, and therefore the contrasting depictions of Mickey and Mallory are consequently that much more dangerous. Boyle argues that to paint the female-murderer as a more intriguing, fragile, or more special specimen than the male-murderer can only cast confusion and blindness on society’s ability to sentence its criminals with adequately balanced judgment, and these imposed attitudes will hamper the cause of studying the true motives behind the mass-murderer, which shouldn’t be thought of as automatically in every male psyche, or inherently lacking and foreign to the female psyche, but rather an equally potential outcome for any human mind.
Marita Sturken History and Theory, Vol. 36, No. 4, Theme Issue 36: Producing the Past: Making Histories Inside and Outside the Academy (Dec., 1997), pp. 64-79
In this article, Marita Sturken discusses Oliver Stone’s popularity and bad name as a filmmaker, but defends Oliver Stone against his critics who lividly denounce the director’s credibility as an American cinematic historian, and maker of the legitimate docudrama. Stone’s 1986 Platoon was greeted with total acclaim. Sturken attributes this to the fact that Stone personally served in Vietnam, and therefore the public perceived his portrayal of his experiences as not only credible but deserved. Sturken implies that the American public felt better about themselves after seeing his movie because of his cinematic storytelling skills, which were so convincing that the viewers felt they themselves were present in the war, and somehow vindicated from any guilt of being lucky enough to stay out of it. However, Stone’s 1991 JFK, along with his1995 Nixon, garnered unbelievable amounts of anger and resentment, first for their unpatriotic messages, and secondly for what was, by many, perceived as a total distortion of truthful American history.
The article discusses the relationship between memory vs. history, and how the camera can affect both sides of the equation. The camera is a mechanism of recording truth, and yet at the same time it is a way of expressing one’s own perception of truth before passing it on. In this way, one’s memory of history can become history itself. Sturken believes Stone has earned the privilege of narrating the truth of 20th Century America for its future generations in any way he wants, calling him the country’s “cultural messenger,” one which his people deserve, because of the incredible aestheticism of his films, his artistic audacity and determination to voice his own opinions. This article should be considered when thinking about Natural Born Killers for many reasons. Firstly, Natural Born Killers is a piece about violence, and it should be remembered that the director was himself engulfed in an environment of devastating war, where horrific images (real ones) were around him at all times. That vastly important part of the director’s identity should not be forgotten.
Secondly, Sturken points out that Stone considers himself both a “cinematic-historian” and “just a storyteller.” The fact that Stone can see himself in such different ways at the same time sheds light on how he can create a very direct commentary about violence in the media without having to state specific opinions, or provide worthy morals to his story, or suggest solutions to society’s problems, or cite direct scientific or sociological sources to backup whatever he’s saying. The article focuses on Stone’s ability to manipulate images in order to retell things his own way. About JFK, Oliver Stone said, “I defend what I’m doing as something between entertainment and fact.” Natural Born Killers is just that, a cinematic masterpiece between commentary and entertainment. But, also, the subject of the commentary is that as well: the viewer finds himself focused on American primetime news, the sensationalized accounts written for the blood-thirsty news-watcher that lie somewhere between entertainment and fact.
Girls with Guns: Narrating the Experience of War of Frelimo's "Female Detachment" Harry G. West Anthropological Quarterly, Vol. 73, No. 4, Youth and the Social Imagination in Africa, Part 2 (Oct., 2000), pp. 180-194 Published by: The George Washington University Institute for Ethnographic Research
West’s article about Female Detachments fighting for Mozambique’s independence from Portuguese colonialism (a war that lasted from the late-70’s to the mid-90’s) sheds light on differing psychological states of those who lead lives of violence in situations as extreme as risking one’s own life to kill others.
West himself admits he had expected to hear or observe that the women and children who lived through these ages of dramatic social changes (which were results from the consequences of colonial conquest, anti-colonial insurgency and post independent governance) would be permanently scarred from the trauma of war. This was not the case. The Female Detachments he met were proud of their service, never claiming to have ever felt scarred or vulnerable. Among the male militias, the women were not quite equal to the male soldiers, but they reported feeling empowered by the men when they were given space to carry out their own attacks. The women also claimed it felt important to participate in the war rather than having to stay trapped in their homes carrying out agricultural work.
These observations have a lot of resemblances to Mallory’s character from Natural Born Killers. West attributes the Female Detachments’ mental strength in terms of rising above trauma and suffering to their ideology and beliefs, which relates to Mallory’s ability to carry out her actions under the shade of Mickey’s philosophical indifference to death and murder. Following that relationship, the organization which the Female Detachments fought for, FRELIMO, was a forceful and dangerous group which might have been viewed as the stronger counterpart of the two genders’ militias (if they were closer aligned). As West writes of the Female Detachments, “Respect for and fear of FRELIMO were inseparable … they had no option but to comply with their ‘requests.” And after completing training, their loyalty would always be tested by FRELIMO, who would compel them to certain dangerous missions. Although Mallory is happy to carry out her side of the murders, perhaps she is much more inclined to do when she sees how much it pleases Mickey. Another similarity between Mallory and the Female Detachments is drawn from West’s account of interviewing one of the soldiers with a tape recorder: he never needed to ask a second question, the interviewee was so relieved to be telling her whole story that she never stopped. The idea of telling one’s story, and to have one’s own life of danger and violence be the focus of an interview, is one of the central themes we see in Natural Born Killers.
Timothy P. Rouse “Natural Born Killers” Teaching Sociology, Vol. 23, No. 4, (Oct., 1995), pp. 433-434 American Sociological Association Jstor 9 Apr. 2008
Timothy Rouse’s sociologically oriented review is a neat, swift map of all the great themes waiting to be found, analyzed and discussed in Natural Born Killers. He quickly places the film into the category of the postmodern, quoting Todd Gitlin’s definition of it as “a constellation of styles and tones,” but doesn’t dwell on the issue in order to carry on with his review. He doesn’t bog down his reader with lengthy personal musings or painstaking passages in search of the most perfect way to express himself, instead he explains the scope of the themes he witnessed by merely mentioning the their variety, such as Jimmy Olsen from Superman comics and the American media’s complete disregard for Native American societal conditions, and suggests what parts of the film should be compared to what examples from other areas of academics, for us to contemplate, and moves on: the economic aspect of the film, he says, should be compared to that of the Wizard of Oz, wherein the studio makes sure the driving theme of the genre is the driving theme of its profits: for the Wizard of Oz, fairytales; for Natural Born Killers, brutal action. Half of this short review is Rouse’s own narration of a few scenes from the movie, where he ties together the violent elements of Mickey’s character with the seductiveness of Mallory’s image, and then demonstrates with simplicity the backdrop of the drooling media goon and frenetic prison ward, all the while continually giving credit to Oliver Stone’s filmmaking techniques by picking out a detail of a shot, or a moment of composition, and openly relating what that single trait meant to him as an appreciative viewer.
Rouse is extremely open-minded in his appraisal, acknowledging the need for disclaimers from teachers before showing Natural Born Killers to classes but also immediately looking past the surface of what, for some, may appear to be mindless violence, unnecessary sex and tasteless gore that negatively affects the viewer. The review ends with a list of questions which provide topics of discussion for other classes and seminars almost by the line, all of which breakdown the elements of the film into clear issues with cues for the discussion’s beginning, such as the physical attractiveness of our cinema’s violent heroes, the American media’s blurry distinction between news and entertainment, the effect that uncertainty brings on crime levels and criminal mentalities, the media’s impact on culture and the role of gender in violent media.
‘KILLERS’ CASE DISMISSED'. By: Shprintz, Janet, Daily Variety, 00115509, 03/13/2001, Vol. 271, Issue 10 EBSCO 9 Apr. 2008
This article tells how Oliver Stone and his distribution company were taken to court over a wrongful-death lawsuit involving a murder supposedly inspired by Stone’s Natural Born Killers, and how the case was eventually dismissed. Sarah Edmonson shot clerk Patsy Byers during a convenience store robbery, while her boyfriend Benjamin Darrus waited in the car. Patsy Byers’ family tried to make the case that Stone’s film inspired the couple to commit the crime, drawing on that the two had watched the film prior to the crime, and that the film was about a love-duo who traveled by car on a crime spree. The judge dismissed the case on account of lack of evidence for Stone and Time Warner Entertainment’s direct influence over the Edmonson and Darrus’ actions, as well as consideration for their constitutional rights to expression, placing the film under First Amendment protection.
This article is important to thinking about two different aspects of Natural Born Killers. The first is the issue of the copycat, the theory that violence in media incites violence in real life. Although it was ruled that there was no evidence suggesting Stone and his distribution company intended to spur violent crime through their film, that doesn’t mean the film did not do so on its own regardless of any intentions. The second issue is the subject matter of the film, which is a commentary on violence (one that applies to Edmonson and Darrus’ violent crime as much as any crime that took place before the film’s release), and what Stone’s film was truly trying to achieve. As Stone is quoted as saying in the article, Natural Born Killers was created to move “the audience to think critically about society’s contradictory relationship to violence.” The film makes one realize how much demand there is for viewing violence, despite the collective sentiments that violence is an unwanted facet of our physical realities. Edmonson and Darrus’ crime certainly reinforces the latter half of that statement, as only pain and punishment came from their actions. Most of us are happy to buy into the glory of violence on screen, and to root for the violent heroes that always make it out alright. But most of us are also responsible and intelligent enough to know the difference between real death and diagetic death, and when one evaluates the amount of people who viewed the film versus the amount of people who did so and were then inspired to emulate the characters, one should conclude that the act of copying violence from media into real life is one accomplished by only the socially abnormal.
The article “New Mythology of Crime”, by John G. Cawelti examines the major popularity and acclaim associated with movie “The Godfather” and the reasons historically and socially for it rise to prominence in the minds of American entertainment consumers.
People throughout history have been fascinated with crime, especially violent crime. In its earliest example we have the Illiad and several works of Shakespeare. This article takes a look at the progression of man’s fascination with crime or violence and how the development of the crime myth has has been shaped as a result the way in which the public identifies with character of the criminal.
Cawelti examines the possibility that “The Godfather” popularity and renown can be accredited not only to what he describes as “Skillful writing, striking and emotionally involving characters and situation, and a powerfully unified action”, but also to the creation of a new type of crime mythology. He goes on to describe the development of the crime myth throughout history and shows its departure from the traditional dichotomy of moral good and sin towards dynamics that place the criminal in the role of the main character. Several factors influenced the development of the crime myth throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Among these are the development of the detective story, which helped to create a sort of intrigue towards stories of crime and criminal activity. Romanticized criminal characters such as Robin hood and Jesse James also developed during the 19th and 20th as well as a deeper insight into the criminal mind through the fields of psychology and sociology.
A unique aspect of “The Godfather” was the importance and imagery of the family to refer to a criminal organization. This conceit began a new type of association with the criminal character, a sort of understanding or identification with character that was never so prevalent in the crime myth previously. Also, “The Godfather” introduced a sense of awe or fascination with the power and respect of the criminal organization as a whole. The combination of these factors are clearly evident in the film as various parts of the movie are defined by family events, whether it is the wedding of Vito Corleone’s daughter or the baptism of Michael Corleone’s godson, the criminal activities are consistently connected directly with the family. The development of these new conceits is just one of the factors that set “The Godfather” apart as unique and help to explain its tremendous popularity.
Canby, Vincent. "When A Tame Film Inspires Violence." New York Times 04 May 1979: D19.
The article discusses and considers whether it is possible that a film such as The Warriors could possibly be the cause of 3 deaths that supposedly occurred due to the film’s release. It discusses the advertising campaign as well as the precautions taken by Paramount by supplying additions security guard to theatres showing the film. It is questioned whether “yanking” the film from theatres would have been an appropriate plan of action for the film which was causing headline news regarding association to three deaths. But the notion is quickly dismissed since doing so would be a poor precedent for similar occurrences in the future. The author argues that a better solution would be to handle the potential situation on a local level, having each theatres act responsibly for itself and be prepared for whatever situation could arise. It is next investigated why this particular film would incite such excitement as there are plenty of other films with much more violence than The Warriors. Despite being a genre much used during the World War II era, the “Lost Patrol” film has been reworked for The Warriors in a fashion that leaves all of the members very vulnerable throughout. The author of the article states that he wonders how anyone could possibly get so inflamed over a film filled completely with a mish-mash of clichés and moods. Its feel throughout is not terror, but instead parody. As evidenced by the film's two major fight scenes, they appear choreographed and rehearsed and despite the use of lethal weapons, none of the fighters get killed or even injured badly.
This article attempts to pick apart The Warriors in a manner that would learn what would cause such a vitriolic response. It comes to the conclusion that a film such as The Warriors could not possibly cause such a response because of its heavy reliance on fantasy and parody.
Gunckel, Colin. "“Gangs Gone Wild”: Low-Budget Gang Documentaries." The Velvet Light Trap 60(2007): 37-46.
This article discusses gangs and how they are portrayed in the public media through exploitation documentary. It questions whether the way they are being shown is the best way to do so because it glamorizes the gang lifestyle to the public, possibly corrupting the youth’s view of gangs. This article analyses the trend of gang based documentaries and the effect it has on the film industry. Specifically The World Most Dangerous Gang, a documentary on La Mara Salvatrucha portrays the gang in a poor light for the public eye. It uses a sensationalistic and exploitative method turning it into more entertainment than a serious documentary should be. Then it discusses different types of films made for release direct to DVD. These raw documentaries are cheap and easy exploitations to create. Film series such as Bumfights and Girls Gone Wild are cited as examples of the genre of exploitation documentary.
This article relates to The Warriors in that it exploits the gang genre, in a manner that glamorizes the gang lifestyle. It creates allure to the violent life led by gang members. With all the glamour, it could possible cause viewers of the film to get overly excited by the film and act irrationally. This violence might extend into real-life and cause serious injury or death, as occured in the days following The Warriors's public release. The gang exploitation film genre has been designed in such a way using rap soundtracks and flashy images of gang members that it would appeal to viewers similarly to how it has been argued that The Warriors appeals violence to its viewers.
Jones, Gerard. "Violent Media is Good for Kids." Mother Jones 29 June 2000 04 Apr 2008.
This article, unlike most, supports violent media for consumption by youth. The author recounts his youth when he was a quiet, lonely, and reclusive child who was broken out of his shell when he encountered comics about The Incredible Hulk. Reading about the Hulk gave him a fantasy self to support his self-confidence and allow him to do things he could otherwise not do. He later tested this concept on his son who was afraid to climb a tree with his friends by reading him Tarzan comics. For his son, the violent Tarzan comics created an imaginary alter ego to help him overcome personal hurdles. It is noted that all people want to experience fear, greed, power-hunger, and rage but cannot, so experiencing them vicariously through others, is a solution for them. Violent media is also useful to young people by helping them improve their self-knowledge and potential through heroic, combative storytelling. Pretending to have superpowers helps them to overcome a sense of powerlessness. Using this violence as tool is very important to overcome life’s challenges. The author does not deny that many video games may have inspired forms of violence in some kids, but argues that for every one that it hurt, it helped hundreds. The author finally warns that if parents are to shield their children from violent media then they will inevitably be shielding them also from power and selfhood.
This relates to the thesis by discussing how violent media affects the youth. He feels strongly that media such as The Warriors is a vital asset to youth as a method of emotional support. Most people need some sort of system to give them confidence in activities they would otherwise be uncomfortable partaking in. So in the case of The Warriors, the film would be very useful as a means of physical confidence and strength.
“The Warriors Stirs Up Violent Storm." Globe and Mail [Canada] 02 Mar 1979.
The article discusses the level of violence that The Warriors has as well as the violence focused advertising campaign. It cites two specific occasions where real life violence occurred directly after a viewing of the film. It is discussed how critics connected the violence to the film and the film production company Paramount denies any connection between the events and the film. Despite their denial, they still changed a number of things regarding the film. The advertising campaign was completely modified and reduced to only include the name of the film, the theatres it was playing at and the times it was being shown. Also, free additionally security guards were paid to work at theatres showing the film by Paramount.
This article related to the thesis in the fact that it discusses the events surrounding the release of the film. The gang-film genre is exemplified and magnified very well through The Warriors as it is a very stereotypical gang film in some senses and has the real-life violence surrounding it.
Croft, Martin, and Nathalie Kilby. "Mortal Kombat Viral Is Tool For Bullying, Claims Charity." Marketing Week 16 Nov 2006: 3.
This article explains how an anti-bullying charity group is complaining about a video game campaign for Mortal Kombat. In this campaign people are directed to a website where they can upload images of their friends to be superimposed on the fighting video game characters. These superimposed Mortal Kombat characters are then sent to that person in the form of a “Death Diss” whereby the character is brutally murdered. The charity Bullying Online worries that real life bullies will upload images of their enemies to this site and it will only cause issues between the two parties in question. It states that the site has already seen examples of people using this viral marketing tool as a malicious way to insult somebody. A complaint about this advertisement campaign was made to the Advertising Standards Authority, the leading groups in controlling advertising. It is unknown if this campaign will cause the dreaded actions Bullying Online is worrying about.
This article relates to the thesis because violent media is being used in a manner that could potentially cause a movement to action by the receiving end of this viral marketing campaign. There are great worries by Bullying Online that such an advertising campaign might enrage somebody so much that they might react very violently against the opposing person. Just as The Warriors caused a few kids to act violently due to the violent media being viewed, there is a concern that this viral marketing campaign could cause the same response.
Keegan, Paul. "Computer Games like Quake and Doom probably won't turn your son into a killer. But what is happening to kids raised on the most violent, interactive mass-media entertainment ever devised?." Mother Jones Nov 1999 04 Apr 2008 .
This article revolves around a visit to E3, an annual gaming tradeshow. Its focus is to discuss the different genres of video games, but in particular the violent ones. It then attempts to analyze why these violent games become so popular. Throughout, there is always a hesitant tone as the Columbine shootings had occurred only three weeks prior to this conference. There is discussion of the ESRB rating system and how it is hardly enforced by parents or rental stores. The article proceeds to look at Myst, an extremely popular game that involves no violence whatsoever. Its appeal was solely through beautifully rendered images and fog that the character walks through on its mysterious journey. It is however noted that something seemed to be missing from this experience. That is where real-time 3D comes into play. It is a new generation of cutting edge computer games that render the scenery on the fly, completely immersing the player in the gameplay. This type of play has an appeal due to the adrenaline rush and excitement it causes that more static, slow paced games like Myst cannot match. These types of games undoubtedly engage the player deeply into their digital surroundings. It suggests that playing violent video games for extended periods of time numbs the player to the violence and they create a level of tolerance for violence.
This article relates to the topic by examining super violent video games, real-time 3D games in particular and their effect on players. It is pretty evident that despite their incredible ability to immerse the player in the gameplay, the ones playing are able to keep the game and real life separate. The only times when this is untrue when other circumstances are involved, in the case of Columbine, mental instability in two kids who happened to enjoy these types of games were some other circumstances. Like viewers of The Warriors, most will not become overwhelmed by the violence and will respond absolutely normally. Those who act out in response to the film are doing so because they have issues and not solely because of the violence being seen.
Duncum, Paul. "Attractions to Violence and the Limits of Education." The Journal of Aesthetic Education 40.4(2006): 21-38.
This article attempts to examine violence in the media and educate youth on how to act in the real world so violence is not used as a solution to their problems. It cites the following forms of media as sources of violence: television, film, video, and computer games. There are also four different types of violence that can be seen in the media: comic, transgressive, retaliatory, and gratuitous. The author wonders why, from a psychological standpoint, people are attracted to violence. A couple of possible reasons are given such as: exploitation of the worst in human nature or a product of an increasingly degenerate society or maybe just a fashion statement or possibly just finding pure pleasure in the art of violence.
Comic violence is defined pretty clearly by example with any Tarantino film. His film clearly spoofs and parodies other super violent films. Additionally, professional wrestling fits into this category. Transgressive violence is any violence having to do with heroism through violence. It includes superheroes beating super-villains and enjoying the retribution being seen. This category surprisingly also includes a game such as Grand Theft Auto, where you embrace the villain and want to succeed as the villain. Retaliatory violence always has to do with retribution. When you feel bad for a character, you want them to get their revenge. Finally, gratuitous violence is when there is an overwhelming amount of violence that is unlimited in every sense of the word. It is all about grandeur and gore. Startin in the 1960s, media became more and more violent. Now, the line between good and evil gets blurred and the level of gore and shock has increased dramatically in media.
This article relates to the thesis by explaining the different types of violence seen in the media. It points out that gratuitous violence would be the most likely candidate to cause real world violence because the media appeals most to that type of person; however, it is unlikely to cause such actions because the people who would really go on rampages do not get the level of excitement from the film, because they would rather have the real life thrill. This article also explains how people are more aggressive prior to viewing the media than after, further supporting the idea that violent media does not cause violence.
Arnold, Gary. “Two Movie 'Sleepers' That Woke Up Fast; Neighborhood Rumble; 'The Warriors' -- Surly Kids Pack a Box-Office Wallop." Washington Post 18 Mar 1979, Final: H1.
The article discusses in depth the release week of The Warriors. It mentions the advertising campaign used as well as the post-release actions taken by Paramount. Due to the two killing that occurred that week that were associated and linked to the viewing of the film Paramount offered to all theatres, free of charge, additional security guards as a precautionary measure. Also it touches on the fact that after the first (successful) weekend, all conventional advertising for the film was pulled due to the angle taken with the advertising campaign putting the film in a bad light, further associating it with the real life violence that occurred surrounding it. Additionally it discusses other precautions that were taken, including allowing theaters to discontinue showing of the film without penalty. After 2 weeks of successful film showing without violence, the advertising campaign re-expanded to include favorable reviews that had been occurring over the release weeks.
This article reviews another article written for Reuters where Sol Yurick, the author of the book The Warriors is based off of, discusses his opinion of the violence occurring in response to the film’s release. Both he and Paramount deny that the film itself is the cause of the two deaths. Yurick stated that another film out at the same time had much more violence than The Warriors, so the film's violence could not fairly be blamed for the deaths that occurred. Paramount stated that these consequences never occurred to them because they were filming the movie in a style very related to fantasy. It is a well known fact that this film is based off of the Greek myth Xenophon's "Anabasis" thus holding the level of fantasy true. Addionally, the level of choreography in The Warrior’s fight scene is very apparent and holds the film back from the level of realism required for such claims to be valid.
Therefore the film could not have possibly caused the realworld violence that critics had claimed and blamed on The Warriors. It instead, must have been a set of coincidences that were wrongfully associated with a artfully violent film.
"20th Anniversary Of The Movie, "The Warriors"; How It Sparked Controversy When It Was First Released And Why It Revolutionized Action Movies." NPR's Weekend Edition. Scott Simon. NPR, US. 20 Feb 1999.
This transcript from a 1999 NPR Radio show discusses why on the 20th anniversary of The Warriors, it should be remembered. The main reason mentioned is that it was the precursor to a genre of action film. It was the raw, gritty style with an emphasis on character development instead of dialog to push the plot forward. Also it inspired much of the current generation of film directors in their style. It discusses that there is a sort of paranoia derived from the premise of the movie, the fact that 60,000 gang members could take over and run New York City. This notion alone gives the viewers of this movie a strong sense of the power that the masses could have.
The aspects of the genre that this film really influenced includes very choreographed fights and action, a move taken from Bruce Lee type Kung-Fu movies. The way the fight scene was assembled made the members of the Warriors appear to be heroic in a sense.
It is questioned whether The Warriors is actually an anti-gang movie, but this notion is quickly shut down since the movie clearly shows the unified gangs breaking down into individual factions once again.
The Los Angeles Times article interviews Warren Beatty and Arthur Penn to provide unique insight into the production and impact of Bonnie and Clyde. Boucher describes Bonnie and Clyde as a “jarring film” full of bloody realism, thrills, and anti-establishment themes. While some critics and older viewers saw the film as a sign of amoral society, the film really resonated with young audiences because it was new and different. Penn called the film “part Texas, part Paris”, which signifies the integration of American themes and French New Wave cinema. Additionally, Beatty recalls how Jack Warner consistently reminded him of “who’s name was on the water tower” to assert his power. Regardless, Penn and Beatty agreed not to change the script or the graphic depiction of violence; defying a studio head was a groundbreaking move. Furthermore, instead of filming on the Warner lot, Penn moved production to small towns throughout Texas to enhance the realism of the film and depict the desperation of the rural countryside. Both Beatty and Warner recall how they were unaware of how influential the film would be.
These interviews lend unique, first-hand support to the idea that Bonnie and Clyde changed Hollywood institutions and set new standards. Penn and Beatty both acknowledge that they did things their own way, and not necessarily how things had been done in the past, which contributed to the immense success of this film. They inspired a new generation of filmmakers who had a personal vision, and attracted younger audiences by breaking tradition.
Call#: Van Pelt Library PN1993.5.U6 H56 2003
Hoberman discusses the influx of violence in American society, and how Bonnie and Clyde simultaneously changed the depiction of violence on screen. In fact, he uses the term “pornoviolence” to explain the new cultural fascination with violence. Released in 1967, Bonnie and Clyde was preceded by a summer of extreme turbulence, ranging from race riots to the Black Panthers violent crusade. Bonnie and Clyde’s release was extremely provocative (including the slogan “They’re young, they’re in love…and they kill people”). The film endears viewers to the main characters, especially in the beginning with the outlaws’ comic slipups. Furthermore, the criminals are depicted with both symbols of power (such as guns) and freedom (such as fast cars). This heightened the controversy surrounding the film because never before had cold-blooded killers also been seen as likable and alluring. Yet, given the cultural context, the rebellious nature of the main characters was well received by a society full of upheaval and protest.
Hoberman’s analysis clearly supports the idea that Bonnie and Clyde broke taboos and glamorized forbidden lifestyles. Hoberman says that Bonnie and Clyde introduced a carefree, enchanting, yet rebellious “bonnie-and-clyder” attitude in society. More specifically, he says this movie led to “the birth of radical chic," which he defines as a trend away from convention and toward radicalism. Arthur Penn made violence entertaining and created sympathetic perpetrators, which established a new way to portray criminals and violence.
2008 <http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/
review?res=EE05E7DF173CE361BC4C52DFB266838C679EDE>.
Bosley Crowther’s original New York Times review condemns Bonnie and Clyde, most famously declaring, “This blending of farce with brutal killings is as pointless as it is lacking in taste.” His review criticizes both the lead actors and director for combining slapstick comedy with gory violence, which he finds neither entertaining nor purposeful. This review clearly demonstrates how appalled Crowther was with the level of violence and “ridiculous” portrayal of crime. Not only does he find the combination of comedy and violence horrific, but says the film is not at all representative of the real story of the Barrow Gang. Lastly, Crowther attacks the portrayal of a “sleazy, moronic pair” as fun-loving, carefree, and sympathetic characters.
This review lends unique insight into the immediate and controversial reception of the film. Crowther clearly represents those critics who belive this movie was too graphic and insensitive in its glamorization of crime. It is significant to note that despite such scathing reviews, the film was a huge success, which demonstrates Bonnie and Clyde’s ability to speak to and attract audiences.
Clapp’s subject here is urbanization, and how film has become perhaps the primary medium by which the problems of urbanization are expressed. As human communities grow larger and larger, Clapp argues, people cease to be part of meaningful communities, and instead become “strangers.” New York is the token in this respect, being larger, faster paced, and more diverse than most other cities. As such, it has become the main cinematic setting for depicting urban alienation. For Clapp, Travis Bickle’s line “Are you talkin’ to me?” concisely sums up this alienation, wrapped in suspicion and cynicism that could only grow in the total absence of community.
This perspective contains a more sociological spin on the themes present in Taxi Driver, though it does not spend much time examining that film in particular. Clapp provides a paradigm by which the nebulous identification which the audience feels for Travis may be reasonably explained. Applying his view, the specific historical context of Vietnam and 1970’s political turmoil is only part of the picture in understanding Taxi Driver. When the City itself is seen as a character in its own right, it becomes apparent that the audience identifies with Travis because they have a similar relationship to the giant, impersonal metropolis.
“Weak” violence, on the other hand, “thrives on sterile contradiction: it reduces bloodshed to its barest components, then inflates them with hot, stylized air.” McKinney sees this type of violent imagery everywhere in contemporary filmmaking, as a reflexive response to increasingly visible violence in the global community. It can be consumed without thought, repeatedly, never eliciting a new response, never “outlasting its moment.”
The value of McKinney’s division is that it allows the carnage of a film like Taxi Driver to be understood outside of a moralizing condescension. This is violence with a purpose, which shocks not for shock’s sake but to arouse a tangle of questions in the minds of the audience. Taxi Driver calls attention to the sometimes arbitrary division between what is justifiable and what is senseless, and its visceral exploration of this ambiguity is precisely what McKinney means by “strong violence.”
While in Katzman’s view Taxi Driver reinforces negative stereotypes of the Vietnam veteran, he feels its conclusion introduces an important ambiguity. Where other writers see a simple lack of closure in the film’s conclusion, Katzman argues that Travis’s choice of violent action relates to America’s decision to go to war: his failed attempt at assassinating the senator is the “wrong war at the wrong time,” like Vietnam, but that Travis’s triumph is in finding the “right war at the right time,” by setting Iris free. On the one hand, this is a reinforcement of the stereotype that the veteran only knows how to be violent, but on the other, it gives the audience reason for pause – in this case, the only thing that distinguishes hero from monster is a slight change of context. Thus, perhaps the veteran as portrayed in the character of Travis may be seen as worthy of some grace.
Call#: Van Pelt Library PN1998.3.S39 G75 2000
Chapter on Taxi Driver pp. 123-157
Grist breaks down his critical analysis of Taxi Driver into loosely related sections, in a chronological retelling of the film’s major plot points. While not a strict scene-by-scene analysis, it covers most of the major themes and all of the major characters in the narrative, relating them to their film antecedents and not so much to political or historical context. In terms of genre, though in many ways Taxi Driver can be seen as an urban western, Grist feels that it applies a “disabling generic revision” and is in many ways an example of New Hollywood Cinema. Grist points out that Taxi Driver can be read as a direct response to Death Wish as well.
Also, Taxi Driver is a product of two auteurs (Scorsese and Schrader) who often draw from personal experience when making films. In Schrader’s case, there is an obvious connection between Taxi Driver and his essay “Notes on Film Noir,” but Grist also points to Schrader’s writings on the Transcendental style of Ozu and Bresson as being equally connected with Taxi Driver.
Overall, Grist sees the film as a relentlessly bleak reading of American life in the 1970’s, appropriating themes from films before it to create a vision of a society gone horrible wrong (as evidenced by Travis’s slipping through the cracks of the social structure). It sets up a dichotomy between willfully naïve idealism and smug cynicism that is uncomfortable, especially as it provides no closure for the audience.
Call#: Van Pelt Library PN1998.3.S39 F75 1997
Lawrence Friedman treats Travis Bickle as the archetypal antihero of all of Scorsese’s films, and looks at and incredibly broad range of literature to find the roots of his character. For Friedman, Travis “embodies the dictum of Marlow, the narrator of J