This thesis is an examination of the intersection of mainstream American film, and postmodern theories of changes in economic and cultural formations, read through the prism of feminist discourse. The work examines the genre of postmodern film developed by mainstream American studios over the past ten years, asking questions of what a postmodern film text may mean, and how it relates to postmodern theory. The thesis presents the analysis in two parts in each section, the first a discussion of particular aspects of postmodern theory, the second a close textual reading of two films. The claims of postmodernism for a theory and culture that celebrates diversity and rejects hierarchy are countered by various analyses from cultural materialism, feminism and ethnography. The methodology of film analysis is derived from what has become an orthodox feminist film theory developed in the last twenty years in Screen. The first section examines the imaging of technology and mass consumption in the work of Baudr i Ll.a r d , Jameson and Lyotard, and in the genre of the horror film. The second section explores claims of the deconstruction of structures that determine what is regarded as culturally central and what is regarded as culturally marginal. The discussion focusses on two areas; the positioning of the Third lvorld subject in postmodern debate. Secondly, the fetishisation of others - here the black subject as representation, and the marginalisation of marginal groups from cultural production. The third section examines the process of reading and the interpellation of the subject into the (visual or written) text. Questions here address the theoretical model of subjectivity in postmodern texts, and the framework of enunciation in cinema. The last section problematises the figurative language of postmodernism, drawing out the implications of a language and imagery of violence and apocalypse, and suggests a politics of positionality for future discussion.

The Road Less Traveled is about engaging film from a geographic perspective, specifically analyzing the underlying structures, cultural contexts and forces affecting the movements of the two main protagonists of the film The Motorcycle Diaries. The focus at the individual scale aims to reveal not just how and where, but why people chose to move where they do. The paper is divided into five main chapters: mobility as resistance, mobility as structured process in the form of motility and moorings, forced mobility as distinctive from chosen mobility, mobility as discovery and a final body chapter that demonstrates examples of all these types of mobility. These sections will mainly flow as neoformal, mostly chronologic descriptions of the film text, but will also occasionally reference the written text of the two diaries on which the movie is based. While the main character of the film is Che Guevara, no attention will be dedicated to his revolutionary life outside of the time frame encompassed by the film. / text

The tragedy and aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks are reflected in American apocalyptic horror films that have been produced since 2001. Because the attacks have occurred only within the past ten years, not much research has been conducted on the effects the attacks have had on the narrative and technological aspects of apocalyptic horror. A survey of American apocalyptic horror will include a brief synopsis of the films, commentary on dominant visual allusions to the 9/11 attacks, and discussion of how the attacks have thematically influenced the genre. The resulting study shows that the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, have shaped American apocalyptic horror cinema as shown through imagery, characters, and thematic focus of the genre.

In the early years of the twentieth century, the unique new medium of motion pictures was the focus of significant theorization and experimentation at the fringes of the American advertising industry. Alongside the growth of the nickelodeon, and the multiple shifts in the American cinema's business model in the 'transitional era,' various individuals at the margins of the advertising industry attempted, and most often failed, to integrate direct consumer-goods advertising regularly into motion picture theaters. Via techniques as diverse as the glass slide, the commercial trailer, and the advertising wall-clock, cinema patrons of the 1910s witnessed various attempts by merchants and manufacturers to intrude upon their attention in the cinema space. Through research in the trade presses of the cinema, advertising, and various consumer-goods industries, along with archival ephemera from the advertising companies themselves, this dissertation explores these various on and off-screen tactics for direct advertising attempted in silent cinemas, and their eventual minimization in the American cinema experience. Despite the appeal of the new, popular visual medium of cinema to advertisers, concerns over ticket prices, advertising circulation, audience irritation, and the potential for theatrical 'suicide-by-advertising,' resulted, over a mere fifteen years, in the near abandonment of the cinema as an advertising medium. As a transitional medium between the 19th century forms of print and billboarding, and 20th century broadcasting, the silent cinema was an important element in the development of modern advertising theories.

In the early years of the twentieth century, the unique new medium of motion pictures was the focus of significant theorization and experimentation at the fringes of the American advertising industry. Alongside the growth of the nickelodeon, and the multiple shifts in the American cinema's business model in the 'transitional era,' various individuals at the margins of the advertising industry attempted, and most often failed, to integrate direct consumer-goods advertising regularly into motion picture theaters. Via techniques as diverse as the glass slide, the commercial trailer, and the advertising wall-clock, cinema patrons of the 1910s witnessed various attempts by merchants and manufacturers to intrude upon their attention in the cinema space. Through research in the trade presses of the cinema, advertising, and various consumer-goods industries, along with archival ephemera from the advertising companies themselves, this dissertation explores these various on and off-screen tactics for direct advertising attempted in silent cinemas, and their eventual minimization in the American cinema experience. Despite the appeal of the new, popular visual medium of cinema to advertisers, concerns over ticket prices, advertising circulation, audience irritation, and the potential for theatrical 'suicide-by-advertising,' resulted, over a mere fifteen years, in the near abandonment of the cinema as an advertising medium. As a transitional medium between the 19th century forms of print and billboarding, and 20th century broadcasting, the silent cinema was an important element in the development of modern advertising theories.

The purpose of this thesis stemmed from the notion that the events of 9/11 would have a profound effect on how representations of Muslims on screen would need to be altered to match the political climate, and to project the trauma that the American public had experienced. However, in the course of the study it has emerged that changes to the old-style stereotypical representations might have been influenced by factors other than politics. By comparing and dissecting the content of films that displayed Islamic characteristics from a pre-9/11 standpoint, I have been able to assess the degree to which visual and narrative changes have been implemented. I open with an introduction that establishes the framework and theories related to the emergence, maintenance and reformulation of stereotypes. I review the process of representing various ‘outsider’ groups in American cinema before attempting to trace against this the gradual shift in Islamic characteristics found in the movies of the pre- and post-9/11 periods. The analysis includes definitions of the settings, locale, landscape and space as displayed on the theatrical screen. I discover that Muslim spaces which simply provided a setting for the action in the past are now acknowledged in terms of their interaction with their inhabitants. In much the same way that landscapes have been adapted from past cinematic depictions of the pre-9/11 period, male and female characters are found to be constructed through a new perspective, allowing them to look more ‘human’ compared to their monolithic antecedents. The study also examines the rise of formidable American female characters and their victimization of the Muslim male ‘Other’. The current investigation is not limited to the depiction of adults only. The Muslim child/adolescent has become a recent device through which American filmmakers are exercising their creativity. Themes of childhood loyalty, disloyalty and redemption are explored in the case of Muslim youngsters, while the Muslim American youth is presented as the ‘hybrid Other’ desperately in search of his or her complex identity. Although there still exist examples of utilizing the overseas Muslim minor as a product of religious fanaticism, 9/11 initiated a new form of looking at a child. Artistic devices that have found their way into the commercial crop of U.S. movies include inner and external focalization, thus encouraging audiences’ empathy for the child who had until recently been treated as an image on the screen rather than a character in the narrative. The findings indicate that during the decade under consideration American cinema has not drawn as sharp a cultural line between the ‘Orient’ and the ‘Occident’ as it used to. Comparative work of this kind, with its focus on past and present cinematic depictions of the Muslim world, is beneficial, for it shows that there is eagerness in the U.S. to explore and reflect more on the characteristics of the Muslim ‘Other’ – an eagerness which will prove in the long run to be in the interests of both the East and the West.

No description available.

Este trabalho examina a representação das cidades na obra de Woody Allen. No intuito de compreender a saída do cineasta patrimônio da cidade de Nova York para a Europa, retoma-se criticamente a questão da Era da Lista Negra, das runaway productions e dos blockbusters. Para analisar os filmes de Allen na Europa considera-se importante entender como a cidade de Nova York configura-se no início da carreira do diretor, notadamente, em filmes que estabelecem um contraponto entre o Brooklyn e Manhattan. Em seguida, examina-se a questão crítica fundamental do trabalho: o cartão-postal corporativo na Europa. Nesse sentido, propõe-se a análise dos cartões-postais de Barcelona, Paris e Roma. O filme Vicky Cristina Barcelona adquire centralidade nesta pesquisa por apresentar de maneira exemplar a paisagem postiça da cidade encarcerada sob intervenção corporativa. / This research examines the representation of cities in Woody Allens work. In order to understand Allens European sojourn, it discusses the Blacklist Era, the runaway production and the impact of the blockbuster productions in the industry. The work understands New York as the quintessential frame of Allens depiction of cities overseas, notably in the early films that juxtapose Brooklyn and Manhattan. Henceforth, the key critical core of this work is presented: the corporate postcard in Europe. In this sense, it proposes an analysis of the postcards of Barcelona, Paris and Rome. The film Vicky Cristina Barcelona presents in an exemplary manner the cityscape under corporate intervention.

Este trabalho examina a representação das cidades na obra de Woody Allen. No intuito de compreender a saída do cineasta patrimônio da cidade de Nova York para a Europa, retoma-se criticamente a questão da Era da Lista Negra, das runaway productions e dos blockbusters. Para analisar os filmes de Allen na Europa considera-se importante entender como a cidade de Nova York configura-se no início da carreira do diretor, notadamente, em filmes que estabelecem um contraponto entre o Brooklyn e Manhattan. Em seguida, examina-se a questão crítica fundamental do trabalho: o cartão-postal corporativo na Europa. Nesse sentido, propõe-se a análise dos cartões-postais de Barcelona, Paris e Roma. O filme Vicky Cristina Barcelona adquire centralidade nesta pesquisa por apresentar de maneira exemplar a paisagem postiça da cidade encarcerada sob intervenção corporativa. / This research examines the representation of cities in Woody Allens work. In order to understand Allens European sojourn, it discusses the Blacklist Era, the runaway production and the impact of the blockbuster productions in the industry. The work understands New York as the quintessential frame of Allens depiction of cities overseas, notably in the early films that juxtapose Brooklyn and Manhattan. Henceforth, the key critical core of this work is presented: the corporate postcard in Europe. In this sense, it proposes an analysis of the postcards of Barcelona, Paris and Rome. The film Vicky Cristina Barcelona presents in an exemplary manner the cityscape under corporate intervention.

Neste trabalho investigamos em que medida o mal-estar da sociedade americana, entre 1975 e 1978, causado por uma série de acontecimentos dos anos 1970 (fim da Guerra do Vietnã, reivindicações das chamadas minorias sociais, crise da OPEP e Watergate, entre outros), foi representado em filmes comerciais, feitos dentro de Hollywood e sem maiores ambições autorais. Os filmes analisados neste trabalho são: Rocky - Um Lutador (John G. Avildsen, 1976) e Os Embalos de Sábado à Noite (John Badham, 1977). / In this work we investigate to what extent the malaise of American society between 1975 and 1978, caused by a series of events of the seventies (end of the Vietnam War, calling claims of social minorities, the OPEC crisis and Watergate, among others) , was represented in commercial films made in Hollywood without auteurist ambitions. The films analyzed in this work are: Rocky (John G. Avildsen, 1976) and Saturday Night Fever (John Badham, 1977).