Culture Studies and Be Kind, Rewind

“STICKIN’ IT TO THE MAN”

EVADING POLITICAL ECONOMY WITH SUBCULTURE

            Cohen claims that “The Subordinate culture uses a ‘repertoire of strategies and responses’ as a way of coping and resisting. Theirs is a story of ‘negotiation, resistance, and struggle.’” This effort is designed to decode and fit into a system using specific subcultural styles. Be Kind, Rewind emphasizes these styles in an effort to represent a coping relationship in subcultures against its popular culture counterpart. Therefore, I offer that subcultures, such as the community in Be Kind, Rewind, have a value in its characteristics that are “distinctive in group-life and experience,” giving it purpose and validity above the political economy.

            Williams defines culture as “the study of relationships between elements in a whole way of life.” Be Kind, Rewind builds upon a small community in the wake of a financial crisis. This early introduction to this community expresses the struggle against political and economical forces (however, this view changes). Though the town offers unique history, the town officials hope to “transform this slum… to improve the life of the people.” Moreover, the transformation process from slum to presentable lightly taps into fears and struggles of the subculture community. Many of the town folk have negotiated and learned to live with the circumstances, claiming that “the projects aren’t so bad.” The whole way of life in this community is structured to “learn and adapt” according to the circumstances. Characters, such as Mike, generate more resistance and struggle against the political economy with it conspiracy theories surrounding the local power plant that it is brainwashing him with micro-waves.

            As a way of “learning and adapting”, subcultures enlist specific traits, goals, and lifestyles that seem to be recognizing and resisting the economic oppression. Mike states, “that’s your problem… you have zero ambition. You live in a dump, the whole city is a dump. What is so great about this town?… The people have nowhere else to go.” The action of the film is cascaded forward as there is severe pressure from popular culture to change and amend subculture lifestyles by demolishing businesses such as the small video store. Though it is revealed that the video store was not a historical landmark and lacks any real market value to the political economy, the subculture has negotiated a reason to fight for their community with a “nice story… even though it’s not true.” This is a selective tradition; that “certain things are selected for value and emphasis.”

            In an effort to save the video store, a remarkable thing happens; resistance. Thought the financial struggle and negotiation with the political economy seems most dominant, the community recognizes that financial contributions earned through the making of “The Life and History of Fatz Waller” means more for their community. The community works together and sees themselves as a part of the neighborhood that has roots. Roots give people purpose, passion, meaning that money couldn’t buy. “This is for us – the whole town is participating – our past belongs to us and we can change it if we want to.” For this community, changing the past meant changing the future. This community culture brings together the peoples through a shared history. Creating the documentary of Fatz Waller’s life was the crutch that created unity and history for the people.

            The efforts were to save the video store. When the funds weren’t able to be raised, the roots were not destroyed. In fact the roots remained and grew stronger. Subculture intends to resist the political and economical strains that cannot replace community dress, music, ritual, or argot. All these things remain in place and intact (encoded) in each individual community. Each subculture faces the dominant in various forms decoding the dominant as a way of coping; some must negotiate more than others, or resist more than others, but all experience struggle against the political economy. Communities find a way to cope in their formation of their communities and their selective traditions (their roots). Most notably, Jazz and suburban cultures relate on this remarkable level that resists the political economy and strives for a complete and rooted community; to arrive ‘home’ - “Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home.”

            Jack Black has always resisted and portrayed the dress, music, ritual and argot of various other subcultures, the push back remains (in the School of Rock):

“Because the world is run by the Man. The Man, oh, you don't know the Man. He's everywhere. In the White House... down the hall... Ms. Mullins, she's the Man. And the Man ruined the ozone, he's burning down the Amazon, and he kidnapped Shamu and put her in a chlorine tank! And there used to be a way to stick it to the Man. It was called rock 'n roll, but guess what, oh no, the Man ruined that, too, with a little thing called MTV!... But, you can't just say it, man. You've gotta feel it in your blood and guts! If you wanna rock, you gotta break the rules. You gotta get mad at the man!... Come on man, we're on a mission. One great rock show can change the world...”

Be Kind, Rewind has proved its purpose and validity as a representation of subculture negotiation, resistance, and struggle. The political economy fuels the communal roots that expand beyond economic constraints. By coping, we recognize the presence of the political economy, but we decode that we “are not cultural dupes” and that “power cannot be explained by capitalist relations of in economic terms.” The power is within the values and relationships we have placed in our subculture coping strategies such as community building, the arts, friendship, music and much more. Be Kind, Rewind has shown us not to “let the man get us down, to rise above.” (Much thank to the School of Rock for also blending this unique artistic and communal force against the political economy.) 

Media Effects and Son of Rambow

“I BLAME THE PARENTS”

OPINION LEADERS AND AUDIENCE EFFECT

For someone that doesn’t watch television, you might believe what you see. But for the Son of Rambow, it’s about experiencing media; that’s what you think is true. The characters are structuring the world based on what they do or do not see. However, any sway for against the arguments of Media Effects must realize that it comprises of two controllers: Opinion Leaders and the Audience. Both the Opinion Leaders and the Audience (Will Proudfoot and Lee Carter) are effected by the media in multiple ways. However, their backgrounds and experiences differ and that causes the Opinion Leaders and the Audience to effect each other more than any real evidence that media is the prime suspect.

There are two types of Opinion Leaders in Son of Rambow; the parents and the Brethren. Though all the adults (including the academic instructors) may fill that position, the most effect characters are Mary Proudfoot (the mother) and Joshua (one of the Brethren). These Opinion Leaders are under the assumption that media does harm. They support the Gerbner model of the negative effects of social realities as presented in the media. As adults, they can construct Will’s interaction with media by restricting all forms of media. Once Will has discovered the world beyond what he sees, the Opinion Leaders live in fear that the content is immoral, violent, and wrong. As Mary reveals her own story, the film blocks the content of media that she was being banned from. Instead, it was about her parents subtracting such horrible media without Mary understanding why. This approach is the Mean World Syndrome model which states that there is a “pessimistic view of the real world based on the violence within media.” As Will gets pulled into creating a film that mimics True Blood it is evident that there is violent media. However, Will rules these ideas as real. The Opinion Leaders try to draw connections to his friendships and behaviors to the media without Will every understanding why. Joshua warned that the media will lead him “to a path astray towards the outsiders.” Will trusts these Opinion Leaders and therefore acts upon the warnings and perceptions of the media from others. The Opinion Leaders respond to the Laswell model of audience effect by the relay function of Conductance. They simply receive information, edit it, and then pass it on. The weakness is that it does not fully account for the Cultivation of the viewer’s perspective of the media.

Lee Carter is a problem child as designated by several Opinion Leaders. However, Will is drawn to his experiences and ideas because they are cultivated in a different way other than Mary and Joshua. Will is immersed in new ideas and experiences that are different than how he’s seen the world before. Within his first encounter with Rambo, he truly believes that “he is the best” as the video clip was stating. Why? Because he knows nothing else to compare it to. Beyond that, as he cultivates the images, he views social reality in a different way. It opposes the pessimistic view of the real world based on violent media as Will brings to life the Son of Rambow and uses those conceptions to create a new world in which his father can be saved from death. Its how he’s sees the world and how he hopes to think about it. The pressure from others (Opinion Leaders, Lee Carter, and schoolmates) contributes to complicated shifts on his perspective of mainstream media. Will struggles to satisfy the Brethren, his mother, and Lee Carter, all while trying to satisfy himself. A symbol that appeared most often throughout the film was a watch. This represents time. Lee Carter said that “time heals all wounds,” and as opinions, rules, and experiences flooded Will’s perception of the media, it took time for everyone to understand how several worlds can collide without disaster. This promotes Resonance: messages that resonate and amplify cultivation. Soon enough, Mary was on Will’s side and Joshua was left on his own. This demonstrates exactly how Opinion Leaders need to understand and connect to the audience in which they are communicating too. It seemed that all it took was time for Mary to see positive effects of media on Will, and for Will to see possible threats of the media on himself. There is a balance to which media you place certain value on and participate in.

Lee Carter stands as the mediator between the audience and the Opinion Leaders. Lee Carter had less interaction with Opinion Leaders and therefore lacked direction in his actions and choices. However, his influence on Will was as an Opinion Leader AND Audience member. This meant that the information that was passed on was also experienced alongside Will so that a trust of media perception was formed. In fact, as “the problem child”, Lee recognized much quicker the dangers that Will was dabbling in when different crowds of people and ideas were bombarding their film. Makes you wonder why the cool guys didn’t care much for Lee, but Will thought the world of him. Being “of the world”, Lee had the opportunity to choose the information he wanted to accept as reality. This meant that complete Cultivation of the media is positively enforced when the audience has the support and information from all sources (media, Opinion Leaders, etc.). Lee Carter once said, “Parents… you’re better off without them.” I don’t believe he meant to say that parents should disappear but that his world is constructed without them and he feels his perception of the media is just fine without them. When Will and Lee were filming a rescue scene with an elderly man playing Will’s father, they assured the old man, “we are just pretending… we’re not going anywhere.” This abolishes the negative effect of media with the perception that media might not even effect or change an individual. Once you know it isn’t real, you might not go anywhere. Many of the characters changed their negative perception of the media and translated it to a positive influence of the world. Will and Lee were constructing the world innocently and to them it’s pure – to other, it’s rubbish.

            So is media really the culprit? Or is it just the medium? Or the means to an end? I believe that the Opinion Leaders and the Audience form their own structures of media and relay that to the world around them. This movement tends to shifts ideologies of media effects. However, the increasing numbers of opinions distract from the actual impact or lack of effect media has on its audience. All perceptions of the media and social reality should be accounted for. And in reality, negative things were happening before television came along. So if we educate each other on our perceptions, we will find that media may or may not affect us but there should always be a choice.

Maltese Falcon and Femme Noir

OH NO SHE DIDN’T!

NOIR WOMEN

            Film Noir has become a style that isn’t equated to a genre. In fact, Noir is far from a stylized genre because its thematic structures are so variant. Yet, there is a recognition of Noir elements in mid-twentieth century films that “portray a world of darkness.” These dramatic elements are cinematographic features such as scenes lit at night, deep thought and inner turmoil, romantic narratives, and non-linear story telling. Maltese Falcon explores this through the use of the villain female character. Specifically, Noir highlights the power and manipulative nature of female characters; Femme Noir.

            The bad woman who seduces a man to do bad things is none other than what we consider to be femme fatale. O’Shaughnessy entrances Spade in her charms and through her lies and deceits convinces him to do things against his normal character. Though her influence on him is overpowering, the fatal trap she has laid out backfires and the prison she has created throughout the film becomes a literal prison. This prison is a stylized product of noir cinematography to capture the emotional roller coaster and dark, unknowable nature of the femme fatale. The low-key lighting and unusual camera angles emphasize the nature of her emotions, tactics, etc. Assumed to be the most powerful female in the film by use of her charms to lure Spade to fatal scenarios, she cries, lies, and turns away to reveal so that she is actually manipulating others to her will. But in fact, she is trapped in her own emotional prison. Vertical lighting conveys this prison. In a particular scene, she wears striped pajamas, the furniture is striped, and the slivers of light coming through the blinds are much like cell bars. At the end of the film, there are literal bars on the elevator cage when she is taken in for custody, apparently on her way to prison and eventually execution.

            Though O’Shaughnessy, exaggerates her inner turmoil, the camera highlights these features by contrasting her character among other female characters. Possibly the most simply dressed female character, and yet her face speaks volumes of deep thought and wild emotion. Close ups of her grasp the dark tension inside of her character. Shadows on the face, clothing that creates specific angles, and camera angles makes her appear lost, confused, and tormented by something that isn’t quite revealed until Spade has adopted some of the emotional complexity much like O’Shaughnessy. The narrative structure dictates the psychological and moral disorientation that ties back to Freudian psychoanalysis; repression, fear, etc. O’Shaughnessy is then constructed by the views of women during this historical time period. The complicated nature of her character is designed by these fluctuating and uncontrollable emotions that possess her to be fatal. Downward camera angles or profile camera angles evoke pity and sorrow, along with the shadows that darken her conflicting emotions. But even love won’t save her now.

            Noir tends to eliminate the value of love and leans towards justice; justice in the sense of finding truth. Near the end of the film, O’Shaughnessy pleads to Spade in the name of love. Kisses, charm, and manipulative tears won’t save her. Not only is Spade a detective, but lies and deceit are not justified through love. The act of the femme fatal was fatal to her. The final battle between O’Shaughnessy and Spade is an emotional roller coaster. Spade dominates O’Shaughnessy, as she crumbles. From camera angles to blocking, she cannot hold her ground as he tears at her for the truth. Spade turns her in regardless of his feelings for her. His personal code and dedication to justice is how he sees the world. Once he discovers that she killed his partner to implicate her unwanted partner (in order to keep that Falcon to herself), Spade avenges his murder.

The femme fatale is beautiful, manipulative, and dangerous. O’Shaughnessy is a compulsive liar when she tries to use her feminine wiles to charm Spade into believing what she says and doing what she wants. As the beginnings of femme noir:

  

“The quintessential femme fatale of film noir uses her sexual attractiveness and ruthless cunning to manipulate men in order to gain power, independence, money, or all three at once. She rejects the conventional roles of devoted wife and loving mother that mainstream society prescribes for women, and in the end her transgression of social norms leads to her own downfall. Film noir's portrayal of the femme fatale, therefore, would seem to support the existing social order — and particularly its rigidly defined gender roles — by building up the powerful, independent woman, only to punish her in the end.

But a closer look at film noir suggests an opposite interpretation. Even when it depicts women as dangerous and worthy of destruction, film noir also shows that women are confined by the roles traditionally open to them — that their destructive struggle for independence is a response to the restrictions that men place on them. Moreover, these films view the entire world — not just independent women — as dangerous, corrupt, and irrational.” (http://www.filmnoirstudies.com/essays/progressive.asp)

This commentary on society is a reflection of the emotional state of the time period; World War II. The uncontrollable, manipulative nature of Germany at this time overshadowed most of Europe. The emotional and physical havoc of the war was not justified by reason. Until America and Britain stood ground and found back, justice prevailed. In fact, the mystery and fate of the Maltese Falcon remains a symbol because once it was found, lives were no longer lost and fights were no longer fought. The struggle for freedom and independence for women remained a battle and yet their corruption destroyed the very rebellion of the ideal female.

            Is it possible that Noir could be stylized by anything other than a “dangerous, corrupt, and irrational” female character? Is the emergence of the femme fatal what draws the tension and darkness into most Noir films so that erotic and emotional characters are the exact elements necessary for such cinematic and thematic designs? I believe that femme fatal is a crucial and integral stylistic component of Noir. The reflection of the characters of women in plot and design construction elaborates the thematic points of Noir; “to portray a world of darkness.”