The three Keywords I have chosen for my presentation are; Identity, Gender, and Capitalism.
I have chosen these three as they relate most directly to my FYP out of those on offer.
The basis of my FYP is postmodernism in Tarantino's films, looking at the reasoning behind the portrayal of characters in my chosen field. Identity, gender, and capitalism through consumerism are important towards the characters self definition.
Identity - Carla Kaplan Pp. 123-127.
Kaplan's article coincides helpfully with an essay in Pulping Fictions called 'Pulpmodernism'. Kaplan talks of "Warring social identities" in her keywords, which follows Brooker and Brooker's 'Pulpmodernism' talking about the "need for and fragility of fixed identities and relationships".
Gender - Judith Halberstam Pp. 116-120.
The portrayal of gender in my FYP is crucial to looking at why the characters behave like they do. Halberstam discusses John Money and his invention of the term, "to describe the social enactment of sex roles; he used the term to formalize the distinction between bodily sex (male and female) and social roles (masculinity and femininity), and to note the frequent discontinuities between sex and role. This helps as a basis for gender definition when looking at the concept of gender portrayal in postmodernist theory.
Capitalism - David F. Ruccio Pp. 32-36.
Capitalism and consumerism plays a part in Trantinos films, especially Pulp Fiction with his invention of 'Red Apple' cigarettes and 'Jack Rabbit Slims' with the posters of Roger Corman films on the walls. This is important when looking at the postmodern aspect of his films, Umberto Eco's characterisation of the concept of cult films, "Cinema comes from the cinema", the cycle of consumer culture throughout the cinema.
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What's emerging here is a critical framework to understand Tarantino's playing with references. Notions of gender and capitalism are indeed key to this, as both in some respects try to work between individuated performances (or I suppose you could say, 'signs') which especially in Tarantino's case, take place in a bounded cinematic space - and a sense of roots and rootedness. On the one hand, free play of meaning (and identity), on the other hand, determnination and conditioning. Hence the relevance of Brooker's "need for and fragility of fixed identities and relationships". I suppose a key question here is what does Tarantino offer? Put crudely, does his cinematic space enable the reconstruction of old-fashioned, pre-feminist models of masculinity (gangsters of classical Hollywood/South Asian cinema) or what could be seen as more liberating play with gender roles?
ReplyDeleteCapitalism and the American film industry are so inter-related that it would be difficult for Olly to examine the former without reference to the latter. The film industry is also a good candidate to explore the relationship between capitalism, globalisation and the exportation of American culture. How much do specific films reflect, rather than contribute to, American identity? How are signifiers of identity, such as gender, portrayed within genres – and how are such signifiers affected by American ideology and society? Is Tarantino a modern, or post-modern, director? Which elements/characters (if any) in his films suggest such categorisation?
ReplyDeleteI admit to coming to this blog with a slight disadvantage...having never seen a whole Tarantino film. Looking at the likes of 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Reservoir Dogs' though it is interesting that the main, and male, protagonists are criminal types. Is this American masculinity afraid of being feminised and so having to appear "hard" and with his females playing typical roles or is Tarantino being ironic/tongue in cheek? An interesting thought is that with these (and some other films of the era) the main characters are their own brand of capitalist;although robbing the system, they are trying to get rich. I think identity is very cleverly played with in Reservoir Dogs....people who don't know each other, even down to their 'Mister' names and yet who are supposed to act as a group.
ReplyDeleteI think these are 3 very relevant topics concerning Tarantino's work as he is renowned for having underlying subjects within his films to do with gender race and American consumerism. He is clever in the way he portays parodies of American society and through looking at the articles identity, gender and capitalism you can then undersatnd the subjects that tarantino is portraying through his films.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though the three chosen topics relate well to Olly's dissertation as they can be linked to the work of Tarrantino. Gender plays a significant role in films such as Kill Bill and Jackie Brown, which have female protagonists, Capitalism can be related to product placement in the texts, and Identity can be associated with the works of Tarrantino in a myriad of ways; racial and gender identity being two key areas.
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