For this week, you will be providing an analysis of the zombie film that you watched. The analysis should draw upon one or more of the mini-lecture videos from this course (not including the one that is actually on zombies) such as feminism, race & ethnicity studies, the Frankfurt School (also known as critical inquiry; also, don't forget Part 2 & Part 3), symbolism, post-modernism, and hegemony.
- White Zombie (1932)- 65 minutes
- Revolt of the Zombies (1936) - 62 minutes
- The Devil’s Daughter (1939) - 52 minutes
- King of the Zombies (1941) - 67 minutes
- Night of the Living Dead – 96 minutes
What you should include in this post:
- Clearly identify the the film.
- A description of content (1 paragraph)
- A brief discussion of a theoretical lens that you want to use (1 paragraph).
- Applying the theoretical lens to the film to explain what newer meaning is derived by using the lens on the film (1 paragraph).
- Where possible, a direct reference to a specific time (meaning how many minutes into the film) or a brief video clip that helps to illustrate your point.
EXAMPLE
So I decided to do my critique of King of the Zombies. The film follows the exploits of a pilot, Mr. Bill, and Jeff (his African American servant) when they crash land on a jungle island somewhere in the Caribbean. They encounter a Dr. Miklos Sangre (Spanish for "blood"), who welcomes them into his home. While initially the pilot and Bill are fine with things, Jeff learns about and encounters zombies or the "living dead" within the house while stationed with the other (black) servants. The rest of the film is a mixture of discovery by the white protagonists of the existence of zombies and Dr. Sangre's goal of turning people into zombies in order to ultimately get information from a US admiral he has captured. All is thwarted but there are some many fascinating things going on in this film.
The films could be analyzed through a great many lens. The one I will talk about in this post is through the lens of feminism. To discuss women within the film, it is also necessary to recognize that race also plays into this discussion. The representation of women is as troubling as the depiction of African Americans and people of African descent. In particular, the servants of Dr. Sangre (to whom they call Master) is particularly telling. Within this film, the maids faithfully serve Sangre, even though at times, their men have been enslaved from beyond the tomb. Samantha's former husband now walks about the place as a lifeless zombie and she seems entirely content with this. (This scene occurs around 44:00 minutes). Coupled with this are the ways in which women are entirely passive (the wife of Dr. Sangre) or disregarded or made to be pawns of the men and eventually ends up dead (Sangre's niece). In total, the film plays to a male-aesthetic in its presentation of women--particularly younger women as visually appealing and meant to be looked at (a la Mulvey) and are props for the men's machinations.
No comments:
Post a Comment