Badlands

“Well, I got some stuff to say. Guess I’m kind of lucky that way”(Kitt;Badlands)

With reference to the following quote “... as an influential ‘road movie’, Badlands is almost misnamed as the majority of the film is a departure from the staple road movie iconography of gas stations and diners.” (Ian-Malcolm Rijsdijk)  I will be discussing the ways in which Badlands both represents and challenges the road movie genre.

The Road-Movie most often described as a sub-genre of the Adventure and Western Genres, which generally focusses on the protagonist who is either going to a specific destination or is running away from a former place of familiarity,“the liberation of the road against the oppression of hegemonic norms”(Cohan and Hark;1;1997).The genre itself explores multiple American Ideas of the frontier, freedom, youth-rebellion, anti-authoritarianism and reinvention. The road enables the protagonist to develop for better or for worse, in the hope to break free from the past and enter the future with new reinvented conceptions. The road movie normally seeks to further embed certain ideologies and values of the society at hand. 

The themes which Badlands explores, is the same as that of other road movies. Yet instead of instilling the ideals and values of the dominant society, it creates an arena of irony and debate and questions the core of these notions. Kit and Holly’s restless and violent journey / murder spree, portrays the individualistic pioneer and frontiers man and the pure idea thereof. Who attempts to escape the constraints of an oppressive highly institutionalized society, which is contrasted by the accompaniment of Holly’s naive and romantic narration of what happened.

“He was handsomer than anybody that I’d ever met, he looked just like James Dean.”; “He wanted to die with me... I dreamt of being lost forever in his arms” (Holly; Badlands)

“...What remains is a chilling circularity reflecting a pessimism about society’s motivating values and underlying beliefs, not least because of the generic responsibility films themselves must bear for the maintenance, perpetuation and unquestioned reinforcement of these very same damaging, but persistent, American cultural myths and ideologies.”(Neil Campbell;50;2007)

Kit further strengthens the tension between what values he supposedly believes in, with what his actions dictate. After killing Holly’s father, he makes a recording in which he says that it is important to listen to parents, which is a direct contradiction to what he did not do, after being told by Holly’s father to leave Holly alone and or leave the house when he approached her father with a gun, and in the end killing him. He often makes statements that is embedded with what a “good citizen” should be doing, and at the same time “Kit resents restrictive controls and being ‘too much like others’ “ (Neil Campbell;46;2007) He’s a walking talking contradiction, or is he? In-fact Kit is but a hero of old cast in the world of new.

“Kit is not rebellious or anti-social, but ‘an Eisenhower conservative’ and a very conventional American Dreamer, if in extremis, troubled by the loss of moral direction in community and family whose individual action and ‘frontier spirit’ is his way of purging the world. Like frontiersman his gunplay suggests, Kit’s amoral actions resonate with classic, mythic American traits..” (Neil Campbell;45;2007)

A narrative similarity that Badlands shares with other road movies is that the protagonist might be against the norms of society at first “By my definition, the road movie is a vehicle for either one or a small group of individuals who seek to escape the world they are living in and set out towards redemption on the road.” (Sam North;2009;Hackwriters.com)  and through the decisive use of the Bildungsroman “A narrative where the protagonist experiences growth, spiritually, and mentally, throughout the story.”(Writinghood;10 literary terms;2009) where the character makes a conscious choice to enter society again. Although in Kit’s case it is him handing himself over to the police, where he gets processed by the system and is eventually executed. At the same time this conforms and goes against the conventional road movie. Yes, the character does go back to society and has a strong understanding and respect for the values and ideologies of the society, but it in turn makes a comment on whether the society in which this hero of old and his ideals will still be wanted.

“Though road films exalt rebellion over conformity Laderman notes that these films often give only the appearance of rebellion, as they were products of the Hollywood genre system.”(Gordon Alley-Young; vol. 9;issue 1; 2007)

From an aesthetic point of view, Badlands deviates from the conventional sense of what one would think a road movie would look like. Aesthetically you never really see much of the actual road (Tar), as you would think you would. I believe it breaks from the road and becomes a western as they are seen crossing the open plains and barren areas of land, not inhabited by civilization, just as the early-settlers crossed the land on horseback, Kit and Holly now as the youth cross it in their own way.  This as a theme, references back to the idea of reinvention of old ideas and progression of the Bildungsroman, not of the specific story, but more of a post-modern Bildungsroman looking at the development of the Road Movie genre as whole in it’s entirety.

“Fearing there’d be roadblocks on the highways, we took off across that area known as the Great Plains. Kit told me to enjoy the scenery, and I did.” (Holly; Badlands)

 Another note on how it breaks from the conventional conception of a road movie, is the movies use of multiple forms of transportation, such as the train, even though they don’t travel by it, they consider jumping onto it. The helicopter which Holly takes, also deviates from this idea, yet Kit’s reluctance to be caught by the authorities, may be a motivation for escape, but it could also be said that if Kit is the representation of old ideas. It can be seen that the reason why he escapes in a car he still holds these old ideas close and still refuses to conform to the modern world. At least only until the end when he gives in to the authorities, he boards a plane to on his way to his eventual execution.

Road Movies often follows their main characters getting lost or deviating from the original planned out route.  Holly’s inability to identify certain places and replacing them with made up names, clearly brings her need to be familiar with her surroundings across, yet Badlands deviates from a planned route as Kit travels in any direction, an example of this is when he spins a bottle to determine into which direction they should travel.

“We took off at sunset, on a line toward the mountains of Saskatchewan, for Kit a magical land beyond the reach of the law.” (Holly;Badlands)

“We could see the lights of Cheyenne, a city bigger and grander than I’d ever seen”(Holly;Badlands)

When we look at road movies, we cannot look at it without realizing that we are watching the ever-changing reflection of American culture. One of the themes that Badlands deals with, is the relationship between men and woman in society. Holly follows Kit throughout the entire movie, even though he killed her father and it would be wiser to report him to the police, the reason I believe she does this is because, she as a young girl finds it hard to survive in the society without a fatherly figure.

Kit automatically takes this role, when he kills her father. Holly rarely has a concise opinion as to how she feels about Kit. She sometimes wishes she could be with him forever and at other times wishes she could drown him in the river, because of his lack to provide for her adequately. This is an example of a stereotypical assumption, often made by movies of this kind.

“The film consciously examines wider ideologies of identity, gender and power that are fundamental, to the way in which these genres have operated in the construction of an American national imaginary.” (Neil Campbell;40;2007)

“ From the earliest days of American cinema, the road movie has been synoumous with American culture, the road movie has been synonymous with America culture and the image of America to the world.”(Sam North;2009;Hackwriters.com)

It might be said that, if the road is the means by which change can take place. That the road itself, might not change Kit, all that much in the movie, but in real life Badlands can be seen as the road or arena of debate, where a society can analyze ideologies and values, and through this process go on a journey of self-exploration on the road, without even leaving the cinema.

Bibliography:

• Rijsdijk, Ian-Malcolm. ‘Badlands’. In “Seeking the Other Shore: Myth and History in the Films of Terrence Malick, “ 64-99. PhD diss., University of Cape Town, 2007.
• Cohan, Steve & Ina Rae Hark (1997)  The Road Movie Book. London: Routledge. 
• Campbell, Neil. “The highway Kind: Badlands, Youth, Space and the Road.” In The cinema of Terrence Malick : Poetic Visions of America 2nd Edition, edited by Hannah Patterson, 40-51. London: Wallflower Press, 2007.
• Sam North (2009), Hackwriters.com. “An essay on the continuing fascination with the road in cinema”; “The irony of the road movie is the weak leave, but only the strong survive”.                http://www.hackwriters.com/roadone.htm
• Gordon Alley-Young (2007), “Book Review: Driving Visions: Exploring The Road Movie” ; Kingsborough Community College - City University of New York. an electronic Journal.              http://www.acjournal.org/holdings/vol9/summer/reviews/movie.html
• Writing Hood (2009); “ 10 Literary Terms and Devices: Bildungsroman”                                     http://writinghood.com/literature/10-literary-terms-and-devices/

Chinatown

In the following essay I will be exploring, what in my opinion sets Chinatown apart from classical noir and what elements does it pertain and try and bring across that Chinatown still pays tribute to classical noir by including specific stylistic elements.

Unlike classical Noir; Chinatown is in colour whereas as classical noir in my opinion makes use of Black and White film to accentuate low-key lighting. Chinatown does pay tribute to this style, by including Black and White photos at the very start of the film, but by using a photo, which is normally an item of nostalgia but more generally a representation of the past. By this simple action Chinatown tries to say that black and white was part of the past, but coulour film is the future. A pro-progressive comment.

Most Noir films play with the idea of contrast, whether it be a contrast in lighting, character personalities or the classical idea of good vs. evil.(In Chinatown this theme is portrayed with Freshwater vs. Saltwater). Chinatown does still retain most of these elements. In my opinion Characterizations in Chinatown differ from classical noir films and more specifically the detective, whom is no longer the selfless servant of the public, but more realistically is in the pursuit of wealth, as any other person in a Capitalist society.

 The first scene of the movie may mislead one to think that the detective is selfless, for example he tells Curly “ I don’t want your last dime, what kind of a guy do you think I am?” (Mr. Gittes; Chinatown) This may act as a reference to the old idea of the detective, but it changes in the end, when he asks curly a favor to pay him back. The detective in contrast to classical noir, does not work on cases on his own, it subtracts from the old idea of the detective being the independent and self-capable masculine figure of society “I can’t do everything myself” (Mr. Gittes; Chinatown). The false mrs. Mulray further strengthens the idea that the once powerful figure cannot handle anything by himself  “Ofcourse not” (false mr. Mulray; Chinatown), by replying to his statement in such a specific manner, she implies that it is a commonly accepted idea.

I’m under the impression that classical noir did not normally feature people of colour or of other nationalities. And if so they were normally portrayed as the undesirable or evil characters of the story. In this respect Chinatown slightly moves away, but still portrays a sense within that specific society that these people’s views are not taken into account or are simply ignored, Chinatown moves away from the idea that they are evil by saying they are simply misunderstood and in truth if Mr.  Gittes would of listened to the gardener in the first place, he would of found the broken glasses in the pond and would of solved the case much quicker “salt water bad for glass”.

Film Noir has always taken a dark and sinister tone to their subject matter, but there is no other Noir Film that I’ve seen before , that delves deeper into social taboos than Chinatown. Things that no film maker would explore before, in fear of retribution from government and/or conservative society at large. Chinatown explores a common theme present within other noir films, more specifically  Violence but in my opinion pushes it to the extremes with the gruesome images of Mrs. Mulray who has been shot through the head at the end of the film and a extremely offensive scene of Mr. Gittes slapping Mrs. Mulray to get what he wants from her..  This to a certain extent challenges the conventions as to what can be shown on film and also makes the conservative audience of the time aware of things such as incest within their own society,  which they would previously have not been made aware of.

In the old noir films, the secretary was normally portrayed as the safe figure. She was masculinized and was no threat to the detectives moral obligations (not to have sex), Sex was normally constructed in such away that it served as a distraction and obstacle for the detective. In my opinion the secretary is quite sexed-up and may be a sexual threat to the detective, he does not try to keep to any moral code and does end up sleeping with his client “Mrs. Mulray: Hollis seems to to think your an innocent man. Mr Gittes: Oh I have been accused of allot of things, but never that” (Mrs. Mulray, Mr. Gittes; Chinatown)

The detective of the old’s dialogue and subject matter of dialogue differs from the classic noir detective. As we see Mr. Gittes not only speaking about the case, but he would sometimes makes highly crass and sexual jokes. “Hey, whats the matter with you, your screwing just like a Chinaman” (Mr. Gittes; Chinatown) This is normally not seen in other films before this.

Chinatown itself is a place of a mysterious past, no one really knows what happened there and most people in the film don’t want to know and it is this mysterious theme that Chinatown still retains in conjunction to the classical noir films “Forget it Jake it’s Chinatown” (Chinatown). Mr. Gittes often finds himself not being able to trust anyone in his life, he at one point even suspects Mr.s Mulray who in the end turns out to be the victim.

I think one of the key themes Chinatown moves away from that of classical noir. Is the constructed idea of the highly authoritative , highly-capable figure of society which is normally embodied by the detective. Chinatown demasculinates this heroic figure of the past to the more truthful role that men play in society. Jake Gittes never really solves the case, he only worsens the situation, he fails in almost everything he does, we never find out who killed the girl who acted as Mrs. Mulray. He can’t stand up for himself and when he does he fails miserably. He rightfully gets his nose cut open for being nosy, which counters the idea of him being brave or being a hero in any sense.

Chinatown has subtly made multiple references to the classical noir period, such as the venetian blinds, mystery, untrustworthiness, subjective view to the story, violence, good vs. evil. It might be said that Chinatown contrasts with the Classical Noir films in certain respects and in others one can’t really say, which gives you a sense of mystery in just exploring this notion. Maybe Chinatown is Neo-Noir, maybe not, nobody knows... Forget it, It’s Chinatown.

Filmography:

• Chinatown, Directed by Roman Polanski,a Paramount Picture, Copyright 1974 Long Road Productions.

New Media, New Journalists?

In the following essay, by using a collection of Facebook and Twitter updates. I will consider how members of the public in South Africa used social networking sites to respond to the events in Hout Bay on 21 September 2010. In conjunction to this, I will consider the activities of reworking, linking and remixing media tell us about new processes of agenda setting and ‘gatewatching’. Lastly I will be exploring, how should we view the role of this ‘networked public’ given South Africa’s unequal distribution of internet access.

One of the first things that I notice about the status updates and tweets is that, information is often reworked into the person’s own words, but validity is often proven by these gatewatchers by referencing/linking the information back to reliable news sources such as Commercial Networks, sometimes references are made to amateurs but even the amateurs when the link path is followed also references commercial networks to substantiate their work. 

Esa Alexander check out slideshow http://multimedia.timeslive.co.za/photos/2010/09/fifteen-metro-cops-injured-in-hout-bay/ multimedia.timeslive.co.za Violence broke out in Hangberg, as angry residents fought back authorities for dismantling their illegal dwellings. Photographer Esa Alexander was there to Fifteen metro cops injured in Hout Bay | Times LIVE Multimedia.

#pigswatters RT @News24: 15 metro cops hurt in Hout Bay http://n24.cm/ccSJRy

The way that news is reworked and redistributed by civilians through social networking platforms, in my opinion changes the way agenda’s are set. Whereas before social networking or social reporting was done on such a grand scale, agenda’s would be set by large media companies and/or governments. This might still be the case but it is much harder to control what the public will accept as the dominant agenda, as it will be discussed,disputed and or reworked by the online social networkers. Which subtracts from the idea that commercial news media has over-all control over the dominant agenda of the country.

There would also not be a wide variety of agendas in circulation, now with the arrival of citizen journalism subscribers are no longer people that you don’t know, they are most probably your friends and family, which makes the relationship between the informant/journalist and audience much more personal and subjective than that with commercial news media and their audience. And by using new media as their platform of information distribution, audiences are now capable of interacting directly to the writer or informer, by commenting on the subject. Which often evolves into a discussion platform, by which anyone on the network has the ability to discuss their personal views on what is happening   (knowledge commons).

Before Social Networked News Reporting, Newspapers were actively selecting what news, was fit for the public interest. Now the public have the opportunity to select what news they would like to know more about. Which moves away from commercial news media, where news is more broadly defined and often based on a general idea of public interest. News broadcast over social networking platforms, by citizens have often been focused on what happens locally and targets niche opinions and or interests within that network.

 Because everyone can participate in the gathering and reporting on news in social networks, it give audiences the opportunity to query about a specific topic and recieve multiple awnsers from different sources, that sometimes correspond with each other, which could be used as method to determine vadility of reports. For example the majority corresponding views can be seen as the most valid news report. The only problem that I find in the tweets and updates by citizens about the hout bay incident are more than often subjective views and not facts “ im glad ppl are protesting in hout bay” 
(Mariapodesta/twitter)

@BiancadaSilva23 What's going on in Hout Bay? 

@Cape_Royale knew Hout Bay was brewing http://bit.ly/beVAGP via 

@News24

@CapeTown there's a lot of violence in the suburb of Hout Bay

’Apartheid-style’ Hout Bay removals slammed: #South Africa Angy #Hangberg residents put up a formidable figh... http://tinyurl.com/2cea54f

As mentioned above the use of social networks to broadcast news by citizens changes the way in which citizens interact with news stories. A reaction to news broadcast on social networks is often public discussion, which in my opinion creates a common room, where all who have access to social media, are able to comment and express their opinions. The common room is a progressive democratic platform, where the public can become highly mobilized and well informed about what is happening in their surrounding areas and beyond. It may be that Social Networking Platforms may mobilize the public, but I have also noted that in certain cases that certain issues are discussed within the online realm and nothing is done outside of the discussion about the problem.

The question arrises, “how should we view the role of this ‘networked public’ given South Africa’s unequal distribution of internet access?”  As South Africa’s internet penetration is still very small and even if infrastructure is set in place, there is also the question whether the public are computer literate enough to use the social networking recourses for citizen journalism. Currently we can view the networked public as a very small minority of the country, who can afford to have internet access, who can read and write, who have the right skills to use computers and use the internet. In ideal circumstances online citizen journalism would be a great democratic forum for information and participation.  Presently it is merely a niche news platform for the educated and middle and upper class minorities of South Africa. 

As the country progresses we might see the day when citizen journalism is seen as a reliable and valid method of news and information sourcing. For now, it is best that they  reference or substantiate their arguments with commercial networks reports and sources, until that day my studies in media will still mean something.

Bibliography

• Facebook Twitter Hout Bay. Pdf , University of Cape Town 2010, Film and Media Department.