Difference between revisions of "Domestic Melodrama Since World War II (Discussion)"

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(Re-arranged, based on 2010 Melodrama article)
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==Readings==
+
'''Pre-War vs. Post-War Melodrama'''
===Christine Gledhill===
+
 
#'''Group 3:''' How did melodrama become "respectable" in academic circles? In particular, what does it mean to "read" a film "against the grain" (p. 6)?
+
'''''Juno'' (directed by Jason Reitman, written by Diablo Cody, 2007)'''
#'''Group 4:''' What four "points of tension" does Gledhill see in 1970s film criticism about melodrama?
+
#Compare/contrast ''Juno'' with ''Imitation of Life''. How does ''Juno'' use (or not) themes from 1930s melodrama? How does it compare/contrast with ''Ordinary People''?
#'''Group 1:''' Gledhill discusses ''Coma, Witness'', and ''The Color Purple'' as melodramas descended from silent melodrama such as ''Way Down East'' (1920).  What key aspects of melodrama does she see in these newer films? Can you think of recent films or TV programs that also contain these aspects?
+
#*'''Group 4:''' How are mothers represented? Specifically, how would you characterize the relationship between mothers and their children? Abortion was a taboo subject under the Production Code and thus forbidden in pre-War melodrama. How does ''Juno'' 's handling of abortion fit into themes of mothers and children?
#'''All Groups:''' What were "patent theaters"?  How did "illegitimate" theaters get around the restrictions of the patent system? When were restrictions lifted in England and France?
+
#*'''Group 1:''' How is the theme of sacrifice represented?
 +
#*'''Group 2:''' How is the conflict between domestic love and romantic love represented?
 +
#*'''Group 3:''' How is the iconography of the middle-class (or UPPER middle class) home represented? What does this iconography mean?
 +
 
 +
{{Gallery
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|title=''Juno''.
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|width=400
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|lines=1
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|align=center
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|File:Junoqq00 27 37qq22444.jpg|alt1=Frame grab of the Lorings' house.|The Lorings' house.
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}}
 +
 
 +
'''Christine Gledhill'''
 +
 
 +
#'''Group 4:''' How did melodrama become "respectable" in academic circles? In particular, what does it mean to "read" a film "against the grain" (p. 6)?
 +
#'''Group 1:''' What four "points of tension" does Gledhill see in 1970s film criticism about melodrama?
 +
#'''Group 2:''' Gledhill discusses ''Coma, Witness'', and ''The Color Purple'' as melodramas descended from silent melodrama such as ''Way Down East'' (1920).  What key aspects of melodrama does she see in these newer films? Can you think of recent films or TV programs that also contain these aspects?
 +
#'''Group 3:''' What were "patent theaters"?  How did "illegitimate" theaters get around the restrictions of the patent system? When were restrictions lifted in England and France?
 +
 
 +
'''Thomas Elsaesser'''
  
===Thomas Elsaesser===
 
 
Pronounced "ell-SASS-sir".
 
Pronounced "ell-SASS-sir".
 
#Elsaesser's article has two goals:
 
#Elsaesser's article has two goals:
 
##Tracing the "melodramatic imagination".
 
##Tracing the "melodramatic imagination".
 
##Searching for "some structural and stylistic constants" in the melodrama, 1940-1963.
 
##Searching for "some structural and stylistic constants" in the melodrama, 1940-1963.
#'''Group 2:''' Considering #2 above: What does Elsaesser mean by melodrama's "expressive code" (p. 51)? In particular, what does he mean when he says that melodrama contains "a sublimation of dramatic conflict into decor, colour, gesture and composition of frame" (p. 52)?
+
#Considering #2 above: What does Elsaesser mean by melodrama's "expressive code" (p. 51)? In particular, what does he mean when he says that melodrama contains "a sublimation of dramatic conflict into decor, colour, gesture and composition of frame" (p. 52)?
 
#*The melodramas we've seen so far (''Ordinary People'', ''Imitation of Life'', and ''Juno'') mostly do ''not'' illustrate his point.  Can you explain why they do not?  We will have to wait until the Sirk version of ''Imitation of Life'' to see this sublimation in action in the melodrama, but how might this same point be made about film noir?
 
#*The melodramas we've seen so far (''Ordinary People'', ''Imitation of Life'', and ''Juno'') mostly do ''not'' illustrate his point.  Can you explain why they do not?  We will have to wait until the Sirk version of ''Imitation of Life'' to see this sublimation in action in the melodrama, but how might this same point be made about film noir?
#'''All Groups:''' Elsaesser uses numerous Freudian concepts in this article, especially in the section titled, "Where Freud left his Marx in the American home" (p. 58-). Can you define any of these and can you explain how Elsasser is applying these concepts to melodrama?
+
#Elsaesser uses numerous Freudian concepts in this article, especially in the section titled, "Where Freud left his Marx in the American home" (p. 58-). Can you define any of these and can you explain how Elsasser is applying these concepts to melodrama?
 
#*''Fehlhandlungen'', or Freudian slips (from ''Psychopathology of Everyday Life'')
 
#*''Fehlhandlungen'', or Freudian slips (from ''Psychopathology of Everyday Life'')
 
#*Displacement
 
#*Displacement
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#*Latent dream content
 
#*Latent dream content
  
==''Juno''==
+
==External links==
#Compare/contrast ''Juno'' with ''Imitation of Life''? How does ''Juno'' use (or not) themes from 1930s melodrama?
+
#[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T440/JunoPix/index.htm ''Juno'' illustrations.]
#*How are mothers represented?
 
#*How is the theme of sacrifice represented?
 
#*How is the conflict between domestic love and romantic love represented?
 
#*How is the iconography of the middle-class (or UPPER middle class) home represented? What does it mean?
 
#**See [http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T440/JunoPix/index.htm frame captures from ''Juno'']
 
  
 
== Bibliography ==
 
== Bibliography ==
 +
#Molly Haskell, "The Woman's Film," in ''From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies'' (New York: Penguin, 1974; revised edition 1987) 153-188.
 
#Christine Gledhill, "The Melodrama Field: An Investigation," ''Home is Where the Heart Is: Studies in Melodrama and Woman's Film'', ed. Christine Gledhill (London: British Film Institute, 1987) 5-39.
 
#Christine Gledhill, "The Melodrama Field: An Investigation," ''Home is Where the Heart Is: Studies in Melodrama and Woman's Film'', ed. Christine Gledhill (London: British Film Institute, 1987) 5-39.
#Thomas Elsaesser, "Tales of Sound and Fury: Observations on the Family Melodrama," ''Home is Where the Heart Is: Studies in Melodrama and Woman's Film'', ed. Christine Gledhill (London: British Film Institute, 1987) 43-69.  
+
#Thomas Elsaesser, "Tales of Sound and Fury: Observations on the Family Melodrama," ''Home is Where the Heart Is: Studies in Melodrama and Woman's Film'', ed. Christine Gledhill (London: British Film Institute, 1987) 43-69.
  
 
[[Category:TCF440/540 Discussion]]
 
[[Category:TCF440/540 Discussion]]

Revision as of 15:01, 31 March 2014

Pre-War vs. Post-War Melodrama

Juno (directed by Jason Reitman, written by Diablo Cody, 2007)

  1. Compare/contrast Juno with Imitation of Life. How does Juno use (or not) themes from 1930s melodrama? How does it compare/contrast with Ordinary People?
    • Group 4: How are mothers represented? Specifically, how would you characterize the relationship between mothers and their children? Abortion was a taboo subject under the Production Code and thus forbidden in pre-War melodrama. How does Juno 's handling of abortion fit into themes of mothers and children?
    • Group 1: How is the theme of sacrifice represented?
    • Group 2: How is the conflict between domestic love and romantic love represented?
    • Group 3: How is the iconography of the middle-class (or UPPER middle class) home represented? What does this iconography mean?

Template:Gallery

Christine Gledhill

  1. Group 4: How did melodrama become "respectable" in academic circles? In particular, what does it mean to "read" a film "against the grain" (p. 6)?
  2. Group 1: What four "points of tension" does Gledhill see in 1970s film criticism about melodrama?
  3. Group 2: Gledhill discusses Coma, Witness, and The Color Purple as melodramas descended from silent melodrama such as Way Down East (1920). What key aspects of melodrama does she see in these newer films? Can you think of recent films or TV programs that also contain these aspects?
  4. Group 3: What were "patent theaters"? How did "illegitimate" theaters get around the restrictions of the patent system? When were restrictions lifted in England and France?

Thomas Elsaesser

Pronounced "ell-SASS-sir".

  1. Elsaesser's article has two goals:
    1. Tracing the "melodramatic imagination".
    2. Searching for "some structural and stylistic constants" in the melodrama, 1940-1963.
  2. Considering #2 above: What does Elsaesser mean by melodrama's "expressive code" (p. 51)? In particular, what does he mean when he says that melodrama contains "a sublimation of dramatic conflict into decor, colour, gesture and composition of frame" (p. 52)?
    • The melodramas we've seen so far (Ordinary People, Imitation of Life, and Juno) mostly do not illustrate his point. Can you explain why they do not? We will have to wait until the Sirk version of Imitation of Life to see this sublimation in action in the melodrama, but how might this same point be made about film noir?
  3. Elsaesser uses numerous Freudian concepts in this article, especially in the section titled, "Where Freud left his Marx in the American home" (p. 58-). Can you define any of these and can you explain how Elsasser is applying these concepts to melodrama?
    • Fehlhandlungen, or Freudian slips (from Psychopathology of Everyday Life)
    • Displacement
    • Condensation
    • Manifest dream content
    • Latent dream content

External links

  1. Juno illustrations.

Bibliography

  1. Molly Haskell, "The Woman's Film," in From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies (New York: Penguin, 1974; revised edition 1987) 153-188.
  2. Christine Gledhill, "The Melodrama Field: An Investigation," Home is Where the Heart Is: Studies in Melodrama and Woman's Film, ed. Christine Gledhill (London: British Film Institute, 1987) 5-39.
  3. Thomas Elsaesser, "Tales of Sound and Fury: Observations on the Family Melodrama," Home is Where the Heart Is: Studies in Melodrama and Woman's Film, ed. Christine Gledhill (London: British Film Institute, 1987) 43-69.