Hi guys and gals,
Well, I took a lot of notes about the relationship on what is actually happening and what the audience sees in the movie. There are a lot of scenes with two screens, one being filmed and one not being filmed, and how the actions are different depending on whether or not they are being watched.
I think the instances in the control room go along similar lines of the two TV screens. In the beginning, when the plant is shuttering, Jack keeps telling the people in the observation deck that every thing is fine. But really it's not. And Michael Douglas films Jack's body language without anyone knowing. We see a clear difference between what he says and the reaction he gives.
So there is always a level of performance when communicating with others that I think the movie shows really well. And it reminds me of how the indian commercial is an act and has ulterior motives as well.
I don't know. I am just having trouble picking up some Toxicity theories to connect this to. I've been looking at a lot of Buell. I think I might have confused myself more over this post. But it's 5:10, so "publish"!
If everyone hates this idea I have backups I can explain in class better.
Bis bald!
You could use that one scene as a springboard into the ways in which the films shows "performances" of normal conditions at the power plant. Why, then, does the film want to highlight those moments when we know for sure that all is not well, but the characters act as if it's all fine?
ReplyDeleteThat would also work well.
Which one scene should be my springboard? The screens or the barrier sequences? I think I like the screens better, so I would introduce it with the barrier, ja? Then talk about the perception and the performance of the media? Hmmm. Much to consider, I have.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like it's going back to our Uncertainty discussion. Interessante.
You alluded above to the scene in which what we SEE (through Richard's camera) is different than what Jack feels. That is, we see a discrepancy between the visible situation and the narrative given to it.
ReplyDeleteReally for your paper, though, you could just focus on the opening gambit of the film. You could discuss how the film opens with a split screen--presumably inside a TV studio. Still, it's more than just verisimilitude. It raises questions regarding the real and the artificial, the unmediated and the mediated reality, that remain present throughout the film. Why?