From Cagney and Lacey to Law and order: Women in the workplace as seen on TV
Thesis - 8 pages - Film studies
“Do you have kids, Detective Benson?” asks the pleading face of a father, guilty of murdering his son's rapist. Detective Olivia Benson's eyes glaze over with a familiar look of longing, and the audience sees her softening to the man, letting out a breath while muttering “No.”...
I'm at the 'Window':A look at voyeurism in the cinema and society
Thesis - 5 pages - Film studies
We all carry certain expectations with us when we go see a film at the theater. We expect the room to be dark, though we make exceptions for the beam from the projector behind us, the track lights showing us to our seats. We expect quiet, hence the ads preceding the feature presentation that...
The social commentary of anarchy and romance
Thesis - 4 pages - Film studies
The “modern” comedy can trace is roots back through a number of places. From as far back as Ancient Greece comedy has been one of the most pleasurable forms of entertainment. From the plays of Shakespeare, to the vaudeville era, and all the way into Hollywood's silent era, comedy...
Rocking the boat: How NBC's 30 Rock is subtly stirring things up
Thesis - 15 pages - Film studies
In the summer of 2006, Tina Fey announced her departure from Saturday Night Live after six seasons as the head-writer of the legendary late night sketch show. She had decided to pursue a new ambition, a primetime sitcom based in part on her experiences working at SNL. That show would become 30...
Alienation in "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Happy Together"
Thesis - 5 pages - Film studies
The turmoil surrounding the ending of a relationship is universal. For this reason t is well-covered territory in popular culture. Tales of heartbreak and reconciliation are a staple of the Hollywood film industry. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and Happy Together (1997) both...
Leaders of the New Wave: An essay on Louis Malle and Jean-Luc Godard
Thesis - 4 pages - Film studies
Jean Cocteau once wrote, "true realism consists of revealing the surprising things which habit keeps covered and prevents us from seeing." But where do we find this "true realism?" Since our reality is blinded by our habit, daily rituals, obligations, and preconceived notions, it seems fruitless...
The African-American cinema: Between protest and integration - publié le 13/01/2009
Thesis - 4 pages - Film studies
The invention of cinema happened at the very same time as the establishment of the segregation in the South. This social and political system, which advocated prejudices and inequality of races, is definitely going to stigmatize the nature of the relationships between the American cinema and the...
The representation of American teenagers in films during the 1950s and 1990s - publié le 12/01/2009
Thesis - 13 pages - Film studies
The ‘teen film', ‘teen flick' or ‘teenpic' has changed since the 1950s when it started to define itself through Juvenile delinquency films. As was recently commented, ‘the teen flick has lost its shiny innocence and become a cynical brute' (Maher; 2006: 13). Over the course of...
Representations of gender and sexuality in films - publié le 12/01/2009
Thesis - 7 pages - Film studies
‘The street's getting worse everyday here. The whores were bad enough but the drags are wiping us out. I can't stand the drags. (…). They confuse transvestism with a circus. Worse, with mime'. In All About My Mother (Almodovar; 1999), the character Agrado stresses the importance of...
The X-files (1993-2002) - A cult text - publié le 12/01/2009
Thesis - 7 pages - Film studies
The X-Files (1993-2002), about two government agents investigating unsolved cases relating to paranormal activities, was a quality drama which became a cult hit with audiences and subsequently an international cultural phenomenon, generating vast amounts of secondary texts including merchandise...
Postmodernism and cinema - publié le 09/01/2009
Thesis - 7 pages - Film studies
‘It's about flights of fantasy, and the nightmare of reality, terrorist bombings, and late night shopping, true love, and creative plumbing.' (Gilliam; 1985). This tagline for the film Brazil highlights most of the concepts present in postmodernist criticism of cinema and television. Indeed,...
The Wicker Man: Challenging the Audience, Transcending the Genre
Thesis - 5 pages - Film studies
A horror movie does not work unless it is frightening. A meek horror film is as ineffective as an unfunny comedy or an uninteresting drama. If a horror film succeeds at being scary, then, by definition, the filmmakers behind it have accomplished what they set out to make. The difference between a...
Fellini's Otto e mezzo
Thesis - 5 pages - Film studies
Since the dawn of cinema, there have been numerous film directors who have garnered the reputation of innovator, auteur, even genius of the medium. Only three directors, however, have created such unmistakably identifiable styles as to warrant film terminologies based on their very names. Alfred...
American Psycho's Killer Gaze
Thesis - 3 pages - Film studies
Jacques Lacan's description of the Other is that which gazes on you or exerts power on you, yet does not truly exist; the Other is an imagined gaze that is constantly looking over you (Willemen, 216). In the film American Psycho (2000), screenwriter and director Mary Harron personifies the...
