Therapy and Innocence
Film is the one area where my tastes are as close to popular as they get. I was raised on B movies, comedies and action blockbusters; if I laugh or buildings get blown up, it’s a winner. Over the years, my gross and gore factor has been toned down a lot, by virtue of maturity. Eventually this process will conclude and I’ll end up like my grandfather, who watches only romantic comedies or anything with Harrison Ford (excepting Blade Runner).
I’ve made attempts (and have had attempts made on my behalf) to raise the film bar, but it’s met with limited success. I feel that one of the reasons I’m so hesitant is that the few films which get through to me do so with such ferocity. I saw Salo seven years ago, and it is still etched in my mind. It’s not the that films are bad (far from it), it’s that I myself don’t have the ability to filter; I don’t know if I have the fortitude to handle another Salo.
This has led to something of a film neurosis on my part. When I become rich, I’ll see a therapist and cure myself, but in the meantime, I will continue to see “my kind” of films, with occasional forays into the frightening world of “art movies.” I finally watched that copy of The Seven Samurai I bought last year. I don’t have a problem. Really.
I digress. Yesterday, we wandered through the rain to catch a showing of Mamoru Oshii’s newest, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. This was being played in the art cinema close to us, which instantly set my warning systems on alert. “These people frown upon your movies. They are better than you.” the place seemed to whisper ominously as I passed posters for The Brown Bunny and Orange County. I dove into the theater to find myself surrounded by anime fanfolk; strangers here too. My fears were placated somewhat. I enjoyed a stark remix of Tom Wait’s Filipino Box Spring Hog while the movie waited to start (I’ll give the art cinema the better music).
What I like about certain Japanese films (in particular Oshii’s) is that they can bring into play more “serious” themes without triggering my phobia. This film was about the concept of dolls and our relation with them, and as the gun-toting cyborgs ran interference I found myself having a great time. The animation was superb, and was used in a way that furthered the story rather than just as a technical “look what we can do.” The more surreal the story, the more photorealistic the images, until they managed to bust through realism into something else entirely.
September 20th, 2004 at 11:29 am
“These people frown upon your movies. They are better than you.”
Heh, I posted something related a couple of days ago. It’s something that’s been on my mind the past few days.
I still haven’t seen Ghost in the Shell 2 yet. I almost found the first one to be too preacy, though it was beautifully constructed. I don’t know if you’ve seen Spirited Away, but I thought it was absolutely gorgeous. A beautiful story…you might enjoy it.
I was wondering if you still had a copy of that old paper you did back in high school(?) cataloging honk kong martial arts movies? I’ve always been interested in what your thoughts were, and since I’m sort of developing a critical theory of reading movement I thought it might be a useful read as well.
September 20th, 2004 at 11:38 am
I have a copy of Spirited Away on my shelf, matter of fact.
I don’t believe I have anything at all paperwise from before ‘96. Packratdom only extends so far.
As far as I can remember regarding the kung-fu, I developed this theory if you can call it that, after extensive research in the form of Saturday morning kung-fu theater. Thinking back, it was pretty much a Levi-Straussian reduction to the main plot elements, in which the hero gets revenge and either dies or doesn’t.
September 20th, 2004 at 7:05 pm
I have a copy of Spirited Away on my shelf, matter of fact.
Really? What did you think about it?
I don’t believe I have anything at all paperwise from before ‘96. Packratdom only extends so far.
Well, I thought I’d try anyway. Been thinking alot about Asian theatre in general, especially how their performative mode is so very different than (for the most part) textually based theatres of the European tradition. They way you had described it to me way back when–it actually brought to mind Vladimir Propp’s narrative formalism.
September 20th, 2004 at 8:25 pm
Lovely film. I’m a fan of Miyazaki as well. His work is definitely a lot softer than Oshii’s, perhaps a bit more intuitive than intellectual.
I wasn’t familiar with Propp until you pointed him out, as I only touched on literary theory in passing, but you’re right, it was a lot like that. I’ve tossed Morphology of the Folktale onto my to-buy list. Now I’m curious as to the fundamental differences between Levi-Strauss and Propp.
September 21st, 2004 at 2:44 pm
His work is definitely a lot softer than Oshii’s, perhaps a bit more intuitive than intellectual.
That’s probably a good way to put it. For some reason I firt watched it in Japanese with subtitles–I promptly forgot about the second DVD having the english dub, so I was completely immersed in Miyazaki’s world.
I think you might want to look up Levi-Straus’ “Structure and Form: Reflections on a Work by Vladimir Propp”–Levi-Strauss helped to bring Propp’s works to the West since it was another victim of Soviet censorship because of it’s formalism. I’m not sure how much Propp’s work has been influenced by Saussure and it’s hard to say how much the latter influenced the Russian formalists, but I have thought some of Levi-Stauss’s ideas seemed to echo Propp as well as Jacobson and Saussure.
Have fun with Morphology of the Folktale, it’s actually a pretty quick read–and several academics have used it to analyse Star Wars (almost too many)…