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SELMA + FRANCES HA - SPECTATORSHIP THEORIES - Coggle Diagram
SELMA + FRANCES HA - SPECTATORSHIP THEORIES
SPECTATORSHIP
- Positioning the audience (POV, binary opps) to guide their emotional and intellectual reaction
In Selma, spectatorship has been used to provoke an audience reaction and educate them on how to protest
Spectatorship after the death of Jimmy Lee Jackson
CORONER'S OFFICE - Seeing King meeting Jackson's dad distressed produces
TEARS
Stark, white light stands out from the rest of the sophisticated and saturated browns and yellows of the rest of the film, peeking the audience's interest
Long takes refuses the audience a chance to look away
Cut to MLK giving an impassioned speech, provoking
OUTRAGE
With our cultural capital about King, we can understand that he was an intelligent and charismatic leader, so the audience can trust him with the words that he says
Cut to King and his team discussing legislation change, proving
ORGANISATION
They could cut to some chaotic riots, but instead ADV chooses to present King's team as sophisticated and intelligent instead of angry drones
Cut to King meeting LBJ, taking
ACTION
The way that each scene is organised emotionally provokes the audience, and then teaches them how to take action
ACTIVE AUDIENCES / THEORIES
When the audience are forced to think about the film
ACTIVE MOMENTS IN SELMA:
When Malcolm X shows ups and challenges King's ideology, and the audience question if King's ideology truly works
When King turns away, and his team question if it was the right thing to do: nobody is given a definitive answer.
ACTIVE THEORIES:
BLUMER AND KATZ
: We choose to seek out media products for our own personal uses
Information
(watching Selma to find out more about MLK and the civil rights movement)
Forming our personal identity
(wanting to be like MLK, or to want to be a social justice activist and you want to learn how)
Enhance social interaction
(oscar buzz and critical acclaim would convince someone to watch it because everyone's talking about it)
Entertainment
(you wouldn't really want to watch a tough, realistic biopic for entertainment)
PASSIVE AUDIENCES / THEORIES
When the audience reacts the way they're supposed to
Most of Selma is pretty passive, where the audience aren't really challenged if racism is right or wrong and the emotions are manipulated for them
PASSIVE THEORIES:
HYPODERMIC NEEDLE: When the messages and values of the film are "injected" into the minds of the audience
COPYCAT THEORY: Similar to hypodermic needle, where the audiences copy the actions they see onscreen
OPINION LEADERS: Characters onscreen are influencers for how someone / everyone should behave
In a way, the audience wants us to passively follow the acts of MLK because there's plenty of time dedicated to him being an ordinary and relatable man, making the audience feel connected to him and that they can also do extraordinary things.
MULTIPLE SPECTATING SELVES: Different parts of ourselves enjoy media products for different reasons
Our social element would enjoy talking about the film afterwards
Our cultural selves would gain pleasure from being able to recognise parts of the civil rights movement they're aware of (AKA our
CULTURAL CAPITAL
)
Our private self would read the film completely differently to other people based on our experiences, thoughts and feelings; this is different for everyone.
The desiring self (both conscious and unconscious) would watch a film for reasons beyond context (eg actors, genres, stories, directors, acclaim)
LACAN MIRROR THEORY: The sensation that happens when a 6 to 18 month old infant recognises themself in the mirror.
The theory has been adapted into media through if the film we are watching represents and mirrors ourselves, everyone, or as many people as possible.
ALTMAN'S PLEASURES: There are 3 main feelings / pleasures when we watch a film:
VISCERAL: Shock, or the unexpected
EMOTIONAL: Crying, euphoria, joy
INTELLECTUAL: Actively watching the film and investigating it's meanings and methods
THE BIG ONE
: COGNITIVE THEORY by Murray Smith, where we emotionally connect and side with a character through 3 stages:
RECOGNITION: recognising the film's protagonist instead of them being a side character
ALIGNMENT: we agree with the protagonist through morally correct actions we agree with
This is done through 2 methods: spatio (space) temporal attachment (eg close ups and spending significant time with the characters) and subjective access: spending time with them alone
ALLEGIANCE: a moral evaluation of the character, and if our moral attachment to them changes over time
We already have a cultural and moral awareness of MLK, and mainstream beliefs align with his (for most of the audience). ADV instead hooks us with King by turning him from a myth into a man:
The first scene of the film is King talking to Corrie (his wife) about the tie he wears
King consistently makes mistakes before and during the film (like cheating, losing hope and internal struggles)
King consistently talking with friends, family and colleagues in private places.
SUTURE / STITCH: Techniques used by directors to immerse and invest the audience into the film
PHYSICAL SUTURING: physically immersing the audience in the perspective of the character (eg POVs, long takes, hearing what the character wants, extreme close ups)
EMOTIONAL SUTURING: creating characters that are sympathetic, have positive traits and or are relatable (eg Annie Lee Cooper's introduction in Selma)
MORAL SUTURING: identifying with the characters through the morals and decisions they make (eg selfless and generous protagonists are usually the ones that most audiences agree with)
Audiences can disagree with a character through their motives, technically making this an active theory instead of passive
METZ: The reason that films are so popular is because it can be both "an imperfect reflection of reality and a method to delve into the unconscious dream state"
In other words, the idea of human ideals
passively
being displayed onscreen, in a dream-like trance
Selma fits into this, but at times it also doesn't: there's plenty of shocking moments of racist violence (eg the opening bombing, the whole bridge sequence) but sometimes the audience isn't really challenged to pay attention to think about the filmmaking process or the films morals, comparably so to something like Vivre Sa Vie
IMPORTANT QUOTES FOR BOTH FILMS
Selma
"PROVOKE SOCIAL ACTION" - ADV
“My hope is that people will watch this film and feel compelled to read, not just about Dr King but about the civil rights movement” - DO
“We all feel like we know who King is, but actually we don’t” - DO
''To make a film about the civil rights movement and not include women is to lie'' - ADV
“This film is telling you who [King] really was as a person: he had an ego, he had stress, he was a tactician, he was a man” - ADV
When you see that people died for this right [to vote]... I think it would make young people think twice about taking that privilege for granted” - DO
