124264 KO Critical Media Analysis (2012S)

This course takes as its basis a critical viewing position that understands that how we see affects what we see. We apply this to the central binary of modern culture and media studies between the dominant discourse subject (construed as European and male) and the object (women, minorities and foreigners). Taking as a starting point Laura Mulvey’s seminal essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” (1975), the course presents key terms of viewing perspective and cinematic technique and applies it to
several well-known films considered mainstream for their cinematic strategies and target Western audience.
The Piano (1993) and Bride and Prejudice (2004), which look at the sexualised role of women and modern-day Western values of sexual equality and agency.
Eyes Wide Shut (1999) and Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) to discuss the market economy of desire and issues of fetishism and transgression.
Whale Rider (2003) and Slumdog Millionaire (2008) to consider the exotic portrayal of indigenous Maori and low-caste Indian communities packaged for mainstream Western audiences.
The Last Samurai (2003) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) which exoticise history and sensationalise traditions to create a nostalgia for the past.