Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Tarnation


    Tarnation was quite an interesting documentary to watch. It was both fascinating yet disturbing at the same time. Further, it appeared to have no structure other than chronological time when watching it for the first time. It wasn’t until after I had done the readings and critically thought about it that I was able to form my own opinion on John Caouette semi-autobiography.

Picture Perfect Family
    Unlike traditional documentaries Caouette’s documentary seemed rather surreal. The fact that Caouette suffered from ‘depersonalization disorder,’ “feelings of disconnection from his own body and constant intimations of unreality” (Arthur, 880), definitely gave the film it’s unique perspective. As Caouette once stated “I conceive the film as a new way of looking at documentary, as though it were imitating my thought process, giving the audience the experience of seeing what it was like to be inside my head” (Arthur, 880). This unique perspective while one could argue that this makes Caouette “prone to unreliable narration” (Arthur, 880), I think this allowed him to film and capture things we would never otherwise see. “Home movies have been characterized as providing highly selective, idealized glimpses of family life” (Orgeron, 48).

Caouette - Role Playing
    Caouette’s film not only captures the flaws and secrets within his family but it also allows him to better understand himself and his disorder, “the film ends up exposing Jonathan’s, suggesting throughout that video has become his primary way of knowing, interacting, understanding, and finding out” (Orgeron, 55). Moreover, filming himself and his family through his perspective allows Caouette to express himself in a healthy and safe manner. “Narrative is used as a therapeutic process” (Arthur, 872). We see how the camera has helped Caouette early on, before he used the camera as a coping mechanism he resorted to drugs and violence as his outlet which resulted in being hospitalized a few times. By expressing himself through another character, role playing with his family, or just simply talking or listening to another family member talk to the camera Caouette embraced the disorder that surrounds him, and attempts to aestheticize it (Orgeron, 55). And this is what made the film so surreal. The fact that Caouette used a camera in attempt to make sense and somehow to bring order to the chaos he was experiencing through his disorder and his far from picture-perfect family.

    This film shows that while a camera is an invasive object, it’s sometimes is the only way to make sense of your surroundings and overcome obstacles. Further, Caouette’s presentation of his family through his own perspective, not only allows us (the viewers) to connect or sympathize with him because we can relate to some of the experiences, but it also shows us how Caouette overcame a great deal of hardship (his mother’s overdose, hospitalization and his disorder) to become the successful person he is today.

Work Cited List:
Arthur, P.. (2007). THE MOVING PICTURE CURE: Self-Therapy Documentaries. Psychoanalytic 
            Review, 94(6), 865-85.  Retrieved December 8, 2010, from ProQuest Psychology Journals.

Orgeron, Devin, and Marsha Orgeron. "Familial Pursuits, Editorial Acts: Documentaries after the Age
              of Home Video." Velvet Light Trap. 60. (2007): 48-56. Print.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Superstar

 I think superstar was by far one of the unique films I have ever seen. Unlike mainstream biographical specials aired on television, this film took biographies of celebrities to a whole new level. Haynes used both barbies and real footage of people, buildings, television shows etc. To narrate an unglamorous and rather accurate story of Karen Carpenter’s rise to fame, fight with anorexia and her eventual death. The use of barbie dolls enabled Haynes to do two things: have ultimate control over the bodies of his ‘performers’ (Desjardins, 33) and provide us (the audience) with an alternative objective and abstract portrayal of Karen’s life.

Similarities between Barbie & Anorexic bodies
    By using barbie dolls, Haynes was able to take on the role of the hegemonic control of Hollywood. Due to the ubiquitous nature of media the message being instilled into our minds is ‘thin is beautiful’ so, with the rise to fame, Karen was expected to adhere to Hollywood’s standards, especially, if she wanted to stay in the spotlight. This marked the beginning of Karen’s long battle with anorexia since “the processes and achievement of stardom and anorexia each involve discipline, surveillance, and hyper-visualization of the body, the conceptualization of perfection and the attainment of ideas” (Desjardins, 32). Haynes, playing the hegemonic force controlling Karen used this “unlimited power over his ‘performers’ bodies by somewhat aggressively (cutting [and] burning) the dolls thus calling attention to and critiquing how little power female stars have [over their own bodies]” (Desjardins, 33).


We can see their faces to reveal emotions we can relate to
    “The film’s use of dolls and dollhouses suggest that the staging of identity can simultaneously reify the subject and engage her in a death-in-life process” (Desjardins, 28). This reminded me of the musical Broadway ‘The Lion King’. Large masks were created so that the audience could recognize each character. But, to connect with them on an emotional level and to present a more realistic portrayal of the story, the masks were purposely made not to conceal the face, but rather to reveal human qualities and facial expressions. This, in a sense, provides the audiences an alternative and perhaps more emotive form of telling the story.

    Unlike the Lion King, which used masks to help portray a more conventional story line in which we can relate to the characters, Haynes uses props, doll animation and live action featuring ‘real people’ and presents them through an artisanal mode of production thus playing with the conventions of documentary, biopic, and woman’s film (Desjardins, 37). He did this so that we (the audience) would engage with the film through an objective point of view rather than be coaxed to identify with the characters and their ideologies through conventional narratives (Desjardins, 44) the way Hollywood does. However, in addition to coaxing us to relate to the characters Hollywood would take the conventional narrative a step further by somehow making this tragic story end on a more positive note and make sure that the industry itself is not blamed for the death of Karen Carpenter. So as one can see, Haynes use of barbie dolls not only enabled him to present an accurate story, but it helped him reveal a dark side of Hollywood.

Work Cited List:
Desjardins, Mary. "The Incredible Shrinking Star: Todd Haynes and the Case History of Karen Carpenter." Camera Obscura 
           57. Ed. Andrea Fontenot . North Carolina, United States: Duke University Press , 2004. Print.