Fishtank paragraphs
How useful has an ideological critical approach been in understanding binary oppositions in the narratives of your chosen films?
(When looking at the films from a perspective of intense study,
what can you find about the director's ideologies of binary opposition in the narrative etc)
Applying an ideological critical approach to Fishtank, the spectator can observe binary opposition that stems from the Oedipal trajectory, Father figure Vs sexual partner in Narrative. In the scene wherein Connor and Joanne have sexual relations, the repeated sound of Mia slamming her door gives the spectator insight into Mia's perspective of jealousy, to the extent she seeks attention from Connor. The sound is disruptive, hinting that Mia desires Connor and Joanne to cease having sexual relations. This refers to the aspect of the Freudian theory of the Oedipus complex wherein females are sexually attracted to the father; the anger insinuated by the sound of the slamming door reflects Mia's desire for the attention and sexual gratification from the father figure, Connor. In this instance, Mia is jealous of Joanne, the mother figure, as exemplified in the Oedipus complex. Furthermore, in terms of performance, the action of Mia slamming the door could be a physical manifestation of her psyche attempting to repress this traumatic experience; shutting a door symbolizing the action of shutting away/repressing the image. Furthermore, the Freudian theme of repressed sexual trauma in the unconscious mind, arguably, in the mise en scene, the low key lighting of almost pitch black darkness that Mia steps out into in the hallway, could represent how in Freudian theory, the repressed memories of witnessing one's parents having sexual relations reappears in dreams. This can be interpreted by the spectator as an exploration of the binary opposition of Father figure Vs lover in Fishtank.
Additionally, with an ideological critical approach, a specator can observe the binary opposition of Father Vs Lover in the scene wherein Mia first sees Connor, setting up a conflict of interest in Mia's mind. In Mise en Scene Connor enters topless, wearing extremely low cut jeans. The theme of the female gaze is complemented here, as the spectator can observe through the diegetic audience perspective of Mia, with a slightly below eye level midshot of Connor; wherein the audience are forced to focus on Connor's body. The specator could interpret a reversal of the idea of the male gaze, to a female gaze in this scene which challenges the norm in the film industry of objectification of the female body. Mia allows the spectator to observe Connor's body as a diegetic audience. We additionally see, within performance, Mia's eyes scanning Connor's body from the waist upwards, foreshadowing her obsession with him. The binary opposition of father Vs lover insinuates that Mia instantly develops a sexual attraction and fascination for Connor. Whether Connor is in fact a father figure is undetermined in this scene as under the macro feature of dialogue, Connor tells Mia he is "a friend of your mother's"; which lacks specification of his purpose in Mia's house and in the narrative for the audience.
(When looking at the films from a perspective of intense study,
what can you find about the director's ideologies of binary opposition in the narrative etc)
Applying an ideological critical approach to Fishtank, the spectator can observe binary opposition that stems from the Oedipal trajectory, Father figure Vs sexual partner in Narrative. In the scene wherein Connor and Joanne have sexual relations, the repeated sound of Mia slamming her door gives the spectator insight into Mia's perspective of jealousy, to the extent she seeks attention from Connor. The sound is disruptive, hinting that Mia desires Connor and Joanne to cease having sexual relations. This refers to the aspect of the Freudian theory of the Oedipus complex wherein females are sexually attracted to the father; the anger insinuated by the sound of the slamming door reflects Mia's desire for the attention and sexual gratification from the father figure, Connor. In this instance, Mia is jealous of Joanne, the mother figure, as exemplified in the Oedipus complex. Furthermore, in terms of performance, the action of Mia slamming the door could be a physical manifestation of her psyche attempting to repress this traumatic experience; shutting a door symbolizing the action of shutting away/repressing the image. Furthermore, the Freudian theme of repressed sexual trauma in the unconscious mind, arguably, in the mise en scene, the low key lighting of almost pitch black darkness that Mia steps out into in the hallway, could represent how in Freudian theory, the repressed memories of witnessing one's parents having sexual relations reappears in dreams. This can be interpreted by the spectator as an exploration of the binary opposition of Father figure Vs lover in Fishtank.
Additionally, with an ideological critical approach, a specator can observe the binary opposition of Father Vs Lover in the scene wherein Mia first sees Connor, setting up a conflict of interest in Mia's mind. In Mise en Scene Connor enters topless, wearing extremely low cut jeans. The theme of the female gaze is complemented here, as the spectator can observe through the diegetic audience perspective of Mia, with a slightly below eye level midshot of Connor; wherein the audience are forced to focus on Connor's body. The specator could interpret a reversal of the idea of the male gaze, to a female gaze in this scene which challenges the norm in the film industry of objectification of the female body. Mia allows the spectator to observe Connor's body as a diegetic audience. We additionally see, within performance, Mia's eyes scanning Connor's body from the waist upwards, foreshadowing her obsession with him. The binary opposition of father Vs lover insinuates that Mia instantly develops a sexual attraction and fascination for Connor. Whether Connor is in fact a father figure is undetermined in this scene as under the macro feature of dialogue, Connor tells Mia he is "a friend of your mother's"; which lacks specification of his purpose in Mia's house and in the narrative for the audience.
Paragraph 1:
ReplyDelete"Within the narrative of Fishtank, in the scene wherein Connor and Joanne have sexual relations." Doesn't make sense (fragment sentence). Also, the film's title is Fish Tank, not Fishtank.
"This stimulates the notion that Arnold in her ideology was deliberately utilizing elements of film form to project the reality of the Oedipus complex and the binary opposition of Father Vs Sexual partner onto the audience." - not sure you're understanding ideology properly. The Oedipal trajectory is really a narrative function. Ideologically, you should be exploring how a feminist reading of the film could be applied to this sequence (and how it fits with the Oedipal trajectory). Overall, I find the paragraph somewhat overwritten, meaning that the sense isn't always clear. Try to simplify your expression.
Paragraph 2:
Structurally, why not start with this paragraph? It occurs earlier in the film, and the first paragraph would make more sense if placed after it in your essay.
Overall, this paragraph reads well. The only part I find confusing is the last sentence - I'm not 100% sure what you're getting at here. This needs to be clarified.