Re: individualism in films

From: gyoungblood (email suppressed)
Date: Thu Feb 08 2007 - 07:02:26 PST


Thanks Jack. That's a very helpful list. You couldn't do better even if I went into greater detail of what I'm looking for. If anyone can think of other titles from the last decade, or classic beloved titles from any era, please send them on.

The thesis underlying this search is hardly original: namely, that individualism works against the exercise of collective political will and is, therefore, essential for social control in so-called democracies. My contibution is to suggest that, given the current historically unprecedented need for global collective action, individualist socialization amounts to a crime against humanity. I have no time to discuss this any further on Frameworks. I just want help in assembling a list of those movies so that I can consign them, and would-be makers of similar narratives, to imperialist hell. Thanks again...

----- Original Message -----
  From: Jack Sargeant
  To: email suppressed
  Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 3:59 PM
  Subject: Re: [FRAMEWORKS] individualism in films

  I think perhaps some more thorough / in-depth details of what you need may help, but, in terms of what I think you want (all recent titles):

  Children of Men - one pregnant girl and an old lefty fight to save humanity from dystopic end
  V For Vendetta - one man starts a revolution against fascist government thanks to inspiring pranks, interestingly the revolutionaries all adopt his identity which may not help your thesis.
  Borat - in the film Borat makes his country 'modern' having learned from his trip to USA
  The Queen - Blair saves royal family and Britain
  The Departed - one man alone against organized crime
  Shortbus - one nightclub and one woman's search for an orgasm suggest that there is hope for the wider tragedies of modern world
  Marie Antoinette - one woman takes on the weight of two nations and parties then discovers responsibility at the end
  Manderlay - one woman takes on the weight of history and slavery
  Happy Feet - one penguin faces the ocean and international fishing industries to save fish for penguins, interestingly he teaches the other penguins the importance of collective action so this my not fit entirely, but for 99% of the film he is the loner.

  God knows what this list says about my recent viewing habits, I promise I also attend all the art house and avant garde screenings as well!

  am I the first person to write about Happy Feet and Borat on Frameworks?

  Jack

  On 7 Feb 2007, at 06:01, gyoungblood wrote:

    Frameworkers,
    I posted this request during the Christmas holiday and got only one response. So, thinking that was not the best time to ask, I'm doing it again now. I'm trying to assemble a list of feature films in which collective problems are presented and resolved on the personal, individual level. Of course that's 99.9% of all Hollywood films (Frank Capra, "Casablanca," "The Insider" are examples). I'm looking for recent titles, the more admired the better. Your input will be greatly appreciated, and will contribute to my documentary project on the role of industrial cinema in socialization and social control.

    Gene Youngblood
    Department of Moving Image Arts
    The College of Santa Fe
    1600 St. Michael's Drive
    Santa Fe, NM. 87505 USA
    Vox: +1.505.473.6406
    Fax: +1.505.473.6403
    Office: email suppressed
    Home: email suppressed

    __________________________________________________________________ For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.

  __________________________________________________________________ For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.

__________________________________________________________________
For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.