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THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW

Jim Sherman 1975

Choreography, Frank the transvestite appears. The culture of being normal, square is entering in a new world : attraction and repulsion at the same time. « You are my unconventional conventional », being rebel is becoming a convention. He says he have the secret of life itself, like a god. Rocky is the creature he created, a kind of sex slave, he is an android not a real human, everything in him is fake. The film is presenting two extremes: straight people (caricature of human being, everything they do is predictable, they are laughable riduculous?) and the exaggerated persons, world of transgression and artificiality. It is a way of escaping our real world. It’s purely physical, about the body and not about mind.

FIGHT CLUB

By David Fincher 1999 from chuck Palahniuk Novel. They want to destroy the consumers, the « zombies ». At the beginning of the movie, he goes to support groups. He is obsessed by ikea, that is representing mass production. He creates a « religious » group based on violence. Humanity is in an identity crisis because of consumption. Everything is a copy of a copy. Heroes are criticizing the society but they have a very old vision of masculinity (based on violence). The movie is pedagogical. Hate everything but don’t propose any solution. Individualism is predominant. There is only one woman. She does nothing else but sex, she supports the man, very cliché for a rebellious movie. The director says that he wanted his character to be « the graduate ». Last man who committed the ultimate taboo. The religion he creates is about destruction, not being a better person.

Private satisfaction, important article. The fathers are absent father, they have been raised by women.

PLANET OF THE APES

Franklin J. Schaffner 1968

Human beings are much more violent and terrible than animals. We need them to feed ourselves. Lake of balance in our world in terms of technologies. The characters are going to the future but they can’t come back. One is regretting his old society the other wants to discover the future, he is looking for something better. The apes are hunting human beings. Who is the devil? The film is presenting a world reversal. About racism, how we regard the other?

Discussion: how do we keep the society this way ? Violence, people need to be afraid. Some are considerate as less than humans. We are living in a repressive society, perpetual violence and continual threat. The bouc émissaire is necessary. We are also using entertainment to project our dreams and keep the other passive. We want to survive. This film is created in an identity crisis context. The film was released during the Vietnam war. The idealist, the dreamer who wants to escape reality and the cynic.

EX : human hunt, humans appearing as animals and apes look like humans. They are making experimentations on them, call them « beasts », « animals » make us think about our behavior towards animals. Questioning the linear evolution. Conclusion of the film. The sound stops in the movie. We see the statue of liberty : the end of the American Dream.

GHOST IN THE SHELL

By Mamoru Oshii. From a manga.

The original came out in 1992 has been remade in a new version in 1995 ? (some animations and soundtracks has been changed). It is posing the question: Who am I ? The ghost is the soul, ming, consciousness, des-embodied. In this film, it’s what is making us human. People in this film are a combination between machines and humans. To be human is to have a ghost. A human : feelings.

Discussion about Facebook ? Do machine make us more or less humans. We are loosing our identity by putting our life online. Human is very complex, the robots can’t represent our complexity. We are memory. Are we seeing real things or caricatures that our mind is creating in order to stop the too numerous information. We have a veil in our eyes.

METROPOLIS

Fritz Lang 1927. Visual style. Metropolis is a megalopolis where the rich peoples are living in the upper part and the workers in the underground part. The film describe a dystopian world, uniform, mechanical existences for workers, depressed, head down. On top of Metropolis : big boss of the utopia that created the city. On top : paradise, their lives are based on pleasure, enjoyment. Slip society. Maria, a woman from the underground says the mediator is coming, bringing together the hand and head in the heart. Christian mythology : Maria, savor figure. Images are inspiring lots of movies and stars.

ZOMBIES

They are modern, cinematic, affective and scary because they are visual, they don’t speak, they don’t have souls. In a way, a zombie is the metaphor of the ultimate consumer, perfect for our capitalism area. They are terrifying because they are reflecting us. Asia: bringing a person to life to make her become a slave. Capitalism turns us into zombies. Paradox: dead and alive. It’s pure gore, sensations, tabou: humans eating others humans. They are coming from American culture. They are uncanny (cf Freud). You have to shoot them in the head, suspended consciousness. Pure mechanism, show us the terror of the situation.

Night of the Living dead: George A Romero Film came out in 1968, black and white, low budget, scary because of the shadows.