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December 6, 2004

Film Theory Linkfest

It's the end of the semester, and I'm still recovering from helping my sister move on Saturday. Not to mention the fact that a rodent managed to get into my apartment late last night, which made for a night of fitful sleep. So for now, here's a collection of links to film theory articles and discussions that I would like to discuss in further detail but probably won't get a chance:

I'm hoping to have more to say about these articles over the next few days, but it's not going to happen today. I did get to see The Incredibles (IMDB) the other night and really enjoyed it. I'd have a difficult time gauging whether or not children would enjoy it (I was one of the younget people attending my 9:30 downtown Atlanta screening), but I liked it a lot, especially the film's treatment of superheroes facing midlife crises--or in the case of their children, the difficulty of fitting in. Especially interesting, Bob Parr, aka, Mr. Incredible, trying to squeeze his broad shoulders and giant stomach into a tiny Office Space-style cubicle and the opening sequence in which we see Mr. Incredible and Elastagirl being interviewed on black-and-white TV shows. Hopefully I'll have more to say on The Incredibles later.

Posted by chuck at December 6, 2004 3:45 PM

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Comments

I'm so glad you liked The Incredibles. The three 12-yo boys and the 8-yo girl we (four adults) went with all loved it too, although I'm sure for different reasons than we did. :)

Posted by: JM at December 6, 2004 4:07 PM

Right, the film is pretty effective at addressing multiple audiences. I'm curious to see what happens with the Pixar film, "Cars," which was previewed before my screening of "The Incredibles."

Posted by: chuck at December 7, 2004 12:52 PM

The film was too intense for Judu (age 5). I found the film admirable, but also highly problematic from an ideological point of view. Here is my take on the film if you are interested.

jwb

Posted by: Jimbo at December 8, 2004 9:21 AM

Jimbo, you're right to note several of those ideological problems, and I was particulalry attentive to the gender representations. I know that some people have mixed feelings about the fact that Mr. Incredible in some sense "produces" Buddy through his indifference, but that makes the film more interesting to me. And it seems interesting that Mr. I's work of protecting corporate interests comes under critique later in the film when we see him shoved into the cubicle. That being said, the film's celebration of so-called "natural" talents is ideologically problematic.

Posted by: chuck at December 8, 2004 9:42 AM

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