The bottom line: A brief critique of cultural studies here, on the materialist suggestion that democracy is not a projection, but a project. Online examples of movie reviews are considered and evaluated for their critical possibilities.
The pernicious influences that this ‘discipline’ has had are mostly due to the extent that it decontextualizes its objects from social and economic relations, while providing its own political (or politicized) readings. One cannot determine whether texts either reproduce the hegemony (see late-blooming apologist of capitalism Sahlins here for some dated barbs on this term) of identity hierarchies hierarchically ordered; nor can one evaluate their capacity to resist modes and models of inequality, injustice and domination by assuming that they have such a capacity. Indeed, that capacity lies in and relies on real people, the producers and consumers of these texts. Despite their claims of ‘democratizing’ academic studies or ‘legitimizing’ popular culture, the careerism of the cult studs actually has the opposite effect, especially in that they fail to see that doing either and especailly both of these things gives a justification to capitalists, who, if they create products that support equality, only do so for profit: this is paradox is seldom considered.
Exception: Giroux, who uses these texts as pedagogical opportunities. Their power lies, accordingly, not in their form or content, but in the ability of a teacher or parent to encourage the critique of the text. (Let us not forget, however, that this opportunity, and the discourse and desires that would make it effective, cannot be assumed, as Jenkins III and IV do– teachers, time, parents, language, access, etc all vary across class, race, education, and so on.) So, I might say that the following reviews, like the movies themselves, are useful not in themselves, for generating conversation with an Other hopefully leading to critical knowledge of current conditions and more active subjectivities that would put that knowledge to use.
Two model discussions follow. I encourage people to talk about every movie they see, and these reviews and the discussions after them model (for me) what might interest readers who have gotten this far: intelligent, if linguistically and logically elite, interrogations of movies and the positionalities of those who have watched them.
The professor at “Professor, What if. . . ?” has written a wonderful review of Teeth that situates it fully within the context it requires: the sexist violence of horror movies, the American debate over student sexual activity and knowledge, and current bio-political notions of female empowerment. Read it only after you’ve seen the movie, which should be available at your local video store, library, or Netflix watch instantly for free page.
An interesting debate is happening over at coolercinema, where Jason Bellamy makes the argument that Gran Turino “teaches us that slurs are okay, even if you mean them, so long as you’re charming. It teaches us that the Hmong might be good people, but that if they want to get anything done (fix appliances, clean up a yard, end a gang war) they need whitey to help.” And the film is especially able to make these claims because of the lack of history and intensity of animosity between whites and Asians.
[Mr. Bellamy's assertions are interesting, but I disagree with them. This is not to say that they are wrong, but that I think they require a more sensitive and measured delivery. Particularly, they read too heavily into the movie itself, without considering the social conditions for, and social effects of, the transmission of a message. Critiquing a movie in terms of itself is seldom productive, and is always subjective. Accordingly, concerns over lasting, enduring, and real effects of the movie require not judging the movie but the audience. (The "us" in his above quote is, at best, an unconscious fictive universalization of personal experience, at worst, an intellectualist narcissism that actually assumes objective truth.) Hence, the largely unfortunate irrelevance of cultural studies, literature, and a very great many websites.]
