UCI Film Bodies Gender Genre and Excess by Linda William Questions

Texts:

• Linda Williams, “Film Bodies”
• Jane Gaines, “Political Mimesis”

Read texts and answer questions
Questions:

1. What are the authors’ main arguments?
2. How does the spectator’s body participate in the act of seeing a film, according to the authors?
3. How do the texts dialogue with each other?
4. How did they change the way you understand or relate to film?
5. Your comment on something that stood out to you, or that you’d like more explanation on.

REPLY TO:
classmate’s

1. What are the authors’ main arguments?

The main argument of Film Bodies by Linda Williams is how the genres of melodrama, pornography, and horror are all “body genres” due to how the audience is expected to react during the films. According to Williams, the horror genre and pornography are systems of excess, that represent lows in the cultural esteem. Melodrama, specifically the “weepie”, is a genre that calls out to women under the expected norms of their patriarchal society. It’s also excessive in how women are represented. She claims that because the films want to cause an uncontrollable reaction within the body of the viewer and are “low cultural status” (144). She explains how each genre is of excess within the body and how it causes ecstasy within the body.

In Jane Gaines’ Political Mimesis, the main argument is a question of whether the reaction to a documentary, the political documentary, is due to the argument presented in the film or due to the reaction that occurs within the body. Gaines continues to argue that the documentary is formulated exactly to get a reaction from the audience “through the conventionalized imagery of struggle” (92).

1. How does the spectator’s body participate in the act of seeing a film, according to the authors?

The body participates in film by reacting to the imagery on screen. As stated by Linda Williams, the body is “caught up in an almost involuntary mimicry of the emotion or sensation of body on the screen” (144). The body mimics what is on the screen, whether exactly or nearby. Gaines believes what is shown on the screen moves the audience to react instead of just seeing what is shown.

1. How do the texts dialogue with each other?

The texts dialogue with each other regarding how film impacts the audience in the body. Williams discusses how three specific “low cultural esteem” genres produce a reaction in the bodies of the audience. Gaines discusses how a strong response can cause the spectator to act upon what is shown on film. Both the texts explore what happens when the film being shown or demonstrated cause strong reactions to occur beyond the screen.

1. How did they change the way you understand or relate to film?

It changed the way I view film due to recognizing the reactions that occur from watching film. I never considered that when watching horror, melodrama, or documentaries that the reaction I had was likely expected by the people behind the scenes. I already knew that people consider parts to a certain emotion, like fear or sadness. However, I never realized that the body has a reaction too.

1. Your comment on something that stood out to you, or that you’d like more explanation on.

I wonder why those three genres (pornography, horror, and melodrama) are considered the main three of the “body genres”. I would wonder if any other genre could fit the definition of the term. If anything, many films could be considered “body genre”. I think those three are taboo and are seen negatively, which is why it’s a huge focus in the essay.