Thirteen Days is a historical political thriller, reflecting John F. Kennedy's leadership characteristics and the decision-making process during the Cuban Missile Crisis, close to reality. The study explains the connection between fictional and real and the decision-making process through the similarities and differences between film scenes and real images. In this sense, it examines John F. Kennedy's decision-making process and leadership structure using both international relations theories and film review methods. The film has been created with a historical perspective, the character traits, crisis and resolution processes of the American president and his small group members, as well as the actors in the Soviet bloc. In addition, evaluating the attitudes and approaches of the Kennedy government and Kennedy's leadership structure are clearly reflected to the audience in the film. This study contributes to the understanding of international relations by explaining Small Thinking Decision and Rational Actor Model theories with the cooperation of the field of international relations and cinema. The sum up, to compare of film scenes and real elements is also important in terms of editing the parts that appear as black-boxes during the crisis and interpreting them close to reality.
{"title":"Thirteen Days: A Political Reading","authors":"İkbal Sinemden Oylumlu","doi":"10.5195/cinej.2022.537","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2022.537","url":null,"abstract":"Thirteen Days is a historical political thriller, reflecting John F. Kennedy's leadership characteristics and the decision-making process during the Cuban Missile Crisis, close to reality. The study explains the connection between fictional and real and the decision-making process through the similarities and differences between film scenes and real images. In this sense, it examines John F. Kennedy's decision-making process and leadership structure using both international relations theories and film review methods. The film has been created with a historical perspective, the character traits, crisis and resolution processes of the American president and his small group members, as well as the actors in the Soviet bloc. In addition, evaluating the attitudes and approaches of the Kennedy government and Kennedy's leadership structure are clearly reflected to the audience in the film. This study contributes to the understanding of international relations by explaining Small Thinking Decision and Rational Actor Model theories with the cooperation of the field of international relations and cinema. The sum up, to compare of film scenes and real elements is also important in terms of editing the parts that appear as black-boxes during the crisis and interpreting them close to reality.","PeriodicalId":41802,"journal":{"name":"CINEJ Cinema Journal","volume":"50 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86521523","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article is about the Turkish film Minik Serçe (Little Sparrow, 1978), starring Sezen Aksu, one of Turkey’s most legendary female singer-songwriters. The film belongs to the category of musical “singer films” of Turkish cinema, which were popular between the 1940s and late 1980s. It is also a remake of A Star is Born (1976). The article examines the similarities and differences between the original film and the Turkish remake and compares it with another singer film from the same era Yansın Bu Dünya (1977), which falls into the category of an Arabesk singer film. Both films have similar plotlines but very different portrayals of female characters. The focus of the article is on what makes Minik Serçe stand out from the other films of its time. In doing so, it also examines the role of its auteur director Atıf Yılmaz, and the cliches of Turkish cinema from the Yeşilçam era.
这篇文章是关于土耳其电影Minik ser(小麻雀,1978),主演Sezen Aksu,土耳其最具传奇色彩的女歌手兼词曲作家之一。这部电影属于土耳其电影的音乐“歌手电影”的范畴,在20世纪40年代到80年代后期流行。这也是1976年《一个明星的诞生》的翻拍版。本文考察了原版电影与土耳其翻拍电影的异同,并将其与同时代的另一部歌手电影Yansın Bu d nya(1977)进行了比较,后者属于阿拉伯歌手电影的范畴。两部电影都有相似的情节,但对女性角色的刻画却截然不同。这篇文章的重点在于是什么让mink serpere从同时期的其他电影中脱颖而出。在此过程中,它也审视了其导演Atıf Yılmaz的角色,以及ye ilam时代土耳其电影的陈词滥调。
{"title":"Minik Serçe as a Contrary Example Among the Singer Films in Turkish Cinema","authors":"Yasemin Barlan","doi":"10.5195/cinej.2022.522","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2022.522","url":null,"abstract":"This article is about the Turkish film Minik Serçe (Little Sparrow, 1978), starring Sezen Aksu, one of Turkey’s most legendary female singer-songwriters. The film belongs to the category of musical “singer films” of Turkish cinema, which were popular between the 1940s and late 1980s. It is also a remake of A Star is Born (1976). The article examines the similarities and differences between the original film and the Turkish remake and compares it with another singer film from the same era Yansın Bu Dünya (1977), which falls into the category of an Arabesk singer film. Both films have similar plotlines but very different portrayals of female characters. The focus of the article is on what makes Minik Serçe stand out from the other films of its time. In doing so, it also examines the role of its auteur director Atıf Yılmaz, and the cliches of Turkish cinema from the Yeşilçam era.","PeriodicalId":41802,"journal":{"name":"CINEJ Cinema Journal","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88162257","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The rape-revenge narrative is fertile ground to explore and contextualize the experience of sexual violence and its aftermath. While typically a trope in genre films seen through the male gaze, female filmmakers are reclaiming this narrative. Two recent entries from female filmmakers into the canon of the rape-revenge fantasy are the 2019 horror remake Black Christmas, and the 2020 HBO drama-comedy series I May Destroy You. This article will compare the ways that these two examples construct characters who experience rape, and how their personality traits and behaviors are infused with the cultural perceptions of "rape victims" or "rape survivors." This analysis will be grounded in ongoing feminist discourse around the use of the term applied to those who experience rape, and how this impacts our understanding of these characters.
{"title":"Victims and Survivors in the Rape-Revenge Narrative: A Comparison of Black Christmas (2019) and I May Destroy You (2020)","authors":"Michaela Keating","doi":"10.5195/cinej.2022.436","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2022.436","url":null,"abstract":"The rape-revenge narrative is fertile ground to explore and contextualize the experience of sexual violence and its aftermath. While typically a trope in genre films seen through the male gaze, female filmmakers are reclaiming this narrative. Two recent entries from female filmmakers into the canon of the rape-revenge fantasy are the 2019 horror remake Black Christmas, and the 2020 HBO drama-comedy series I May Destroy You. This article will compare the ways that these two examples construct characters who experience rape, and how their personality traits and behaviors are infused with the cultural perceptions of \"rape victims\" or \"rape survivors.\" This analysis will be grounded in ongoing feminist discourse around the use of the term applied to those who experience rape, and how this impacts our understanding of these characters.","PeriodicalId":41802,"journal":{"name":"CINEJ Cinema Journal","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78676205","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The text reviews the book of Daniel Cornea: Cinema: A Reading inside the Church. For an Orthodox Theology of Culture (Romanian: Cinema-ul, o lectură îmbisericită. Pentru o teologie ortodoxă a culturii), Christiana Publishing House, 2017.
{"title":"Review of An Orthodox Monk Watching Films","authors":"Ioan Buteanu","doi":"10.5195/cinej.2022.423","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2022.423","url":null,"abstract":"The text reviews the book of Daniel Cornea: Cinema: A Reading inside the Church. For an Orthodox Theology of Culture (Romanian: Cinema-ul, o lectură îmbisericită. Pentru o teologie ortodoxă a culturii), Christiana Publishing House, 2017.","PeriodicalId":41802,"journal":{"name":"CINEJ Cinema Journal","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82329638","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article frames a theoretical discussion of cinematic gestures in their opposing forms, illusionism and reflexivity, exploring different modes connecting surveillance and film. One observes cinema as an illusionistic surveilling machine that records reality. In this respect, surveillance can be an “element of movie plots.” Then, given the simultaneously entrapped and swaying nature of cinematic gestures, the investigation of film reflexivity associated with surveillance reveals a dual character. The dominant one (auto-mediacy), although guided by a subversive thrust, ultimately reinforces the dynamics of the internal panopticon, the regulation, and the marketization of the self. Conversely, another form of emancipative self-reflexivity (autoscopia) operates a set of enunciations exalting the filmmaking process’ materiality. The film Grizzly Man is an example of autoscopia generating a form of technology-mediated subversive self examination.
{"title":"Exploring Modes of Surveillance in Films","authors":"Matteo Ciccognani","doi":"10.5195/cinej.2022.444","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2022.444","url":null,"abstract":"This article frames a theoretical discussion of cinematic gestures in their opposing forms, illusionism and reflexivity, exploring different modes connecting surveillance and film. One observes cinema as an illusionistic surveilling machine that records reality. In this respect, surveillance can be an “element of movie plots.” Then, given the simultaneously entrapped and swaying nature of cinematic gestures, the investigation of film reflexivity associated with surveillance reveals a dual character. The dominant one (auto-mediacy), although guided by a subversive thrust, ultimately reinforces the dynamics of the internal panopticon, the regulation, and the marketization of the self. Conversely, another form of emancipative self-reflexivity (autoscopia) operates a set of enunciations exalting the filmmaking process’ materiality. The film Grizzly Man is an example of autoscopia generating a form of technology-mediated subversive self examination.","PeriodicalId":41802,"journal":{"name":"CINEJ Cinema Journal","volume":"PP 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84301417","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article will consider Wim Wenders’ relationship to America in several of his films during the New German Cinema Movement of the 1970s and 1980s. In particular, it will explore the place America occupies as a fantasy object, framing this through the distinct roles individual objects play in Wenders’ films. Firstly, in the initial period of his life, various accounts point to the fact that the director related to American culture as a substitute for his own country’s fascistic past. Such a viewpoint is then countered in his film Alice in the Cities (1972), where the protagonist is initially puzzled by the enigma of America, but finds he can comprehend it upon hearing of the Hollywood director John Ford’s passing from a newspaper. In The State of Things (1982), apropos Wenders’ experience working in Hollywood under Francis Ford Coppola, the relationship to objects again changes, this time from the subject’s mastery over objects, to the mastery of the object over the subject. However, an alternative position emerges through a more careful reading of the film Hammett (1982), which, exists as a short-circuit in the typical narrative of Wenders’ cinematic trajectory. Rather than emphasizing the mastery of the subject or the object, through the use of narrative, the film Hammett reveals an alternative position by implicating the two in a dialectic. Such a position takes on a refined inflection in Paris, Texas (1982), in which the subject implicates themselves in their own fantasy, repeating the radical gesture from Hammett (1982) and forging a new relationship between subject and object.
本文将探讨维姆·文德斯在上世纪七八十年代新德国电影运动期间的几部电影中与美国的关系。特别是,它将探索美国作为一个幻想对象所占据的位置,通过文德斯电影中单个对象所扮演的不同角色来构建这一点。首先,在他生命的最初阶段,各种说法都指出,这位导演将美国文化作为自己国家法西斯历史的替代品。这样的观点在他的电影《爱丽丝梦游仙境》(Alice in the Cities, 1972)中得到了反驳,主人公最初对美国这个谜感到困惑,但在从报纸上听到好莱坞导演约翰·福特去世的消息后,他发现自己可以理解了。在1982年的《事物的状态》(The State of Things)中,文德斯在弗朗西斯·福特·科波拉(Francis Ford Coppola)手下在好莱坞工作的经历与对象的关系再次发生了变化,这一次从主体对对象的控制,到对象对主体的控制。然而,通过更仔细地阅读电影《哈米特》(1982),另一种立场出现了,这是文德斯电影轨迹的典型叙事中的一个短路。影片《哈米特》并没有强调对主体或客体的掌握,而是通过叙事的手法,将二者以辩证的方式联系起来,揭示了另一种立场。在《德克萨斯州的巴黎》(1982)中,这种立场发生了微妙的变化,其中主体将自己暗示在自己的幻想中,重复了哈米特(1982)的激进姿态,并在主体和客体之间建立了一种新的关系。
{"title":"The Ambivalent Object(s) of America in Wim Wenders","authors":"Laurent Shervington","doi":"10.5195/cinej.2022.507","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2022.507","url":null,"abstract":"This article will consider Wim Wenders’ relationship to America in several of his films during the New German Cinema Movement of the 1970s and 1980s. In particular, it will explore the place America occupies as a fantasy object, framing this through the distinct roles individual objects play in Wenders’ films. Firstly, in the initial period of his life, various accounts point to the fact that the director related to American culture as a substitute for his own country’s fascistic past. Such a viewpoint is then countered in his film Alice in the Cities (1972), where the protagonist is initially puzzled by the enigma of America, but finds he can comprehend it upon hearing of the Hollywood director John Ford’s passing from a newspaper. In The State of Things (1982), apropos Wenders’ experience working in Hollywood under Francis Ford Coppola, the relationship to objects again changes, this time from the subject’s mastery over objects, to the mastery of the object over the subject. However, an alternative position emerges through a more careful reading of the film Hammett (1982), which, exists as a short-circuit in the typical narrative of Wenders’ cinematic trajectory. Rather than emphasizing the mastery of the subject or the object, through the use of narrative, the film Hammett reveals an alternative position by implicating the two in a dialectic. Such a position takes on a refined inflection in Paris, Texas (1982), in which the subject implicates themselves in their own fantasy, repeating the radical gesture from Hammett (1982) and forging a new relationship between subject and object.","PeriodicalId":41802,"journal":{"name":"CINEJ Cinema Journal","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79183982","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
There are many subgenres and a diverse range of creatures in horror cinema. One of these creatures is the Zombie. The Zombie character in cinema has evolved through eras. The Zombie which, in the past, was presented as a creature resurrected after death in horror cinema began to be associated with virii and the apocalypse afterwards. Nowadays, the Zombie in the cinema are beyond the figure of a horror. As a matter of fact, many zombie-themed movies are presented as allegories of apocalypse or as outbreak-themed movies. What is the meaning of the zombies which are the subject of outbreak films? What cultural codes do zombies represent in outbreak-themed films? What does the changes in different adaptations of this myth mean in outbreak-themed movies? Zombies in epidemic films can be likened to slaves that are reprogrammed after a resurrection process. From this point of view, we are to evaluate the movie World War Z, and the data obtained is to be interpreted in our conclusion section.
{"title":"Zombie-Themes Outbreak Films and World War Z (2013)","authors":"Barış Tolga Ekinci","doi":"10.5195/cinej.2022.499","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2022.499","url":null,"abstract":"There are many subgenres and a diverse range of creatures in horror cinema. One of these creatures is the Zombie. The Zombie character in cinema has evolved through eras. The Zombie which, in the past, was presented as a creature resurrected after death in horror cinema began to be associated with virii and the apocalypse afterwards. Nowadays, the Zombie in the cinema are beyond the figure of a horror. As a matter of fact, many zombie-themed movies are presented as allegories of apocalypse or as outbreak-themed movies. What is the meaning of the zombies which are the subject of outbreak films? What cultural codes do zombies represent in outbreak-themed films? What does the changes in different adaptations of this myth mean in outbreak-themed movies? Zombies in epidemic films can be likened to slaves that are reprogrammed after a resurrection process. From this point of view, we are to evaluate the movie World War Z, and the data obtained is to be interpreted in our conclusion section.","PeriodicalId":41802,"journal":{"name":"CINEJ Cinema Journal","volume":"10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83524430","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Reha Erdem’s third feature-length movie, What’s a Human, Anyway? (2004) deals with the problems of male characters towards gender roles. This movie also connotes that these problems occur from the views of female characters and parents. Although Erdem’s films mostly concentrates on the toxic masculinity, What’s a Human, Anyway? is the mere film in Erdem’s ouvre, that of which represents women in a negative manner. This research mainly focuses on the young male characters of movie and their attitude against gender-oriented expectations and parental pressure by analyzing it through Deleuze-Guattarian concepts, including deterritorialization, Oedipalization and particularly, becomings, including becoming-minoritarian, -woman, and -child.
{"title":"Deterritorializing The Self: Becoming-Child in the Characters of Reha Erdem’s What’s A Human Anyway? (2004)","authors":"Suphi Keskin","doi":"10.5195/cinej.2022.364","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2022.364","url":null,"abstract":"Reha Erdem’s third feature-length movie, What’s a Human, Anyway? (2004) deals with the problems of male characters towards gender roles. This movie also connotes that these problems occur from the views of female characters and parents. Although Erdem’s films mostly concentrates on the toxic masculinity, What’s a Human, Anyway? is the mere film in Erdem’s ouvre, that of which represents women in a negative manner. This research mainly focuses on the young male characters of movie and their attitude against gender-oriented expectations and parental pressure by analyzing it through Deleuze-Guattarian concepts, including deterritorialization, Oedipalization and particularly, becomings, including becoming-minoritarian, -woman, and -child.","PeriodicalId":41802,"journal":{"name":"CINEJ Cinema Journal","volume":"94 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79449028","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study analyzes the female characters and their relationship to nature in the Turkish series, entitled “You are my country” (“Vatanım Sensin” originally in Turkish) or “Wounded Love” (2016-2018) from an ecofeminist point of view. The Turkish and Greek mothers, daughters, and sisters try to unify their families after each attack in the series. Thus, their efforts will be analyzed within the framework of “Ecofeminism” as Turkey is a land linguistically feminized in Latin as “Turquia” with a female gender ending -a. The ecological metaphorical spaces associated with the images of Turkish and Greek women trying to preserve the family continuity during the liberation war of Turkey will be analyzed; such ecological spaces include the Aegean Sea, forests, and roads of Izmir, Ankara, and Salonica. Moreover, ecological metaphorical objects include flowers, trees, and animals. Illnesses, famines, plunders, and forced migrations are the main reasons for the losses of some family members; this study examines how these lost members get united through the metaphorical uses of the environmental spaces important for women, who try to keep the new Turkey free through their efforts in the 1920s within the framework of ecofeminism, a term coined by Françoise d’Eaubonne in 1974.
{"title":"The Relation of Female Characters to Nature in the Turkish Series Wounded Love (2016–2018): Ecofeminist Approaches","authors":"Fazıla Derya Agiş","doi":"10.5195/cinej.2022.410","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2022.410","url":null,"abstract":"This study analyzes the female characters and their relationship to nature in the Turkish series, entitled “You are my country” (“Vatanım Sensin” originally in Turkish) or “Wounded Love” (2016-2018) from an ecofeminist point of view. The Turkish and Greek mothers, daughters, and sisters try to unify their families after each attack in the series. Thus, their efforts will be analyzed within the framework of “Ecofeminism” as Turkey is a land linguistically feminized in Latin as “Turquia” with a female gender ending -a. The ecological metaphorical spaces associated with the images of Turkish and Greek women trying to preserve the family continuity during the liberation war of Turkey will be analyzed; such ecological spaces include the Aegean Sea, forests, and roads of Izmir, Ankara, and Salonica. Moreover, ecological metaphorical objects include flowers, trees, and animals. Illnesses, famines, plunders, and forced migrations are the main reasons for the losses of some family members; this study examines how these lost members get united through the metaphorical uses of the environmental spaces important for women, who try to keep the new Turkey free through their efforts in the 1920s within the framework of ecofeminism, a term coined by Françoise d’Eaubonne in 1974.","PeriodicalId":41802,"journal":{"name":"CINEJ Cinema Journal","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88939370","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The HBO limited television series Watchmen (2019) represents a politically engaged superhero television show, marking a shift in recent efforts to render the genre more inclusive in terms of gender and race. Specifically, in mixing fictional and real events surrounding racial violence, such as the 1921 Tulsa massacre, Watchmen inscribes the potential of the superhero genre to tackle prescient political issues and social anxieties, that became even more poignant in the wake of the 2020 George Floyd protests. The present paper explores Watchmen’s deep resonances with contemporary social and political issues, not only at the level of representations, but also at the series’ production context, and argues that the show marks a key moment in the politicization of the superhero genre.
{"title":"Politicizing the superhero genre: The case of Watchmen (HBO, 2019)","authors":"Evdokia Stefanopoulou","doi":"10.5195/cinej.2022.509","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2022.509","url":null,"abstract":"The HBO limited television series Watchmen (2019) represents a politically engaged superhero television show, marking a shift in recent efforts to render the genre more inclusive in terms of gender and race. Specifically, in mixing fictional and real events surrounding racial violence, such as the 1921 Tulsa massacre, Watchmen inscribes the potential of the superhero genre to tackle prescient political issues and social anxieties, that became even more poignant in the wake of the 2020 George Floyd protests. The present paper explores Watchmen’s deep resonances with contemporary social and political issues, not only at the level of representations, but also at the series’ production context, and argues that the show marks a key moment in the politicization of the superhero genre.","PeriodicalId":41802,"journal":{"name":"CINEJ Cinema Journal","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2022-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84263317","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}