Week 6 Films

Scorpio Rising, Kenneth Anger

I really enjoyed watching this film. While the imagery was interesting enough that I would have been engaged anyway, the soundtrack really drew me in. Together with the haircuts and styling of the people in the film, it created a nostalgic experience. I’m very curious as to what the experience would’ve been for the audience when it was first released. I can assume that many of the people watching wouldn’t have been aware of the goings on of the motorcycle subculture, so maybe the popular music of the day would have made the subculture more relatable while also creating an interesting friction.

On another note, the use of homoerotic imagery in this made me think about objectification in general. I’m so used to seeing women’s bodies objectified that I’ve come to feel that there is inherently wrong with such a portrayal. Now I wonder if it’s just wrong that the objectification is overwhelmingly, if not exclusively, of women in mainstream media. I don’t think a solution is to fill the mainstream with more male objectification without addressing women, but it’d be nice for it to be more equally distributed.

Chelsea Girls, Andy Warhol

I agree with the rest of the class that I felt somewhat trapped watching Chelsea Girls and therefore didn't exactly enjoy it. But as I stuck with it, it revealed itself to be an extremely thought-provoking film experiment. I was at first extremely bored with the Nico in the kitchen footage, but once she was contrasted with the louder couple to the left, I came to appreciate her scene much more. Next to the shrillness and immaturity of other the couple, the bright, silent close-ups of Nico rendered her angelic.

As audience members we were presented with the interesting “choice” to follow one of the little films at a time because it was impossible to watch both. While in general I was most attentive to the films with sound, during the portion where the shrill drug-administering woman was talking on the phone I sought refuge in the silent classicality and strangeness of the Boys in Bed scene. This was another instance where the silence was more engaging because I could better appreciate the composition and imagery. When the same boys in bed reappeared on the right side of the screen with audio later on, they were far less engaging. It took all the mystery out of what was going on.

I was also extremely impressed when both sides of the screens lined up despite their both being continuous shots. For example, when the Hanoi Hanna storyline was on both sides, at one point the two shots of her face were almost identical. In a match-up of content, both the couple at the beginning and Nico got beverages at the same time.