Post-Classical Historiographics and Consolidated Entertainment - Essay Example

Screen History The modern audience frequently finds it all too easy to dismiss films and television shows as frivolous forms of entertainment with little to no substance to them, regardless of the genre, thanks largely to the published opinion of academic criticism. “For the last two decades, academic criticism has predominantly viewed mainstream cinema as a sequence of emptily expensive, aesthetically impoverished spectacles” Maltby, 1998: 22). This seems particularly true when one is speaking of the Western genre, perhaps because the main ingredients of this type of story seem to be so predictably similar. To say something is within the Western genre connotes a picture in which a lonely cowboy rolls into town and sets everything straight. The Western hero demonstrates great strength and courage, participates in bold actions, has nobility of purpose and is willing to sacrifice himself for the benefit of innocent others (“Hero”, 2000) and he always gets his man. Despite their assumed predictability, however, taking a closer look at these productions often reveals a great deal more substance than they are typically credited. By comparing films of this genre produced in different time periods, themes begin to emerge that indicate the fundamental beliefs and values of the society in which they are produced, sometimes representing great advances in thought that weren’t considered to be part of the general discourse until much later, as in the question of femininity. These types of comparisons can also often demonstrate changes in understanding through scientific advances, such as a greater consciousness regarding the impact of such shows on the minds of impressionable audiences. Once a general understanding of the Western genre is established, two productions, the Hollywood film High Noon produced in 1952 and the television show Kung Fu – particularly the episode labeled “The Tong” produced in 1973 – will be compared in terms of their technology, gender representation and the way they might have impacted their audiences. The task of defining just what constitutes a Western is more problematic than simply requiring that the story be set in the American West. While this does seem to be an important characteristic, there are instances in which this is not necessary, such as in the recent program Quigly Down Under (1990) which is classified as a Western despite being set in Australia, although the film is set on a frontier. Westerns are also often defined by their time period, usually confined within the 19th century and further broken down by Old West and New West, chiefly determined by whether the story deals with Indians and nomadic trappers, hunters, etc. or if it deals more with settled towns that have become more or less ‘civilized’. This, too, is a rule that is made to be broken, as evidenced by films such as Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) which is set in the Colonial 18th century and thus outside of the defined time period, but is widely recognized as a Western. Both of these films, however, have several similar characteristics that match, more or less, with other films and stories found within the genre, such as the two to be compared within this discussion. Broadly identified, then, Westerns are classified as those films that epitomize the frontier lifestyle of the early American West, the brazen independence of the people courageous enough to live there and the unique challenges such open places, whether in America or elsewhere, present. While humor may or may not be present, there is typically a period of story development interspersed with action occurring between the identifiable ‘good guy’ and his nemesis, the quintessential ‘bad guy.’ “A changing way of life is frequently the focus of genre treatment” (Kobak, 2002) in terms of motivation although the action is frequently driven by concerns of justice, legal or otherwise. “Revenge and betrayal are also recurring themes in the Old West; life has been thrown out of balance, and the hero, though he may abhor violence, may have no other choice but to use it in order to restore justice. We may not know where the hero is headed as he rides into the sunset, but we feel the world is a safer place because he passed this way” (Marciniak, 2004). Both of the films selected for this study fall within this Western genre despite the differences in their approach. Each story is set in the traditional American West frontier towns and within the appropriate time period. They each feature a lone hero who seems to be alone primarily because of his own moral fortitude. In both Kung Fu and High Noon, the main character is unable to bow down to the dominant way of thinking when it means ignoring injustice, allowing others to remain in harm’s way or even the only apparent way to save his own life. The action in each of these selected productions is driven by revenge on the part of the bad guy, which has been noted as being a significant characteristic particularly of films set in the Old West. In High Noon, the revenge factor is played out as the bad guy, Frank Miller, who is expected on the noon train, has a vendetta to settle with the newly married Marshall Kane. In Kung Fu, the deadly and powerful Dragon of Retribution Tong, which itself indicates the concept of vengeance in its very name, demands blood payment for the theft of a young slave boy who does not wish to remain a slave in the new world and only the main character Caine can prevent unnecessary bloodshed and still win the boy’s freedom. Both of these stories are placed in the rough and tumble atmosphere of established frontier towns that are just beginning to be defined as civilized. Finally, each production centers upon a conflict between a single, lone ‘good guy’ and a group or organization of ‘bad guys’ in which justice is served, the ‘bad guys’ are defeated and the ‘good guy’ rides, or walks, off into the distance with little or no indication of where he’s going. These two films were selected for comparison based not only on the similarity of story and concentration of message, but also because of the differences that become apparent as a result of societal change in the intervening years and technological change with the widespread distribution of television as the new mode of entertainment over the cinema. Both stories feature a showdown between the good guy and the bad guy that ends in a restoration of justice for the parties involved. In addition, both stories are told with a minimum of violent action. Indeed, in both stories, violence is seen to be used only as a last result or as a response to violence being committed directly upon the hero. In addition, both stories attempt to portray the characters, particularly the women, as full-bodied individuals, with a degree of independence and autonomy that is surprisingly similar considering the tremendous feminist advances that had been made in the intervening years. These similarities have significant bearing on analyzing the gendered messages that are being sent through such films and determining what these films might have communicated to its audiences. Among the differences between these two films are the technology available and used for each, the depiction of gender roles and the greater psychological knowledge of how film images affect audiences. High Noon, produced as it was in 1952, represents a black and white film at a time when technology was focused on bringing full color to the big screen, making it necessary to explore why the film might have been presented in black and white instead of jumping on the color bandwagon. In contrast, Kung Fu was made at a time when color television had reached widespread distribution among the middle class, yet still remains focused upon muted colors and little or no special effects. Messages of gender are, as has been mentioned, particularly similar from one film to the next, yet subtle differences highlight a new awareness and understanding of women’s independence. Greater knowledge of audiences and how to affect them is also evident in the different approaches taken regarding cultural or religious differences within each film, yet the moral and ethical lessons conveyed remain consistent. Thus, High Noon and Kung Fu will be compared within the technological, gender and audience frameworks. Film technology in the 1950s was just beginning its long development cycle. Several companies emerged during these early years of the decade dedicated to bringing color to the world of film including WarnerColor, Ansco Color, TruColor and De Luxe (Neale, 1985). During this development period, when color was still a new feature within theaters, color indicated the realm of fantasy and the hyperreal, just as sound had done a decade earlier. “Color was still overwhelmingly associated, aesthetically, with spectacle and fantasy. In consequence, color continued to be regularly used in genres like the musical, the western and the adventure film, as well as in Disney’s feature cartoons” (Neale, 1985: 139). However, realism was still predominantly associated with black and white. While color was available, High Noon was produced in black and white, highlighting the seriousness of the story and its relationship to the civic duty owed by all citizens to their community at large. By the early 1970s, more than half of the homes in America had a color television set, again bringing that same sense of magic and the fantastic into the American psyche depending upon its use within the television program (Steinberg, 1980). The use of a muted, nearly monochromatic color scheme within the Kung Fu series is thereby emblematic of the dramatic fantastic elements of the story in its use of color while retaining a strong connection to the real. There is a similarity in the format of the two films as well thanks largely to the technologies used. Before Cinerama and CinemaScope, films were presented in a nearly square format (20 feet x 16 feet). This change in format represented not only a change in presentation, the new, wider formats engulfing the audience in the physical space, but also in concept as the audience was now invited into the movie space rather than simply being a spectator of it. “Motion picture audiences were no longer conceived of as passive spectators but as active participants in a film experience” (Belton, 1990: 186). Thus, viewers of films such as High Noon would not have felt the stronger sense of participation the wide-screen versions would have held, yet were the beneficiaries of the opened concept of inviting the viewer into the movie space. However, this smaller format brings the film into a closer comparison with the productions made strictly for television like Kung Fu. The introduction of CinemaScope also introduced the use of framing and camera angle, techniques that were used in High Noon to emphasize the growing nervousness and uncertainty in Marshall Kane as well as the passage of time (a clock is featured in nearly every scene) as well as in Kung Fu in which close-ups of faces and inclusion of characters in the frame work to establish appropriate juxtaposition among the various actions. An example of this can be seen in the camera angle and framing of Caine as he chops wood in the barnyard with Wing watching him and Chen, the minor member of the bad guy organization The Tong, hurtles an axe at Caine’s back, only to have it knocked harmlessly away by Caine’s quick reaction. This amazing stunt can only be appreciated when distances are known, as they are through this use of careful framing. Both High Noon and Kung Fu present strong, independent women. While this is in keeping with the political climate of the 1970s when Kung Fu was produced, it is somewhat unusual in the production of High Noon though not unanticipated. As Jackie Stacey (1994) illustrates, by the early 1950s, women had already become recognized as the consumers of the household, a fact that gave them a new power outside of the home. Women were beginning to redefine their passive role in society and being “addressed as individuals and encouraged to reproduce their ‘individuality’ through the consumption of clothes, make-up and household goods” (Stacey, 1994: 186). This encouragement took place within the cinema itself. High Noon is exceptional in that it provides women with two opposing yet equally strong female figures, the angel Amy and the vamp Helen. Through the film, it is revealed that Helen has had several lovers, including bad guy Frank Miller, good guy Will Kane and ex-deputy Harvey Pell. She owns several businesses, as she is seen to sell her store (in which she has been a silent partner) and it is her name on the saloon. She is fiercely independent, having no qualms about kicking Harvey out when he displeases her, and wise about the people around her. Amy is similarly strong although this is not immediately apparent as her first scenes are as she takes her wedding vows. However, it is because of her religious beliefs that the ceremony takes place at the justice of the peace rather than in the church and she remains strong in her refusal to condone Will Kane’s choice to remain in town to face Frank Miller despite being only minutes from her marriage ceremony. When the women meet, they recognize each other as equals and are cordial to one another. The film throws subtle preference to Amy, however, by allowing her to get off the train at the sound of gunshots and rush to defend her husband while Helen sits cowardly on the train heading out of town. Amy’s action in shooting one of Miller’s henchmen would have been particularly hard-hitting because of its unexpectedness. Unexpected, random violence is more shocking to them than expected, contextualized violence (Hill, 1997). By the early 1970s, these earlier hints at female independence had blossomed into full-scale movements such as the National Organization for Women (NOW). “Feminism, or organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests, reached high tide in the early 1970s” (U.S. Department of State, 2007). Through these organizations’ efforts, the Equal Right Amendment (ERA) was passed in 1972 making it illegal to deny or abridge rights based on the gender of the individual. The famous Roe v. Wade case providing women with the right to abortion was passed in 1973, further promoting the concept of sexual equality (U.S. Department of State, 2007). It is not so surprising, then, to find a single woman standing on the back of a wagon, loudly sermonizing to an indifferent group of Chinese townspeople in the Kung Fu episode. Sister Richardson is not the beautiful creatures found in High Noon, but she is a sister in spirit with these other women. She is fully dedicated to her ideals, forceful about expressing her opinions, yet thoughtful and intelligent when discussing her ideas with Caine, who is not of her religious convictions. Like Amy, Sister Richardson remains firmly ensconced in the traditional female role, but she takes it on herself and makes it her own. In the wilderness, she can be anything she wants to be, and what she wants to be is a protector of the weak by winning them over to the Christian tradition. She fends for herself, whether in a town or traveling in the wilderness and is fully capable. She does not back down to the powerful Tong even though she is aware of their strength and danger. She proves herself stronger than Amy in that she does not require a man to keep her and stronger than Helen in that she conducts her own business in the public domain. While the difference in gender issues portrayal remains subtle in a comparison of these two films, the differences in message style for the audience between the 1950s High Noon and the 1970s Kung Fu is much more evident. Despite differences in audiences, though, both strove to deliver similar moral and ethical lessons related to the concept of the lone cowboy and the principles he embodies. From the advent of television in the 1940s, studies were being conducted to determine whether the levels of violence depicted in the media had an effect on the levels of violence found in society. According to Felson (2000), this seemed clear from the beginning. “Not long after the introduction of television in American households, there occurred a dramatic increase in violent crime” (Centerwall cited in Felson, 2000: 237), perhaps as a result of imitation as proposed by social learning theory. These early studies, though fairly inconclusive due to flaws in the research procedure, were available by the time High Noon was being produced, providing the filmmakers with added incentive to reduce the violent elements of the film to only what was essential. The classic Western follows the traditional plot in which “the protagonist uses violence for legitimate ends while the villain engages in illegitimate violence. The protagonist usually uses violence in self-defense or to mete out an appropriate level of punishment to a dangerous or threatening criminal” (Felson, 2000: 253). In High Noon, this violence only breaks out twice – the first time in a fist-fight between Kane and Pell when Pell is trying to save Kane’s life, the second when the bad guys take the first shot at Kane, initiating the gunfight that ends the life of all four members of the gang. Before the television show Kung Fu ended its run, the first of the more reliable laboratory and field studies into the relationship between television and real world violence had already concluded that there was probably a connection between media violence and true life violence, but none were sufficiently conclusive to make this connection undisputed (Felson, 2000: 240). Felson cites another study that concluded boys became less violent when exposed to violent programming than those exposed to nonviolent programs. Despite years of study, it is still impossible to determine whether a greater propensity for violence results from children watching violence on television or if children with a greater propensity for violence for a variety of other reasons is more likely to watch violence on television. Regardless of the answer, however, that these studies were occurring at a time when a show such as Kung Fu was being produced, a show in which it is taught that violence should be avoided at all costs despite its Western theme, is significant in determining why this particular show deviated from the more traditional approaches taken to the Western genre – namely that violence was a key element in true Western living. Caine is told that blood must pay for the life of the slave boy and that he has no choice but to face Ah Quong, the Venerable Li’s henchman, in a showdown at dusk in which they will fight until one of them dies. As Caine sits in meditation of how to avoid killing his adversary, he is shot with an arrow from behind by an accomplice of Ah Quong’s, emphasizing the deceitful and dishonorable actions of the bad guys. Caine survives the shot, walks out of the barn where he’s been and confronts Ah Quong by pulling the arrow out of his own body. Throughout the series, the awareness of the effects of television violence upon audiences is evident as continuous emphasis is placed on a path of least resistance and avoidance of violence whenever possible. Through careful use of technology, attention to the true role of women within the greater society and consideration of the possible effects images on screen can have upon audiences, both High Noon and Kung Fu manage to convey a similar message of responsibility to a higher purpose and a strong moral and ethical code of justice. “On a simplistic level, entertainment makes the ‘bitter’ pill of education slide down more easily” (Austin, 45). This is true whether one is talking about earlier films such as High Noon in which the questions of morals and ethics are tackled with a healthy dose of religious instruction and negative experience in the case of Amy’s decision to return to the defense of her husband or later productions such as the Kung Fu series in which the basic tenets of the Shaolin tradition are shared within a broadly applicable realm. Works Cited Austin, Bruce A. Immediate Setting: A Look at Movie Audiences. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, pp. 44-58. Belton, John. “Glorious Technicolor, Breathtaking Cinemascope and Stereophonic Sound.” Hollywood in the Age of Television. Tino Balio (Ed.). Boston: Unwin, 1990, pp. 185-211. Drums Along the Mohawk. Dir. John Ford. Perf. Claudette Colbert, Henry Fonda, Edna May Oliver. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, 1939. Felson, Richard B. “Mass Media Effects on Violent Behavior.” Screening Violence. Stephen Prince (Ed.). New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2000, pp. 237-266. “Hero.” The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. (4th Ed.). New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000. High Noon. Dir. Fred Zinneman. Perf. Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Katy Jurado. Republic Entertainment, 1952. Hill, Annette. Shocking Entertainment: Viewer Response to Violent Movies. Luton: University of Luton Press, 1997, pp. 27-37. Kobak, Stuart J. “A Western is a Western is a Western.” The Feature Archive. (2002). August 20, 2007 Kung Fu. “The Tong.” Dir. Alex Beaton, Barry Crane. Perf. David Carradine, Diana Douglas, Carey Wong. Season 2, Episode 7. Warner Brothers Telelvison, 1973. Maltby, Richard. “Nobody Knows Everything: Post-Classical Historiographics and Consolidated Entertainment.” Contemporary Hollywood Cinema. Steve Neale and Murray Smith (Eds.). London: Routledge, 1998, pp. 21-44. Marciniak, Cathy. “Western Novels.” The Best of the West. (2004). August 20, 2007 Neale, Steve. Cinema and Technology: Image, Sound, Color. London: MacMillan Press, 1985, pp. 129-144. Quigley Down Under. Dir. Simon Wincer. Perf. Tom Selleck, Laura San Giacomo, Alan Rickman. Pathe Entertainment, 1990. Stacey, Jackie. Star Gazing: Hollywood Cinema and Female Spectatorship. London: Routledge, 1994, pp. 176-223. Steinberg, C. “Number of TV Households and Percentage of USA Homes with Television – 1950 to 1978”; “Number of Color TV Households and Percentage of USA Homes with Color Television – 1964 to 1978.” TV Facts. (1980). August 20, 2007 < http://www.tvhistory.tv/facts-stats.htm> U.S. Department of State. “The Women’s Movement.” U.S. History. (2004). August 20, 2007 < http://countrystudies.us/united-states/history-131.htm> Read More