Transgressive Cinema / Course # L 225
Spring 2008
Dr. David Sterritt
Thursdays 9-11:45 a.m. / Brown 320
Office hours: by appointment, before and after class
djsterritt@aol.com

Course content:

Transgress: To go beyond the bounds or limits … violate, infringe, contravene … To break a law or command; to trespass, offend, sin. – Oxford English Dictionary

This course explores a body of films that transgress the norms of cinematic morality, decency, and taste, offering a springboard for discussion of why certain movies are seen as violations of the unwritten rules for “acceptable” cinematic discourse. By viewing, discussing, and writing about works that challenge the dominant paradigms of mass-media art and entertainment, students will gain experience in film analysis, expand their understanding of relevant ideas in film theory, and see some very wild movies. Parental discretion advised!


Course schedule:

Unless otherwise specified, reading assignments are from Offensive Films by Mikita Brottman.

Part 1: Introduction to the cinema of transgression

January 24 –
Topic: Overview of the history and theory of transgressive film.
Screening: Funny Games, Michael Haneke (Austria, 1997)
Reading: “Introduction,” pp. 1-14
    
Part 2: Horror and transgression

January 31 –
    Topic: The violated body in fiction and fact
    Screening: Blood Feast, Herschell Gordon Lewis (USA, 1963)
                            The Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes, Stan Brakhage (USA 1971)
    Reading: “Blood Feast: There Never Was a Party Like This!,” pp. 67-78

Assignment for January 31, due February 7
 Herschell Gordon Lewis’s exploitation film Blood Feast and Stan Brakhage’s avant-garde film The Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes both deal with the violated body, the first in fiction and the second in fact. Which do you find to be a more disturbing or transgressive film? Why?

Each paper should be one page long, give or take a few lines, and typed. Papers are due in the first class after the assignment is given.
Don’t forget to keep up with your course journal, 2-3 pages for each week’s work

February 7 –
    Topic: Mad science
    Screening: Shivers, David Cronenberg (Canada, 1975)

Assignment for February 5, due February 12
    David Cronenberg’s horror film Shivers deals simultaneously with the human race’s capacity for advanced scientific understanding and its ability to regress into savage violence when logical thought is bypassed or short-circuited. Does this movie present serious ideas about the nature of human beings, or is it designed merely to shock and scare the audience? State and briefly explain your opinion.

February 14 –
Topic: Cinema as transgressive ritual
 Screening: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Tobe Hooper (USA, 1974)
Reading: “Once Upon a Time in Texas,” pp. 96-112

Assignment for February 14, due February 21
    The Texas Chain Saw Massacre contains a great deal of material, including murder and cannibalism, that would be truly horrifying if we encountered it in real life; yet the movie is regarded by many critics and moviegoers as a horror classic. What accounts for the film’s enduring popularity among horror-film audiences? Do you feel its high reputation is deserved, or not? Briefly explain your views. Remember that grading will take account of correct writing – spelling, grammar, punctuation – as well as the ideas you express.

Don’t forget to keep up with your course journal, 2-3 pages for each week’s work
 
Part 3: Narratives of punishment and revenge

February 21 –
    Topic: Woman as victim and victimizer
    Screening: Day of the Woman, a.k.a. I Spit on Your Grave, Meir
                                   Zarchi (USA, 1978)
    Reading: Selected movie reviews (handout)
    Roger Ebert's review
    Scott Ashlin's review

February 28 –
Topic: Church and state, love and death, greed and the grotesque body
Screening: The Baby of Mâcon, Peter Greenaway (UK/France/
                        Germany/Belgium/Netherlands, 1993)

March 6 –
Topic: Carnivalizing the grotesque body
Screening: Freaks, Tod Browning (USA, 1932)
Reading: “Freaks: Carnivalizing the Taboo,” pp. 15-49

Assignment for February 28, due March 13
        Choose either "Day of the Woman/I Spit on Your Grave" or "The Baby of Mâcon" and discuss its treatment of the theme of revenge.
Be sure to answer the question – some students are receiving grades lower than necessary because they haven’t directly addressed the assignment.

March 13 –
    Topic: Transgressing against time and space
    Screening: Irréversible, Gaspar Noé (France, 2002)
    Reading: “An Experiment in Time: Gaspar Noé’s Irréversible,” pp.
                                160-169
             David Sterritt, “`Time Destroys All Things’: An Interview
                                with Gaspar Noé.” Quarterly Review of Film and Video
                                24:4 (2007), pp. 307-316.

March 27 –
    Topic: On the road with sex and violence
    Screening: Baise-moi, Virginie Despentes (France, 1972)

Part 4: Sex and sexuality

April 3 –
    Topic: Kids
    Screening: Ken Park, Larry Clark and Ed Lachman (USA/
                             Netherlands/France, 2002)

April 10 –
    Topic: Obsession
    Screening: In the Realm of the Senses, Nagisa Oshima (Japan/France,
                             1976)

Assignment for April 10, due April 17
    Nagisa Oshima’s controversial 1976 drama In the Realm of the Senses has been considered mere pornography by some critics, while others have found it a complex examination of gender relations rooted in longstanding traditions of Japanese culture. Which side are you on? Briefly explain why.


Don’t forget to keep up with your course journal, 2-3 pages for each week’s work



April 17 –
Topic: Fascism, power, and the legacy of Sade
Screening: Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom, Pier Paolo Pasolini
                        (Italy/France, 1975)
 
April 24 –
    Topic: Visiting the animal kingdom
    Screening: Zoo, Robinson Devor (USA, 2007)

Part 5: Summing up and drawing conclusions

May 1 –
    Topic: Thinking about violence
    Screening: Natural Born Killers, Oliver Stone (USA, 1994)
    Reading: “Afterword to the Second Edition,” pp. 170-179


Required book:
Mikita Brottman, Offensive Films (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 2005)
All reading assignments on the syllabus are from these this book. Additional reading assignments will be given out in class.

Course requirements:

   Students must attend all class sessions and screenings, complete all reading assignments in a timely way, and participate actively in class discussions.
   In addition, each student must complete a weekly paper and must keep a journal during the course, to be submitted in class on April 29, the last day of the course. Guidelines for journals are given below.
   Final grades will not be calculated according to a rigid formula, but will take account of all work during the course – your weekly papers, your journal, and class participation.
   All written work must be typed.

Attendance and Participation:
   Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class. It is your responsibility to get to class on time. Unexcused absences will result in a lower final grade. If you know you will be absent on a future date, let me know in advance. Absences will be excused only if you provide verification (documentation of a legitimate reason: illness, family emergency, etc.) as to why the class was missed. It is your responsibility to catch up with work missed due to absences, excused or otherwise. This includes all films that have been screened in class; if you miss a film, you need to watch it in your own time. (Most films will be available for viewing in the Media Resource Center after they have been screened in class.) You should participate fully in class discussions, since part of your final grade will reflect class participation.
   No late assignments will be accepted unless the lateness has been excused, and this requires verification (documentation of a legitimate reason: illness, family emergency, etc.) as to why the due date was missed.

Journal rules and guidelines:
         Every student must keep a course journal throughout the semester, to be turned in at the final class. It must contain two to three pages on each week’s subject matter, demonstrating knowledge of the pertinent films and filmmakers, material covered in class discussions, and material covered in the reading assignments. You are encouraged to view additional relevant films outside class and include references to them in your journal entries. This is not a diary – it is an academic journal, meant to record what you are learning and thinking with regard to the course on a weekly basis. You are welcome to include material suggested by reading and film viewing outside class, but the material must be relevant to this course.

Academic integrity:
   Academic integrity -- the pursuit of scholarly activity free from fraud and deception -- is an educational objective of this institution. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, fabrication of information or citations, facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others, submitting work of another person or submitting work previously used without informing the instructor, and tampering with the academic work of other students.
   A student charged with academic dishonesty will be given oral or written notice of the charge by the instructor. If students believe they have been falsely accused, they should seek redress through informal discussions with the instructor, department head, dean, or campus executive officer. If the instructor believes the infraction is sufficiently serious to warrant the referral of the case to the Office of Conduct Standards, or if the instructor decides to give a final grade of F in the course because of the infraction, the student and faculty will be afforded formal due-process procedures.

Additional information

PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is using someone else’s words or ideas without acknowledgment.  Submitting work containing plagiarism is grounds for failure of an assignment or failure of the course.  Repeat offenses will be brought to the attention of the department chair.  To be responsible when summarizing, paraphrasing, or quoting, include a citation like:

*** I read in yesterday’s New York Times that…
*** As Simone de Beauvoir famously asserts: “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman” (p. 34).
*** My roommate Pete noticed that…
*** If it’s common knowledge and your own idea, you do not need quotations. The yellow of the Lance Armstrong bracelet suggests bravery.

Document your citations in a bibliography or “works cited” page at the end of your paper and follow standard guidelines such as MLA or Chicago manual style.  Familiarize yourself with these guidelines in Diana Hacker’s A Pocket Style Manual, and always check with your instructor before turning in questionable work. You may also check on these and other language-related issues with one of the helpful tutors in the Writing Center, (410) 225-2418. The Writing Center has copies of the Hacker manual as well.


ADA COMPLIANCE: In MICA's efforts to provide the highest possible quality educational experience for every student, MICA maintains compliance with the requirements of the ADA and Section 504.  Any student who has, or suspects he or she may have, a disability and wants to request academic accommodations must contact the Director of the Learning Resource Center immediately.

The Director of the Learning Resource Center, Dr. Kathryn Smith, may be reached at 410 225-2416 or by email at ksmith@mica.edu.


MICA has developed policies and practices to ensure a healthful environment and safe approaches to the use of equipment, materials, and processes.  It is the mutual responsibility of faculty and students to review health and safety standards relevant to each class at the beginning of each semester.  Students should be aware of general fire, health, and safety regulations posted in each area and course specific polices, practices, and cautions.  Students who have concerns related to health and safety should contact the Environmental Health and Safety Coordinator.

The Environmental Health and Safety Coordinator, Quentin Moseley, may be reached at 410 225-0220 or by email at qmosele@mica.edu.