tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331917990627226586.post6381825619110099349..comments2023-08-29T04:35:15.852-07:00Comments on The Trent Philosophy Blog: Philosophical Films - Pleasantville Director: Gary Ross, 1998.Neil Turnbullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07757980706607642699noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331917990627226586.post-29822675606195284792010-03-23T08:30:33.794-07:002010-03-23T08:30:33.794-07:00There is certainly nostalgia going on in this film...There is certainly nostalgia going on in this film, I agree--harking back to an imagined past where simplicity was supposedly the order of the day and everybody knew their place (dad in the garden, mum at the sink in a Janet and John division of gender roles) in contrast with the supposed fragmented uncertainties of today's society.<br /><br />Whether we agree that postmodernism is accurate in its depiction of endlessly circulating images and technological determinism which have somehow staunched creative flow into a creative stasis is another matter. <br />Perhaps we need a greater sense of historical perspective on contemporary culture before we can make an informed judgment that it is in repeat mode. <br />Personally, I would take the view that there is still creativity in contemporary culture despite, or perhaps because, of increased self-reflexivity, fragmentation and ironic detachment. I don't fully embrace the post-modernist critique, though I do think it has a great deal of critical purchase on contemporary culture.<br />RuthRuth Griffinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16653229851182852342noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331917990627226586.post-59594845335279382542010-03-23T04:27:33.100-07:002010-03-23T04:27:33.100-07:00Interesting that you view this film as an explorat...Interesting that you view this film as an exploration of 'the virtual'. <br /><br />Couldn't it also be viewed as an exploration of the longing to return to the more innocent and carefree world that existed 'before' (as children, or more historically when our parents were children)?<br /><br />The question for me here is the question of nostalgia and its relationship to the political possibilites of the present. As we know, for Freud this desire to return was essentially a desire for death ; the death drive.<br /><br />Might this be the best way to understand the culture of today: a Thanatic culture that can only repeat and not create?<br /><br />Neil TurnbullNeil Turnbullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07757980706607642699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8331917990627226586.post-21388316752404179142010-03-23T03:42:30.210-07:002010-03-23T03:42:30.210-07:00The film can also be decoded in terms of ocular pe...The film can also be decoded in terms of ocular perception--not only does the monochrome/colour dichotomy suggest political connotations but also different ways of 'seeing' the world, which in turn raises questions about the lens through which our senses interpret the world, and how reliable they are? At the same time, it reminds us of the essential artificiality of the film-world, suggesting that colour, with its greater realistic properties, is able to blur the boundaries between illusion and "reality", to the extent that, in present times, it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish special effects from representations of reality. Technological innovations can only increase this confusion, presumably to the point where we will no longer be able to distinguish "real" actors from their digitally created counterparts. In this way, Baudrillard's fourth phase of the image, 'whereby the image bears no relation to reality whatsoever, but is its own pure simulacrum' is fully realised.<br /> Viewed in this way, the film is useful when considering scepticism also..<br />Ruth GriffinRuth Griffinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16653229851182852342noreply@blogger.com