Preparing for 1st Dissertation Meeting /w Clarissa - Structuring My Essay
Dissertation Preparation
Today marks my first meeting with Clarissa, our head lecturer for our dissertation unit. My goal for this meeting is to ascertain what direction I'll be taking my essay in terms of my critical approach. I've always been comfortable with writing long-form, however the aspect of essay writing I've struggled to adapt to the most over the past 2 years on the course has always been critical theory; Who I choose to reference in regards to research, how their theory ties directly in with the narrative I'm attempting to create etc.
My Topic - Intellectual Context & How My Question Approaches It
During my Dissertation proposal I addressed postmodernism within Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, Joss Whedon's Cabin In The Woods and Tim Miller's Deadpool. Linking specifically to Lyotard's theory of 'Grand Narrative', hinting at socio-political commentary that littered the sub-text of all 3 movies.
I've always found media that is self-aware/self-referential particularly unique within our industry. The way blockbuster action movies like Deadpool blend traditional super-hero themes and motifs (that we're all too often used to these days), alongside Deadpool's iconic 4th wall breaking, self critical sense of humour - luls the audience into a sense of comfort through informality/by breaking the expectations of the super-hero genre.
I intend to compare more light-hearted and humorous material such as Deadpool, with a much more gritty interpretation of real-world issues through The Dark Knight. Characters like Bruce Wayne/Batman and The Joker are unique because they embody various characteristics that people can relate to in day to day life. Order should be maintained within any society, but when the government and civil authorities are in no position to handle the level of criminal present within Gotham City, they're forced to rely on someone who typically stands outside of the law i.e. Batman. Antithetically, The Joker stands in opposition to Batman as a very real representation of chaos, as well as the threat of anarchy within what would be considered a 'peaceful' existence.
I think these themes will be incredibly interesting to delve into and discuss more in-depth in relation to postmodernism, the audience's interpretation of social/political commentary and the writer's/director's intentions with the story being told.
Potential Research Material
Deadpool - Wade Wilson re-introduces the audience to the genre trope 'the super-hero landing' much to the amusement of himself.
Today marks my first meeting with Clarissa, our head lecturer for our dissertation unit. My goal for this meeting is to ascertain what direction I'll be taking my essay in terms of my critical approach. I've always been comfortable with writing long-form, however the aspect of essay writing I've struggled to adapt to the most over the past 2 years on the course has always been critical theory; Who I choose to reference in regards to research, how their theory ties directly in with the narrative I'm attempting to create etc.
My Topic - Intellectual Context & How My Question Approaches It
During my Dissertation proposal I addressed postmodernism within Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, Joss Whedon's Cabin In The Woods and Tim Miller's Deadpool. Linking specifically to Lyotard's theory of 'Grand Narrative', hinting at socio-political commentary that littered the sub-text of all 3 movies.
I've always found media that is self-aware/self-referential particularly unique within our industry. The way blockbuster action movies like Deadpool blend traditional super-hero themes and motifs (that we're all too often used to these days), alongside Deadpool's iconic 4th wall breaking, self critical sense of humour - luls the audience into a sense of comfort through informality/by breaking the expectations of the super-hero genre.
I intend to compare more light-hearted and humorous material such as Deadpool, with a much more gritty interpretation of real-world issues through The Dark Knight. Characters like Bruce Wayne/Batman and The Joker are unique because they embody various characteristics that people can relate to in day to day life. Order should be maintained within any society, but when the government and civil authorities are in no position to handle the level of criminal present within Gotham City, they're forced to rely on someone who typically stands outside of the law i.e. Batman. Antithetically, The Joker stands in opposition to Batman as a very real representation of chaos, as well as the threat of anarchy within what would be considered a 'peaceful' existence.
I think these themes will be incredibly interesting to delve into and discuss more in-depth in relation to postmodernism, the audience's interpretation of social/political commentary and the writer's/director's intentions with the story being told.
Potential Research Material
- Eternal Struggles: A Critical Analysis of Christopher Nolan's Batman Film Trilogy - Kathrine L McCullough (2013)
- Frank Miller Strikes Again and Batman Becomes a Postmodern Anti-Hero: The Tragic Reformulation of The Dark Knight - Terrance. R Wandtke (2011)
- We Are Not Who We Say We Are: Lovecraftian Conspiracy and Magical Humanism in The Cabin in The Woods - Christopher Lockett (2015)
- Style and Form in The Hollywood Slasher Film | Beyond Surveillance: Questions of the Real in the Neo-postmodern Horror Film - Dana Och (2015)
- Contemporary Comics Storytelling - Karin Kukkonen (2016)
Moving Image Sequences Relevant To My Research
I have chosen to pick a specific scene from each of the films to critically analyse within the context of postmodernism.
The Dark Knight - The Joker addresses "The established order" during a tense back and forth between him and Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), as he lay disfigured in a hospital bed.
Deadpool - Wade Wilson re-introduces the audience to the genre trope 'the super-hero landing' much to the amusement of himself.
Cabin In The Woods - Sigourney Weaver details the nature of the agreement. They appease the gods, a literal symbolic representation of the audience themselves.
I believe that these 3 scenes are some of the most interesting content to take a closer critical look at due to their nature of both postmodernism as well as the structure of socio-political culture as a whole.
Potential Structuring Ideas
I want to be able to tackle this essay in a clear and free-flowing manner, if the piece doesn't feel fluid from chapter to chapter then I have failed in that sense. In order to do this I intend to have Chapter 1 introduce the context of the argument being made, with each of the three case studies being introduced over the course of the Chapter 2 and 3, whilst Chapter 4 is spent comparing and contrasting specific elements between the different case studies before rounding everything up for a conclusion at the end.
Miscellaneous Thoughts
I was initially quite intimidated by the nature of the dissertation towards the end of my second year, however I hope to gain a better sense of direction during today's meeting with Clarissa, from which I'll be able to successfully formulate my ideas into a cohesive argument.
Comments
Post a Comment