Film As Text and the Exploration of Reading Practices in Sanctioned Institutional Abuse

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Behind Closed Doors: Film as Text and the Exploration of Reading Practices in Sanctioned Institutional Abuse

Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation

Authors di Filippo, JoAnn

Publisher The University of Arizona.

Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.

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Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/306146 1

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: FILM AS TEXT AND THE EXPLORATION OF READING PRACTICES IN SANCTIONED INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE

by JoAnn di Filippo

______

A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the

COMPARATIVE CULTURAL AND LITERARY STUDIES PROGRAM

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

In the Graduate College

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

2013

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE

As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by JoAnn di Filippo entitled BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: FILM AS TEXT AND THE EXPLORATION OF

READING PRACTICES IN SANCTIONED INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the

Degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

______Date: June 14, 2013 Barbara Babcock

______Date: June 14, 2013 James Greenberg

______Date: June 14, 2013 Mary Beth Haralovich

Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College.

I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement.

______Date: June 14, 2013 Dissertation Director: Barbara Babcock

STATEMENT BY AUTHOR

This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library.

Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgement of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder.

SIGNED: JoAnn di Filippo

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This study developed as a result of working over thirty years in business and film industries, and law firms—participating in the crafting of legal defense claims for clients involved in white collar crime, insurance defense, environmental and securities law, and immigration. To each, I owe a debt of gratitude for providing me an opportunity to experience life from many different facets and perspectives, introducing me to individuals who have become lifelong friends, mentors, and cherished persons in my life. Others, while I recognize their questionable and, often times, contested contribution to my life, gave me the strength and fortitude to move forward and with conviction. When I first came to the university in 1993 to study Federal Indian Law and Policy, I met Regents Professor Barbara A. Babcock—a guiding figure in everything I was to accomplish over the next twenty years, and ultimately serving as my Dissertation Chair. Dr. Babcock was/is truly an inspiration to me and instrumental in assisting me to explore new venues, rethink customs and traditions, connect the dots, and examine the representational nature of everything in life. My explorations and questioning came in the form of finding meaning through interdisciplinary research. It was a perfect match. I wanted to know “why” and she guided me to the library of life where I found answers to my questions from such notable scholars as Victor Turner, Stuart Hall, Adorno, Gramsci, Rosaldo, Dryer, Foucault, Said, Marx, Bakhtin, Althusser, Bourdieu, Eagleton, Williams, and Babcock herself—to name a few. To these cultural theorists and more, I acknowledge and thank them for expanding my world of knowledge. I would also like to acknowledge and thank Professors James Greenberg and Mary Beth Haralovich, both members of my dissertation committee. Greenberg’s work on political ecology and neoliberalism provided a new lens for understanding the production and exchange of basic resources in working-class communities. From his work, I obtained a better understanding of how power structures were constituted, and how policy was developed (even and uneven) and used to control working-class interests. Haralovich’s work on social history in US films and television enabled me to focus on how films participate in the construction of meaning in our everyday lives. From film studio advertising campaigns to the incorporation of fireworks in film and television, Haralovich’s work provided me the fortitude to continue exploring meaning in life through a cinematic lens—particularly my life. To my father, for every time you agreed with me, I thank you. For every time you disagreed with me, I thank you more. To my mother, thank you for introducing me to the wonderful world of cinema and the Garlic Opera. To my grandfather, Antonino, thank you for teaching me about the meaning of family, honor, social drama, and culture. To all the voices of opposition, stand up for what you believe in, fight for what you believe, and recognize how institutions use biased-constituted fabrics to enforce their policies. 5

DEDICATION

To my BFFs who have been there day and night, through the brightest of days to the darkest moments of despair. I can always count on you to give me a lick of praise, a snort of satisfaction, and a kick of independence …. DPI Let It Ride, without you none of this would have been possible. You came from New Mexico, leaving your home and family to raise a new family with me. You are the best mother anyone could ever have.

Heza Latin Lover, you gave me my first win in Sonoita. What a glorious day that was and one I will never forget. Red It Ride, you always be remembered. Your performance on the 870 at Rillito was jaw dropping. I watch the video everyday and realize that despite all obstacles, one can still triumph. I miss you terribly. Shameless Shah, you are playing in the league with the big boys and holding your own. No one believed an

Appendix could do it, but you proved the boys-in-the-contingency wrong. Jess Tutto

Bello, your million dollar daddy and great grand daddy Triple Crown winner are counting on you to continue the legacy of winners. You have shown me the meaning of the tradition of excellence. We were the oppositional voices at the track going against the power brokers who dominated for many years. We prevailed and came out glorious.

You helped me explore, contemplate, and test each hypothesis of my dissertation through our unique relationship of cultural meanings, spoken words, endorphins, and mutual trust and understanding. To each of you who stood in your stalls at the racetrack, quietly and without disruption while I typed my dissertation furiously between races, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. To my pride and joy, Red It Ride, we’ll join you when the time is right. Until then, carry my love with you. 6

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ...... 7 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ...... 8

STRUCTURE OF THE DISSERTATION ...... 14 CHAPTER TWO: INSIDE THE PHENOMENON OF SANCTIONED INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE ...... 26

SANCTIONED INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE: WHAT IS IT? ...... 30 READING PRACTICES: MESSAGES, MEANINGS, AND INTERPRETATIONS ...... 34 CONSIDERATIONS IN EXPLORING SANCTIONED INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE ...... 39 BEGINNING WITH THE REAL EXPERIENCE TO UNDERSTAND THE REEL REPRESENTATION ...... 46 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY...... 61

INTERDISCIPLINARY METHODS: THE FOUNDATIONAL FRAMEWORK ...... 61 CATEGORY 1: DEATH TO THE OPPOSITIONAL VOICE ...... 66 CATEGORY 2: DEVASTATION AND DESTRUCTION TO THE OPPOSITIONAL VOICE ...... 67 CATEGORY 3: VINDICATION TO THE OPPOSITIONAL VOICE ...... 71 SOCIAL DRAMA: BUILDING A THEORETICAL INTERDISCIPLINARY FRAMEWORK ...... 73 CHAPTER FOUR: CRITICAL THINKING OF SANCTIONED INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE IN REEL VISUAL DISCOURSE ...... 81

THE SPECTACLE: RE-TELLING, RE-THINKING, RE-CONSIDERING ...... 82 SOCIAL DRAMAS: STRUCTURE ANALYSIS OF THE DRAMA ...... 84 FILM GENRE: THE GENRE RE-PRODUCTION DISPOSITIF AND THE REEL TO REAL EXPERIENCE ...... 93 FILM THEORY, FORM AND FUNCTION: CREATING THE VISUAL DISCOURSE OF SANCTIONED INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE ...... 98 Film Editing: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words ...... 101 Film Construction: Schemata and Its Relation to Visual Discourse in the Development of Reading Practices ...... 107 Screening Sanctioned Institutional Abuse: Althusser and the Function of State Apparatuses...... 110 Locating Discourse: Cinematic Representations of Relations of Power and Oppressed Voices ...... 117 CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION ...... 121

IMPACT ON THE SOCIAL ORDER ...... 122 THE FUTURE FOR SANCTIONED INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE: READING THE CRYSTAL BALL ...... 127 APPENDIX A: SELECTED FILMS BASED ON TRUE LIFE ACCOUNTS ...... 129 REFERENCES ...... 156 7

ABSTRACT

This dissertation brings critical visual culture studies to bear on cinematic representations of sanctioned institutional abuse. In particular, my dissertation seeks to explore and analyze the dynamics of the visual culture in reel/real social dramas of sanctioned institutional abuse, relations of power and the construction/destruction of oppositional voices struggling to seek justice. Focusing on Turner’s work in understanding social dramas, I contextualize three “true account” films to explore how cultural studies, film form, function, and theory play critical roles in spectator viewing and the development of viewer reading practices. I argue that actions perpetrated on oppositional voices and subsequent discovery of truth create a visual discourse that makes an impact on the social order and, and how reel cinematic representations of this visual discourse impact viewers in developing real reading practices about sanctioned institutional abuse in their everyday lives.

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Those who function inadequately in any society are not those with certain fixed ‘abnormal’ traits, but may well be those whose responses have received no support in the institutions of their culture. Ruth Benedict (1934, 270)

Power is everywhere [and] comes from everywhere. Foucault (1998, 63)

What is needed is an understanding of how any picture could miraculously transform painful information into coherent social action. Jussim (1984, 112)

Movies have been a source of entertainment for over a century, appealing to every age and generation. Kochberg (1996) explains that the “film-going habit is an important part of social history” and that “films do not exist in a vacuum: they are conceived, produced, distributed and consumed within specific economic and social contexts” (4).

As a child, movies served me not only as a form of entertainment, but also as textbooks to a magical world. Thirty years later, I viewed these same childhood movies, only this time I read their visual discourse differently: Little Red Riding Hood was chased by a serial stalker, Cinderella was a victim of domestic family abuse and humiliation, and

Snow White was left to die in the woods until rescued by seven good Samaritans. My 9 reading of these films changed drastically over the course of time. Why were my readings of these films so different over time? As Phillips (1996) explains,

each of us comes to a film with our own personal ‘formation’ – the

result of all our life experiences. These will predispose us to certain

interpretations of character, certain attitudes towards moral and

political issues, and certain emotional responses to events (139).

Movies, for the most part, took on new meaning for me; they came to serve as textbooks that provided meaning for social change, conflict, and drama. My personal formations as a spectator sitting in a seat in the darkened auditorium read with the cinematic representations on the screen produced a visual discourse—a new way of interpreting messages and meaning. As a result, I became interested in the impact those messages and meaning had in my life post-movie viewing, and how they serve as teaching tools for me to learn more about spectator reading practices and cinematic representations of social drama and conflict.

This essay examines visual discourses of sanctioned institutional abuse through cinematic representations of relations of power and oppositional voices. In particular, I focus on how visual techniques and strategies are framed in true life account films, and how these filmic elements and images play a role in the viewing public’s ability to develop reading practices that teach us to think about reel experiences and our real lives.

Drawing from real/reel experiences, I first explore the kinds of messages and meanings that exist in the exchange between the film and the viewer, and which serve to create an 10 understanding of social dramas, and their complex dynamics and transformative impacts within contemporary society; and secondly, I seek answers as to how sanctioned institutional abuse portrayed in true account films challenges viewer perception when facing similar unbalanced power relations in real life.

I consider multiple aspects pertaining to viewer perceptions and the spectacle: Do the film images elicit a desire to know more about the conditions surrounding the representations portrayed on the silver screen? Do their images leave us with thoughts as to why a particular scene might feel familiar and make a connection with our own lives?

If so, what does that connection mean in terms of analyzing the complex articulation between public performances on the screen and underlying forces of contention within relations of power and oppressed voices off the screen? And, if film images speak on behalf of the story being told to an audience, how does the filmmaker’s construction of those images add to the story’s interpretation?

In filmmaking, images projected on the screen pass through the camera—an apparatus—and are captured within the machine before they are printed on the film. The filmmaker edits those images in a sequential fashion rendering the visual product just as critical as the film narrative and audio tracks. In the editing process, images of the true life experience are left on the cutting room floor. They were deemed expendable in the final product. Could the cut scenes provide a different glimpse of the outcome or a better understanding of the story’s plot? In using film as text, we must take into consideration 11 these factors, as well as how a true life experience that spanned over a period of time is transformed into ninety minutes of celluloid performance.

Tom Gunning (2002) explains that understanding a film “as historical evidence requires informed judgment based on knowledge from outside of the film” (4). Early in my career, I worked for the Disney Studios in Burbank, California and learned first-hand about the art of film production.1 Each day, I walked through the various studio departments watching animators prepare colored cells for cartoon animation, pre- production crews gearing up for film shoots, audio-animatronics engineers testing new robotics, and development teams plotting storyboard narratives—all necessary elements of filmmaking. The Disney production crew was responsible for taking a “concept” and transforming it to the big screen.2 The crew possessed knowledge from outside the film in order to convey a screen message to an audience who had no participation in the construction of the film. And, as in the case of true account experiences, the crew was required to make the film a believable product, as well as a marketable product to generate profits for the studio.

As I walked through the Disney Studio back lots, I became fascinated how exterior façades could be transformed into convincing film portrayals. For instance, I recall as a young child watching the 1960s Disney film Pollyanna (Swift 1960) and being

1 During 1977-1978, I worked at the Disney University, a non-accredited training facility, established to instruct Disney management and staff about the “Disney Way” and the philosophy of Walt Disney.

2 Reference is made to the “big screen”; however, I am using this phrase for illustrative purposes. “Big screen” can also refer to the projection of films using electronic devices such as computers, PDAs, DVDs, etc. 12 mesmerized by the beauty of the film sets only to discover in years later that Pollyanna’s home and exterior ground shots were filmed in Santa Rosa, California while interiors were filmed at the Disney Studios in Burbank, California.3 My perception of this idyllic childhood lifestyle was shattered and the images held in my memory bank were challenged. Film viewers of true life accounts face similar situations; images are consumed and become part of our social memory bank In the process of viewing the film, connections are made between the image on the screen and images residing in the viewer’s memory bank. Because each memory bank holds information specific to that individual, films can be interpreted in many different ways. Anyone who has ever lost his/her job for whatever reason can identify with films that characterize actors waiting in long unemployment lines or panic-stricken faces reacting to the loss of income and fear of not being able to pay household bills. Conversely, an individual who has not experienced a loss of job may not fully understand the ramifications of being unemployed; however, they know after viewing these images that unemployment is not a condition they want to experience.

Gunning (2002) reminds us of an example from the film Casablanca (Curtiz

1942) involving Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart as they embrace in a “passionate kiss” and the image then “cuts to a view of the control tower at the nearby airport” (8).

Viewers are left to think “what happened next?” Did they have sex as some adults might envision or did nothing happen? If a viewer in real life engaged in similar behavior with

3 Information obtained from personal conversations with Disney staff in the late 1970s during my employment at the Disney University in Burbank, California. 13 someone followed up by a moment of intimacy, might that viewer make the same connection to the reel experience? Any number of possible readings could result based on the connection from the cinematic visual image to the personal representation of similar images in one’s memory bank. This connectivity (or lack of) to images, social drama, and social conflict between reel/real experiences aligns with Phillips’ (1996) concept of spectator viewing, personal formations, and cinematic representations.

My initial research on the development of reading practices evolved after studying Reading National Geographic by Catherine Lutz and Jane Collins (1993). Lutz and Collins explored the National Geographic Society to investigate how its cultural producers—the photographers, writers, editors, and other contributing staff—select images and text to produce representations of Third World countries. Their research consisted of conducting close readings of over six hundred photographs, discussing a myriad of issues including race, gender, privilege, position, economics, among others, and tracing historical information about non-Western people through an analysis of the magazine’s photography and narratives used to represent the “other” cultures.

In focusing on the pleasures and possibilities of reading, Lutz and Collins were interested in finding out “what kinds of questions … do these photos encourage contemporary white, middle-class Americans to ask, and what kinds of questions and critique might they foreclose” (259). This body of work led me to realize how to conduct close readings of film and investigate the development of reading practices resulting from cinematic representations of sanctioned institutional abuse. 14

Structure of the Dissertation

I offer a new point of entry into exploring how reading practices of cinematic representations of sanctioned institutional abuse, relations of power, and oppositional voices impact our everyday lives. Using an interdisciplinary approach, I integrate aspects of cultural studies and film theory to conduct critical readings of selected films that demonstrate how forms of entertainment can serve as learning tools for viewers to understand relations of power, oppression, and resistance. I consider film (an art form) as a text for two purposes:

First, film has a universal appeal which attracts viewers from differing societies and all aspects of life regardless of their status, gender, race, age, economic conditions— and the list goes on. Visual images accompany sound and enable viewers to construct individual interpretations of the material presented. A Donald Duck character to a child might symbolize a “talking animal,” whereas a student of critical theory might be reminded of Ariel Dorfman’s and Armand Mattelart’s (1975) classic text How to Read

Donald Duck: Imperialist Ideology in the Disney Comic which is a profound critique of government operations in the face of capitalist ideology. Both viewers have interpretations of Donald Duck, yet they differ greatly based on the spectator’s viewing in reference to their personal formations. I refer to these interpretative processes as

“reading practices” which consist of our ability to make connections between the screen portrayals and our individual thoughts and experiences. In this sense, films can serve as 15 instruments to facilitate the study of social drama and conflict across time, space, and politic. In film’s early years, according to Gunning (2002), many “nickel theaters” featured “lecturers” or “explainers” that supplied “a verbal commentary … of an educational nature” used to explain “strange American customs” to immigrants (12).

Even though one hundred years has passed since the time of the nickel theaters, the process of film serving as an educational tool is still used by filmmakers today and, specifically, in the application of films based on true life events.

Films have the ability to transcend objects of popular visual culture (true life account films) that deploy visual techniques to direct spectators to see and think about sanctioned institutional abuse. When cinematic visual discourse exposes presumed normative situations to the viewing spectator as anything but normative, the screen representation unveils “hidden” knowledge and once exposed produces a new interpretation. These new interpretations produce “reading practices” that (re-)configure perceptions stored in our memory banks, thereby, impacting our attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge of how our world is constructed. In particular, and in this essay, I show how film as text can inform the viewing public about sanctioned institutional abuse, and how that new information prompts further reading practices that incorporate expanded and enhanced interpretations challenging our understanding of relations of power, oppression and resistance.

I argue three main points: 1) viewer interpretations stemming from the result of reading practices and the subsequent discovery of truth can make an impact on the social 16 order; 2) the “reel” exposure of truth can serve as an ethnographic text for understanding

“real” impact on individuals facing similar situations in everyday life; and 3) that within the film genre of “true life accounts” or “based on actual events,” a silent sub-plot emerges that warns spectators of the dangers in speaking out against powerful agents who attempt to control or silence oppositional voices. The conclusion of these arguments is that through reading practices of the reel/real, we are able to produce our own set of interpretations which establish how we seek to represent our voice in support of our belief system facing agents that exert power over us.

In cinematic representations of the oppressed voice, there is a need to have a collective whole greater than the individual part to counter powerful agents—those who exercise power over us. The collective whole must have adequate resources equal to or greater than the social force of the power agents in opposition to the “other.”4 After reading Wolf’s Envisioning Power (1999) and his discussion on how social groups are drawn into a nation, I considered what this concept might look like if applied to resource acquisition, the individual and the collective whole, and the “other” – the oppositional voice. Wolf states that “nations grew over time through intensified flows of capital and labor” (11). And, we have seen throughout history how revolutionary parties

(oppositional voices to the ruling power) gain momentum with each new person who joins the struggle, with each new resource added to fight the cause, and how this combination of resource acquisition produces a collective resource pool. Just as social

4 Resources can refer to any one single resource and or combination thereof to include such items as financial means, political power; community, governmental and organizational support, among others. 17 groups are drawn into a nation, so too can groups be drawn in to fight oppression through resistance. Thus, the individual gains momentum through increased resource acquisition to fight the struggle, as well as re-distribution of those resources to fight the cause. In war, the objective is to accumulate as many resources as possible to combat the opposing force; the same holds true for the opposed voice battling the institutional abuser. In true life films, resource acquisition can be portrayed as co-workers who join forces with the oppressed worker to battle the abusive “corporate giant.”

Each film discussed herein involves a powerful agent dominating over an oppressed voice; all experience sanctioned institutional abuse. In two of the films, the oppressed voice struggled as a single agent immobilized against the ruling authority.

However, with the accumulation of increased resources (labor and capital), their circumstances changed and they were able to exert opposition to the ruling party; gains were achieved. In the third instance, the oppressed voice did not have the opportunity to increase the flow of capital and labor and, ultimately, succumbed to the ruling power through death. Why did the individual lacking adequate resources, and who fought so valiantly against powerful agents, not survive? At what point did the other oppressed voices decide additional resources were necessary to continue the fight for justice? And, at what stage in their struggle were there additional resources available to the opposed voices to combat the power agents? Gottlieb (1992) explains this struggle/accumulation phenomenon in Marxist terms as follows: 18

It is the enduring importance of a Marxist perspective to show the

centrality of this process, and to insist on the way inequalities and

exploitation in social relations of production make it less conscious,

controllable, and fulfilling than it might be. As long as human

beings live in a class society, such a “discourse” will be

indispensable (196).

Therefore, the discourse of the oppressed/power agent is not just about power domination, but involves how “interpretations are made ultimate by our personal and collective willingness to act on them … by our willingness to die … for what we believe”

(196). In my discussion, I note how each interpretation about the oppressed voice’s personal and collective willingness to act upon their struggle is countered by the ruling authority. The resulting discourse is one where film spectators express contentment as the oppressed exert authority over the power agent or sadness when they are “removed” or “disappear” from the discussion through death. The discourse of resource allocation is critical to the oppressed voice’s struggle and necessary for the ruling party to exert force over a subordinate.

Film sub-plots are necessary to support the arguments raised above, and in context to the films discussed in this paper. Although sub-plots vary in construction, they share visual filmic similarities that evoke profound emotional reactions to the murder, devastation and destruction of lives, and historical trauma within society-at-large.

However, there are instances such as in the film Erin Brockovich, where justice appears 19 to have been the victor; where the sub-plot’s construction portrays justice presented in the form of financial remuneration paid to the oppositional voices for their pain and suffering

(Soderbergh 2000). However, we need to remember this is generally the exception and not the norm, and we must also consider that victory over PG&E, the oppressive power agent, did not occur until the Masry law firm (lawyers for the plaintiffs) agreed to join forces with a larger and more financially stable law firm, thereby increasing resource capital—the war chest. In the ensuing struggle, Masry et al. redistributed their resources to advance the lawsuit, prevailed, and realized a financial gain as a result of the court settlement.

In my initial investigation of sanctioned institutional abuse, I thought about why it was important to study this form of abuse. In my opinion, the answer is simple, yet complex. Simple because this type of abuse has existed historically for so long and continues to exist in contemporary times. Complex because sanctioned institutional abuse is situated within what Stuart Hall (1997) refers to as the “circuit of culture” whereby through a system of “representations, identity, production, consumption, and regulation … meaning is produced and exchanged between members of a culture” (15).

Abuse is a manufactured form of violence (physical and non-physical) that permeates in all facets of society; it does not belong to one cultural group over another. It flows within the circuit of culture by being present in each group comprising that culture. 20

Hall further states that “meaning can only be shared through our common access to language” to develop shared meanings which enable us to “make sense of things” (1).

According to Hall,

we use signs and symbols—whether they are sounds, written words,

electronically produced images, musical notes, even objects—to

stand for or represent to other people our concepts, ideas and

feelings. Language is one of the media through which thoughts,

ideas and feelings are represented in a culture. Representation

through language is therefore central to the processes by which

meaning is produced (1).

Hall’s explanation on the use of language and visual culture makes possible the study of sanctioned institutional abuse from an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the circuit of culture and systems of representation. Applying Hall’s circuit of culture theory, we can “make meaning” through the representation of things by focusing on aspects of culture to explore relations, representations, and connections of power, oppression and victim agency, and critically ask what kinds of representational work they do in the construction of sanctioned institutional abuse. However, if we are a member of a culture denied access to the power agent’s shared meanings, we are restricted in how we can interpret that agent’s language and make sense of things. Our narrative lacks access to the privileged dialogue and as Sillars (1991) points out, “each message is based on certain values that account for its social force” (99). 21

In denying individuals access to messages, they are limited in being able to share the meaning of the language. The oppressed voice is prohibited from having access to certain languages and at a distinct disadvantage in receiving interpretive codes that reveal meaning to the message. In each of the films reviewed for this paper, the oppressed voices were prohibited from having access to the interpretive codes and were forced to find alternative ways and methods to break the codes to reveal “hidden” meanings. The reading practice that evolved from each of these films (in this context) immediately triggers visions of “haves” and “have-not,” asking ourselves to which group do I want to belong: the “haves” represented by institutional authority who exerts control and the ability to manipulate regulation and policy as it sees fit, or the “have-not” represented by the individual who recognizes the faulty nature of the authoritative agent and voices opposition?

Visual texts such as the true life account films serve as informants of visual discourses that are positioned for the viewing public to develop reading practices to think about power, oppression, resistance, and victim agency. Like all mass media, “visual discourse enters people’s lives in diverse ways” (Sillars 1991, 229). Unacceptable behavior to one individual might be acceptable to another. How we chose to accept and/or reject messages results in different reading practices. In turn, those reading practices present ideological aspects which challenge our way of thinking about sanctioned institutional abuse in our everyday lives. As many visual culture theorists point out, how we read a situation contributes to how analogies are drawn between things, in the way certain thoughts are used to think about others. 22

In developing reading practices, we make connections between the culture of the visual representation and our lived experiences of the subject matter. We attempt to make sense of the visual representation and, as in the case of sanctioned institutional abuse, try to understand how the painful subject matter can be transformed into coherent social action. The possibilities for distinct reading practices are unlimited. My intent in discussing reading practices was not to focus on individual viewers’ response, but rather to consider the types of possible critical readings that could evolve as a result of viewing portrayals of sanctioned institutional abuse.

My research also responds to a need to investigate sanctioned institutional abuse from the aspect of human interactions, the production and processing of information resulting from those interactions, and the representational value of that information when exposed publicly. What role does exposure of information play in guiding our attitudes, beliefs, and understanding of action and consequences in the context of sanctioned institutional abuse? Does exposure help us to understand relations of power and the oppression perpetrated on victims, and what victims might do as a result? Or, does this experience instill a sense of fear, of hesitation in expressing our opinions about oppression and injustice?

In Chapter Two, I provide the reader with background information about sanctioned institutional abuse, and why I selected this topic for my field of exploration.

From re-telling portions of my lived experiences, I demonstrate how my reading practices contributed to my understanding of this type of abuse in my personal and professional 23 career—my contested terrain, as well as that of others who suffered similar experiences of oppression.

Chapter Three explains the interdisciplinary framework for the project and provides a brief cultural critique of film theory, form and function, relative to understanding forces of contention, public performance, and cultural production in films discussed in Chapter Four. The Turner/Cottle (St. John 2008) “social drama” model of society in action serves as a framework for initial exploration of the films selected and discussed in subsequent chapters. Similar frameworks are utilized by anthropologists in writing culture that studies culture by exploring connections, parallels, and contrasts among subjects studied—in this case films depicting social conflict.

Chapter Four explores a series of films from the film genre of “based on real accounts.” Each film is discussed in relation to construction of film form and function, and includes a cultural critique of the specific social drama portrayed in the “reel/real” experience, the impact of the relations of power located within the social drama, and the outcome of the oppositional voices in resisting the power structure. For this discussion, I turn to the works of Turner, Cottle, Eisenstein, Bazin, Bordwell, Marx, Foucault and

Althusser, among others. For each film, I make observations as to how it may serve as text for learning about the choices we make in life, the consequences of our actions, and the dynamics of power relations in the face of social conflict. Legal theorist and law school professor, John Denvir, conducted similar research on how movies can teach us 24 about the law.5 In Legal Reelism, Denvir (1996) explains that, “we can learn a great deal about law from watching movies … [in viewing films] I discovered that serious viewing of a commercial film often challenged my views on legal questions that until then I had found routine … I found my own reactions to theoretical issues deepened by the study of film … incorporating film into my seminar on legal theory” (xi). Just as in Denvir’s law school classroom, films presented inside and outside of the classroom have tremendous capacity to serve as learning tools for viewers to comprehend complex relationships and social conflict. Who can ever forget To Kill a Mockingbird’s Atticus Finch and his heart rendering words to his daughter Scout when he says, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (Pakula 1962). Viewers understood a father trying to tell his daughter in simple, but easily understood terms about race relations; today we study this film example as a critical body of work in understanding race theory. The visual discourse resulting from Finch’s words found spectators thinking about what it would be like to “change” skin, and in 1962 era that was not a pleasant thought for many whites.

To Kill a Mockingbird introduced film viewers to complex relationships and social conflict in the South, and served as a reflective learning tool about how we—the spectator—thought about our own perceptions of our lived community. The reel experience challenged our understanding of ourselves and our standing in this world.

5 Denvir notes that students generally would accept his conclusions about the works of various scholars; however, when he introduced the movies in the classroom, he found that it seemed to not only level the intellectual playing field, but “students were more visually adept in absorbing a film their professor, a relic from the print era” (Denvir, xii). 25

In Chapter Five, I conclude with how protective mechanisms must be incorporated into institutional structures that provide for independent review of claims brought forth by oppositional voices. This approach will provide a balanced venue for the victim seeking justice, without undue harm placed on the victim for the right to seek justice. Ultimately, I call for the need for administrators and legislative bodies who maintain responsibility over public institutions to recognize the need for separation of powers within the institution to ensure credibility, accountability, and transparency in those who rule the system and challenge oppositional voices.

This essay focuses on true account films; however, the discussion herein could be applied to similar and like situations across many topics, genres, and mediums involving social drama, relations of power and oppositional voices—including the recent discussions on women in the military and sexual assaults, and workplace bullying.

In sum, I examine in this essay how visual discourse can serve as a site of analysis for finding new ways of questioning materials to define how relations of power and oppositional voices are played out in social arrangements and cultural configurations, thereby connecting the possible ways in which these relations of power implicate sanctioned institutional abuse. 26

CHAPTER TWO: INSIDE THE PHENOMENON OF SANCTIONED INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE

It is precisely at the legislative frontier between what can be represented and what cannot that the postmodernist operation is being staged—not in order to transcend representation, but in order to expose that system of power that authorizes certain representations while blocking, prohibiting or invalidating others.

Craig Owens, “The Discourse of Others: Feminists and Postmodernism” (1983, 64)

In this chapter, I explore the meaning of sanctioned institutional abuse, how the process functions, impact of this type of abuse on an individual or group, and the degree of risk involved when an individual takes a stance against oppressive ways and unbalanced powers of relations in their pursuit of justice. I rely on personal experience to support my claims regarding sanctioned institutional abuse; however, where possible I have included experiences of others who have publicly faced similar opposition and, ultimately, the same fate.

In developing this paper, I was asked repeatedly how I came to select this topic since this is a subject matter that most people prefer to ignore and/or are unwilling to discuss for fear of retaliation within their own institutions. It is precisely for that reason that I opted to further my initial investigation and focus on this very relevant topic. The challenge I faced was how to present a meaningful and relevant discussion about sanctioned institutional abuse while respecting the privacy of others, as well as myself. 27

In this chapter, I discuss several cases of sanctioned institutional abuse and examine how the unbalanced relations of power developed, the oppositional voice was perceived, and the ensuing struggle for justice was pursued. In Chapters Three and Four,

I expand on this discussion bringing forth three high profile cases of sanctioned institutional abuse depicted in cinematic representations—the reel experience. My intent in looking at cinematic representations of sanctioned institutional abuse was to open my study towards a broader investigation of the visual treatment of oppressed voices that could appeal to an expansive audience. Kolker (1998) expands this thought adding that

In any film we are witness to a rich and often conflicting structure of

imaginative, cultural, economic, and ideological events. Because

most films are made for profit, they attempt to speak to the largest

number of people, and by so doing have to appeal to what their

makers believe are the most common and acceptable beliefs of a

potential audience …. In short, the ribbon of plastic that holds the

images is only a part of a large structure of imagination, economics,

politics, and ideology and of individuals and the culture as a whole

(13-15).

Going to the movies on a Saturday afternoon is part of our national culture to entertain ourselves. Rarely do you hear someone say, “I think I’ll go to the movies to see what I can learn today from the visual text.” Yet, films should be regarded as complex and powerful texts that have material effects on audiences—they are much more than just 28 a set of visual images displayed on a screen for entertaining. Gunning (2002) elaborates on this concept in his discussion on filmmaking production and purpose citing how

“industry sponsored publicity films [such as those] made by Edison and the Biograph

Company [were produced] to encourage tourism” or “Westinghouse and National Cash

(10). Cole (1999) adds further to this discussion in Selling the Holocaust: From

Auschwitz to Schindler, How History is Bought, Packaged, and Sold describing how films based on the holocaust inform audiences about sites of resistance, oppression, and death, as well as serve as historical texts embedded with powerful images that produce material effects.

What interested me about exploring true life account films as “text” for examining sanctioned institutional abuse was precisely this notion of powerful language and material effects, and the way in which films are presented to the viewer as part of an entertainment experience embedded within a learning experience. In turn, this entertainment-learning experience contributes to the development of our reading practices, impacting how we perceive the world within our individual confinement.

Furthering the discussions of Kolker, Gunning and Cole, I question what are the driving forces that decide how objects of contemporary visual culture (in this case, films) make connections with an audience to understand social dramas, and to which the viewer was not a participant? How and why do these visual culture objects and texts become sites that foster continued discussion from generation to generation and beyond? 29

Although I opted to focus on film and cinematic representations for sites of exploration in developing reading practices, other types of visual culture could equally serve the same purpose. Art works, print material, and music lyrics, to name a few, would be excellent types of visual culture to expand sites of exploration for further studies on this subject.

Ultimately, I decided to focus on cinematic representations taken from film adaptation of true life accounts as “texts” for two reasons: 1) the stories are not bound to any one audience, and they grow with each re-telling providing opportunity to find new meaning that relates the past to the present; and 2) they are distinctive as texts and involve multifaceted appeal to different spectators, as well as a level of engagement unique to each viewer. In turn, the degree of engagement between the spectator and the filmic representation/presentation produces a new realization and discourse that contribute to our understanding of everyday lives. As we engage more with the visual text (the film), we continually add new layers of meaning to our “lived database” and the ability to find importance within our stories. 30

Sanctioned Institutional Abuse: What is it?

What we must learn, then, is how to conceive difference without opposition. Craig Owens, “The Discourse of Others: Feminists and Postmodernism” (1983, 141)

What exactly is this type of abuse? I define sanctioned institutional abuse as the process where an individual is dealt with unfairly by a system of approved harms initiated by one or more individuals within an institution. The approved harms can be found disguised in policies, regulations, administrative decisions, among others, and all which on the surface appear justified and legal, but when stripped to their bare intent reveal the true understanding of such practices. These harms are enacted upon a person in such a way that the individual finds it difficult to protect themselves against, seek justice for, and/or reverse or change the abuse.6 The harms are constituted in ways where a power agent utilizes institutional resources to which they either have access to or control use of to deliver the harm. The resources themselves are not harmful, but the way in which they are controlled and administered contributes to the unbalanced power relationship between the power agent/oppressor and oppressed.

Sanctioned institutional abuse can incapacitate an individual mentally, emotionally, physically, economically, and socially—infiltrating every aspect of the

6 Reference is made to the individual in the “singular,” however both the perpetrator and the victim can, in fact, be singular and/or plural or any combination thereof. 31 victim’s personal and professional life. This type of abuse can be found in public and private institutions alike, small and large scale organizations, and there is not a race, ethnicity, age or gender group that escapes its grasp. Even though sanctioned institutional abuse is everywhere, it is a manner of conduct that no one claims ownership to while others deny its mere existence. Unfortunately, this type of abuse is one of the most destructive forms of behavior that has prevailed throughout human existence, and will continue as long as two conditions are present: first, unbalanced powers of relations; and second, within those unbalanced powers of relations, the ruling unit approves harms against the oppressed “other”—the victim. Generally, the approved harms exist only as long as the liability assumed by the ruling power is less than the risks assumed. If the circumstances change and the degree of liability become greater than the risk, the relationship between the ruling power and the oppressed “other” is subject to change.

The chances that you will become a victim of institutional abuse sometime in your life are greater than not. In 2007 and 2010, the Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI) conducted studies on over 6,300 survey respondents about what constitutes workplace bullying. 7 In the 2010 study, bullying was defined as “repeated mistreatment: sabotage by others that prevented work from getting done, verbal abuse, threatening conduct, intimidation, and humiliation.”8 Results of the studies revealed that 35% of workers experienced bullying firsthand and 15% report witnessing bullying or roughly 53.5

7 Source: http://www.workplacebullying.org/wbiresearch/2010-wbi-national-survey/. Retrieved June 8, 2013

8 Ibid. 32 million Americans experience workplace bullying.9 These statistics about bullying and abuse are important because historically discrimination and harassment laws rarely addressed these concerns and, moreover, people deserve more protection in the workplace and elsewhere. It is a topic many are unwilling to explore because of its highly contested terrain involving oppositional parties, especially where there are challenges involving unbalanced power relations, and negative ramifications in the workplace.

There are dangers in speaking out against those who hold power within institutions. These dangers are demonstrated daily in our courts with cases built around federal tort claims involving intentional interference for personal gain, economic advantage, among others. Unfortunately, many institutions will pursue legitimate legal harms against the “other” to the extent that the harms perpetrated are not exposed publicly. For the “other” or victim, pursuing a legal claim against an institution is very costly and can easily bankrupt an individual with no guarantee their claim will be heard publicly. Often times a condition of the settlement process involves a “gag order” placed on both parties which simply states both plaintiff and defendant are prohibited from discussing the case and terms of the settlement publicly. In the course of my research, a colleague related a conversation to me about an individual who was found at fault in a suit involving discriminatory practices and gender harassment. The case was eventually

9 Ibid. 33 settled outside of court. When the perpetrator was asked to comment on the case, the response was, “It was settled outside of court ... therefore, I’m not guilty.”10

This is one of the reasons why it has been difficult to publicly expose the injustices of sanctioned institutional abuse—the perpetrators are protected behind silencing mechanisms that prevent disclosure which, in turn, hinders legal challenges calling for institutional reform. The perpetrator is rarely held accountable publicly for his/her unprofessional behavior, yet the same privilege is not extended to the victim who challenged the ruling power unit within the institution. As noted in the case above, the women who pressed forward with their claims of discrimination and gender harassment were forced to live and re-live those harrowing experiences time and again—only to see justice delivered to them behind closed doors; the perpetrator continued his life as if nothing had occurred. What is interesting about this scenario is the process by which institutions attempt to legitimize their actions, the degree of risk they are willing to accept in exchange for controlling an outcome, and how—in their opinion—their actions justified “the means to the end.”

The risk in exposing oppressive actions is generally so great that very few are willing to jeopardize their personal and/or professional careers. Group dynamics and models of oppressions demonstrate that victims of oppression feel subordinated, marginalized, constrained, or displaced in a way that benefits the members of a different social group—one to which the oppressed are not members. The notion of victimhood

10 Anonymous source (at this person’s request). Personal interview. December 15, 2012. 34 implicates how injustice affects agency, and how abuse can be grounded in the absence of just institutions. In both historical and contemporary times, oppression has existed and is often met with resistance. When and how we take a stance against repressive and unfair ways reveals how we think about our obligations to ourselves, as well as to others.

Our stance also reveals the type of individual we aspire to be in the face of adversity.

Our impressions of the world surrounding us play a tremendous role in the development of normative situations, and what we value as a basic right or privilege may not be the same for others: reflections of Atticus Finch’s words to Scout.

Reading Practices: Messages, Meanings, and Interpretations

Each film presented in this paper elicits a reading practice of sanctioned institutional abuse. But, it is more than the abusive act itself that peaks our interest in the reading practice; it is the ability of those perpetrating such acts and their attempts to legitimize their actions through a façade of “sanctioned” operatives which serve to shape social acceptance of their private agenda—an agenda that in all likelihood was orchestrated “behind closed doors” so as to prevent the exposure of the true intent of their actions, which is an agenda that involves a questionable if not illegal taking from one party by another through unjust means. And, it is the reason why we need to investigate how reading practices shape our perception of sanctioned institutional abuse, and our ability to develop a voice in the context of relations of power and oppositional forces.

When I think of developing reading practices, I am reminded of a recent visit to the optometrist’s office: as different lenses were placed in front of my eyes to determine 35 vision accuracy, each lens produced a different result—some better, some worse, and some with no change. So, too, when information is presented to me; I “try it on” and develop a new reading practice of how I see my world—my attitudes, beliefs and understanding of life are subject to new interpretations which, in turn, have constitutive effects. Film, as text, produces visual representations that are powerful discursive devices that shape meanings (similar to the trying on of lenses) and have constitutive effects on our reading practices.

Hannah Arendt’s (1961) discussions of authority, totalitarian rule and organization provide insight into how institutional abuse can be studied as an act carried out in a “sanctioned” environment. Arendt’s observations about the meaning of traditional key words such as “responsibility” and “virtue” help set the stage for how sanctioned institutional abuse can be studied (99). That is, investigation can be conducted from both a product and process approach. Sanctioned institutional abuse is developed as a product which is implemented and controlled within the guise of legitimate acts impacting the victim and society-at-large; the process required by the perpetrator lends credence to the viability of the product as a sanctioned action supported by the institution.

Lazarus-Black (1994) explains this further in Legitimate Acts and Illegal

Encounters by accounting for the perpetrators’ ability to construct illegalities in the form of “breaches of codes, non-application of rules,” among others, as legal constructs (3).

History is replete with this type of product/process approach and we only need to look at law and society in any part of the world to discover that this exists today—certain 36 individuals have the ability to create, pass, and control laws while others simply have no role in the construction of the law or how it might impact their lives. This brings to mind

Robert Williams’ recent work in Savage Anxieties: The Invention of Western Civilization

(2012). Williams explores how language is used to justify legal concepts and, at the same time, deny indigenous people their basic human rights.

Under the Doctrine of Discovery as interpreted by Marshall,

American Indian ‘rights to complete sovereignty, as independent

nations, were necessarily diminished, and their power to dispose of

the soil at their own will, to whomsoever they pleased, was denied.’

The discovery of territory in the New World gave an ‘exclusive title’

to the European discoverers … In the language of savagery

perpetuated by the doctrine … their rights, or lack thereof, as

indigenous tribal peoples were to be determined solely by the laws

of a more civilized nation (225).

Lazarus-Black and Williams both provide excellent examples of understanding the manipulation of language in the context of approved harms. Film, as an art form, then has the ability to construct a visual discourse which instructs the viewer through the presentation of images about legal and illegal acts. Movies which discuss race relations, slavery, and equal rights amendments are but a few that focus on how legal systems are manipulated to deny rights to some while others enjoy life’s full privileges. 37

Clifford Geertz’s (1976) discussion of art as a cultural system lends itself to the importance of studying cinematic representations that portray sanctioned institutional abuse and the development of reading practices in that

… the perception of something important in particular works or in

the arts generally moves people to talk (and write) about them

incessantly. Something that meaningful to us cannot be left just to

sit there bathed in pure significance, and so we describe, analyse

(sic), compare, judge, classify; we erect theories about creativity,

form, perception, social function, we characterize art as a language,

a structure, a system, an act, a symbol, a pattern of feeling; we reach

for scientific metaphors, spiritual ones, technological ones, political

ones, and if all else fails we string dark sayings together and hope

someone else will elucidate them for us (1474).

Engagement with the visual text provides a range of meanings depending on context. Schneider (2008) explains this in terms of a group of people “gathered around a common plate of food—where [they] all share the same food and be nourished equally,” yet each interpretation of that experience is grounded within the individual’s lived world

(8). What I interpret in my world, may not be the same for another viewer. How we decipher messages, meanings, and interpretations evolves into “reading practices” that interface with our range of knowledge and emotions. Referring to Phillips’ earlier discussion on personal formations, viewing cinematic representations of sanctioned 38 institutional abuse can elicit reading practices that delve into our lived databases and shape how the story takes on new meaning in our lives.

For example, did I recognize abusive and derogatory language spoken to Christine

Collins (played by Angelina Jolie) in the film Changeling as words spoken to me in similar real life situations (Eastwood, 2008)? Did the character’s involuntary imprisonment impact my thoughts so greatly that I abandoned any further consideration of “speaking out” against authority? Or, after viewing the film and the character’s final fate, did I want to engage even further in my pursuit of justice—fighting for the right to uphold my beliefs, attitudes and values in a society exercising sanctioned institutional abuse? Ultimately, my reading practice drew upon my range of experiences and emotions and, coupled with the visual culture representations from the films, produced a new text—a reading—that shaped my understanding of the relations of power, oppositional voices, and sanctioned institutional abuse. This text enabled me to consider how I seek to explore my voice in support of my belief system in facing agencies exerting power over me. What remained for me to answer was, do I accept the abuse, oppose it, remain silent, or take action against it? What is the level of risk I am willing to take in protecting myself against sanctioned institutional abuse?

Schneider also reminds us that each incidence of sanctioned institutional abuse has a story that lives on after it is told, and the significance of re-telling the story to storytellers and their audiences stimulates discussion about “the mark of the present and a particular reason for telling” (2008, 1). I feel strongly about the need for re-telling stories 39 centered on narratives describing sanctioned institutional abuse so we can better understand and recognize the dynamics of this abuse within society and our individual lives, and to develop institutional strategies and systems that strive to prevent the proliferation of further abuse.

Considerations in Exploring Sanctioned Institutional Abuse

In today’s society, speaking one’s mind can be very costly—especially if an oppositional voice challenges the relations of power that dictate how order is established and processed. For many, that has meant death; for many more, alienation and isolation, among other negative consequences, and for a small minority, success. Why such differences in challenging or contesting these power systems? Who or what determines the ultimate outcome of such challenges?

Speaking from within, I have been the victim of several instances of sanctioned institutional abuse perpetrated by individuals in government organizations, educational institutions, and private sector industry, who used their position of power and privilege within the institution to attempt to silence my voice and prohibit me from divulging information about the devious ways in which they operated and benefited from questionable, if not illegal and/or illegitimate acts. What interested me about these acts was how in each case the initiator (perpetrator) was able to orchestrate the intended harms “behind closed doors” and under the guise of a legitimate act (i.e., sanctioned institutional abuse). 40

The process and pursuit of justice is a phenomenon that has the ability to fly over boundaries of space, time, and situation. What can appear to be a “just” decision or action today, can alter its course at a later date only to reveal a new set of facts and a turnaround outcome. The question, therefore, is what or who prevented the original disclosure of information and, ultimately, changed the original course of justice, and, for what purpose? What was the gain? What was the loss? Why did these individuals not have any support in the institutions of their societies that would have facilitated their pursuit of justice? And, in reviewing these individual’s successful/unsuccessful pursuits through reading practices, what do we take from those experiences, if anything, that assists or prevents us from our own pursuit of justice?

If we observe an injustice being administered to individuals who challenge power and authority by speaking out, does it reinforce our decision to self-regulate our opinions due to fear and/or repercussions of speaking out? How do we interpret travesties of justice occurring to others in our own lives? Do we hold back for fear of being labeled oppositional, troublesome, crazy, deranged—among other derogatory labels? How can we achieve justice for oppositional voices when the power systems controlling the social conflicts permit only one voice—their voice?

Considering my questions in seeking justice and exploration through reading practices, I sought various methods of investigation that would enable me to “dig deep” into the subject matter, exposing social conflicts within social dramas, the injustices of relations of power, and, often times, horrific treatment of oppositional voices challenging 41 the power systems. What or who would I focus on as my target study? What were my interests in exploring justice for all? Whose oppositional voices did I want to investigate?

Ultimately, I decided to focus on a “safer” method of examining the pursuit of justice through reading practices of cinematic representations which trace experiences of individuals from the “reel” event to the “real” outcome. Focusing on film as text in cinematic representations of actual events, I explore the reading practices applicable to the dynamics of the relations of power and the construction/destruction of oppositional voices struggling to seek justice—and the price paid to society for that justice.

In reflection, and in this particular instance, I am the spectator being warned of the dangers. You, as the reader, will determine the degree to which the “reel” depiction of the “real” event impacts you. Every reader thereafter will determine how and if cinematic representations are applicable to their everyday lives in the face of social conflict, social drama, relations of power, and their ability to locate themselves within an oppositional voice. In essence, if in the course of seeking justice and exposing the truth, death or devastation are the outcomes in the “reel” event, what kind of message is transmitted to the “real” spectator who faces similar consequences? Who has the ability to speak for the ruling power and why? Who set the rules by which that society operates?

Whose voice has been diminished or eliminated? Who controls the production of capital within that given society—be it human capital, economic capital or symbolic capital?

How is differentiation established? 42

David Harvey (1985) states in The Urbanization of Capital, that by “studying the parts to wholes and wholes to parts” a process is established whereby we can investigate the relations between social structure and differentiation, and break through the tight binds that restrict voices of opposition from being heard in the court of public opinion.

Following Harvey’s suggestions, I first considered the selected films as text and provide a brief discussion regarding critical works (and movements) in cultural studies and film theory that organize principal ideas about each selected film’s form and function— similar to Marcus’ anthropologist explaining traditional ethnography with scholarly experimentation (Marcus, 1998).

Film theorist Dudley Andrew (1984) explains the process of viewing a film is relatively “simple, requiring minimal instruction” (32). When we first see a film, we may not recognize certain components; however, “we soon transform the visual sensations into floating percepts which we learn to place in our world” (33) … and we “find an exchange between the body (together with its projects) and a material world which is pregnant with form” (34). For example, Eisenstein’s cinematic theory focusing on conflict, attraction, dialectical montage, dominant, overtone and expressivity facilitates discussion on the role of editing—the montage—based on the psychology of perception and Marxist dialectical materialism. The process of editing films connects a series of images (still photographs) to construct a film flowing over time. Editors, working with the director and other film crew, assemble the images starting with an “establishing shot” which enables viewers to orient themselves to the space and time depicted in the images 43

(Nelmes 1996, 111). That shot sets the conditions for the film and all subsequent shots can be read within that context.

In subsequent chapters, I introduce three films for discussion: the documentary

Girl 27 (Stenn, 2007), and two true life account films, Erin Brockovich (Soderbergh,

2000), and Silkwood (Nichols, 1983). Each film has a distinct editing technique that sets the stage for identifying images on the screen with images retrieved from our memory bank. Girl 27, a black and white film, opens to visual images of 1937 Hollywood and

Los Angeles. Immediately, we transport ourselves back in time and connect our knowledge of 1937 Hollywood with that depicted on the screen—landscapes, automobiles, hairstyles, clothing trends—an assortment of key indicators that make rapid associations between the images and fill in historical knowledge about the images presented on the screen. The more knowledge we have about the establishing shot, the more connections we make between the reel/real worlds. Editing can speed up our recognition, especially in the presentation of fragmented images such as the Silkwood contamination scrubbing scenes where the shots move from images of brushes with stiff, hard bristles used to scrub her body to her face writhing in pain. The shot is intended to elicit a warning signal to the viewer that pain is the result of the corporation’s decision to react to Silkwood’s unfavorable behavior about worker treatment and conditions. 44

A key consideration of my study initially was on the impact of the 1996

Transparency Act on federally sponsored programs in Arizona.11 However, while conducting a research project in 2008, I became embroiled in an audit involving government-elected officials and employees, federally sponsored programs, and the media.12 Instantly, I was no longer conducting a research project, but rather in the middle of a two-year investigation which changed my life. I observed first-hand the role and nature of the social drama, the relations of power, and the privileged discourse that resulted “behind closed doors” and which attempted to silence my voice within the investigation. For, as Mills (1997) elaborates on Foucault’s work in Discourse,

In a society such as ours, but basically in any society, there are

manifold relations of power which permeate, characterize, and

constitute the social body, and these relations of power cannot

themselves be established, consolidated, nor implemented without

the production, accumulation, circulation, and functioning of a

discourse (48).

Hence, I found myself battling a discourse for which I had no dictionary; a discourse which bore the special effects of power, privilege, and struggle-repression. I further observed how each political and cultural entity operated from the standpoint of a “braided

11 In 1996, Congress sought to strengthen transparency laws by passing the EROIA Amendments, legislation introduced by President Bill Clinton. The Amendment required all federal agencies and departments to make official records and requested information available in electronic format.

12 I have elected to withhold information that could identify any individual and/or organization as that is not the essence of the discussion herein, but rather to focus on the process and production of information resulting from the investigation. 45 narrative.” By that I mean, within the narrative, each organization has political, economic, and social components which govern how their operations are conducted, how their system of rights is processed, and how their domain of laws, regulations, and policies is perpetuated. When these components, among others, seek to disrupt the balance, the “braid” comes undone and a rupture occurs.

During this time, I viewed a series of true life account films that intrigued me about relations of power and oppositional voices.13 Considering the circumstances I was facing in my own life, I contemplated the fate of the individuals depicted in the movies and identified with their plight. How much could I speak out about injustices that were perpetrated upon me, upon others, upon vulnerable populations in the region without suffering a similar fate of death or devastation? Could or should I carry on my daily activities and shut an eye to what was occurring around me—like an ostrich with its head in the sand? In each film reviewed, I asked myself the same questions: Why did this happen to this individual? What prompted the producer to select this body of work to represent the wheels of justice? Why did the lead film character’s fate take this particular direction? Could it have been prevented? Were facts suppressed to alter the final decision or action perpetrated? How did the past contribute to shaping our knowledge of justice today? How did the power structure—the party holding majority interest to exert control over the circumstances—contribute to the final decision? Overall, was justice served? Given similar circumstances, if justice is/was well-served in reel life, does/did it

13 Refer to Appendix A for a list of films based on actual events; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_actual_events. 46 ring true in real life? And, how does the act of developing “reading practices” after viewing films of this nature affect our decisions in real life?

Beginning with the Real Experience to Understand the Reel Representation

Although my initial plan was to focus on my experiences related to sanctioned institutional abuse, I opted to explore experiences of others who faced similar experiences. Their repeated accounts of being persecuted for projecting an oppositional voice were so vivid and haunting—their voices and cries for justice reminded me so much of my own experiences. In most cases, the oppressed individual gave up the struggle and walked away—dejected, victimized, silenced for the sake of compromise

(some reaching settlement with financial remuneration, but with a gag order to avoid exposure and future liability resulting from public disclosure of the case). These were the voices I wanted to explore. There was no need to travel to distant places and study other cultures; there was ample evidence in my own backyard.

In The Repatriation of Anthropology as Cultural Critique, Marcus and Fischer

(1986) argued “for the most part, anthropologists have taken the job of reflecting back upon ourselves much less seriously than that of probing other cultures” (111). There was no need to study sanctioned institutional abuse and its operatives in another culture. Who knew this culture, social conflicts, social dramas, and relations of power better than my own voice of opposition? But, was I willing to sacrifice myself for exposing the social conflict in the face of exposure, liability, and possible destruction? Would my reading practice of the issues at-hand enable me to move forward with presenting my cultural value system as the target of my investigation? 47

In the practice of my everyday life, and as discussed by Michel de Certeau (1984) in The Practice of Everyday Life, the objective is not to just go through the motions, but to look at those motions and what they mean to me and my time, the cost of my production to myself. What did it cost me to seek justice in my life? What was my relationship to the power structures in local social conflicts that attempted to silence my oppositional voice? Why did I receive warnings about the dangers of exposing explorations of justice within my life and community, and as a central point of my investigation? Could it be that my interpretation of social conflict and justice were skewed—too personal within the subjective to see the objective?

As in Renato Rosaldo’s (1989) discussion of putting culture into motion in

Culture & Truth, was I merely experiencing a “confusion of tongues” in pursuing an explanation to the social conflict and the social mechanisms brought into play in my life to reduce, exclude or resolve conflict (95)? Was I misinterpreting the social conflict played out within the tapestry of the local community? How could I present myself and my “tongue” as a body of exploration—just as the ethnographer writes about other cultures—while protecting myself as a human subject, subject to institutional review boards? How could I explore the complex process of my oppositional voice pursuing justice through human agency, social practice, and relations of power? What could happen to me in the process of seeking justice from my position? Was it safe?

Although I am focusing on the experience of others in this paper, I would like to point out that in January 2013, I attended a new employee orientation where the presenter 48 distributed red wrist bands with the inscription “BE CIVIL.” I reflected upon the meaning of those words with a high degree of curiosity. How ironic that this message was selected because some of the most uncivil behavior I ever encountered was in this environment. For several years, I contemplated whether or not to focus my research on sanctioned institutional abuse in educational institutions. I was warned against focusing on controversial issues that exposed unfair power relations and oppression; I was counseled that the retribution from exposing such behavior could be far worse and have negative consequences on my future career opportunities. And, the mere thought of writing about such repulsive behavior was overwhelming, debilitating, and exhaustive—a reliving of a nightmarish experience affecting me personally and professionally. Anyone who has experienced a similar situation recognizes that the fallout from abusive supervision impacts far beyond the institutional environment.

A study published in the November 2011 issue of Personnel Psychology supports this statement in that

A model was proposed and tested that examined the fallout from

abusive supervision through two types of strain, work-to-family

conflict and relationship tension, on family satisfaction of the

subordinate and on family functioning of the partner. Using a

matched set of 280 subordinates and partners, this study found that 49

abusive supervision contributes to the experience of work-to-family

conflict and relationship tension.14

Additional tension was not something I welcomed. I did not feel I was prepared to subject myself to the emotional drama and trauma of mentally re-creating the stories for analytical purposes. However, the more I read Foucault’s (1970) work on institutions, systems, and order, the more I was drawn to explore and document the conditions and challenges under which institutions sanction abusive behavior. I questioned how phrases such as “that’s the institution’s policy” could play a role in sanctioned institutional abuse.

What voice, if any, did the institution have in contributing to abuse perpetrated on a member of the academe? I asked myself repeatedly, “Are the institutions the culprits of initiating sanctioned abuse on individuals?”

That is not to say that an institution is necessarily problematic, but rather the institution is merely a “linguistic signifier” that projects the illusion of the establishment, its traditions, customs, and conventions (Barthes, 1964). Annette Kolodny, former Dean of the College of Humanities at the University of Arizona, expands on the meaning of the institution as a “singular and monolithic entity” whose actions are

the outcome of complicated ensembles of complex relationships

between and among groups and individuals. Marked by loosely

bounded and overlapping areas of action and responsibility, with

14 Carlson, D.S., Ferguson, M., Perrewe, P.L. and Whitten, D. (2011), The Fallout From Abusive Supervision: An Examination of Subordinates and their Partners. Personnel Psychology, 64:937-961. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-6570.2011.01232.x 50

power vacuums everywhere belying the appearance of hierarchy, the

college or university campus is unique in its potential to be

represented by a variety of (even competing) constituencies. As a

result, many different groups and individuals—the president … the

chair of the faculty senate … all claim at different times to be

speaking for the college, on behalf of the university, or in its best

interests….This sense of ownership is what prompts groups and

individuals to take conscious responsibility for the environment that

their actions, attitudes, behaviors, and decisions are creating for

them and others (1998, 118-119).

Institutions are, therefore, not the perpetrators of sanctioned institutional abuse.

Rather, the institution is merely the mechanism which “houses” the human element

(individuals or groups) responsible for uncivil behavior. We see this model repeated throughout history where individuals rely on the institutional structure to manipulate their relations of power and impose oppressive threats to victims.

For example, while writing this paper, I read an article about the Fugitive Slave

Act of 1783 that provided for owners of labor who escaped “into any part of the State or

Territory … to seize or arrest such fugitive from labor” and that those assisting in the escape plan be held liable and subject to paying “the sum of five hundred dollars.”15

15 The full text of the article is available from the Library of Congress in the Annals of Congress of the 2nd Congress, 2nd Session, during which the proceedings and debates took place from November 5, 1792 to March 2, 1793, pp. 1414-1415. 51

Congress, as a governmental institution, was responsible for enacting laws that permitted such abuse aimed at persons held to labor. Yet, without the human element to create, promote and implement the sanctioned plan, there would in all likelihood be no action taken against persons held to labor and there would be no abuse. Moving forward two hundred and twenty years, we continue to experience sanctioned institutional abuse disguised behind institutional policies and regulations that can be manipulated to create uncivil behavior.

The uncivil behavior I witnessed was surely abuse, but not the type of abuse where you expect to see black eyes, bruises, or broken bones. No, this type of abuse had none of the “traditional” distinguishing marks of physical beatings. The abuse I witnessed and was subject to was the result of sanctioned institutional harms—harms initiated by an individual who manipulates institutional authority to make it appear their actions are legal and justified. I, as well as other co-workers, have felt the pain and agony of sabotage, career setbacks, and emotional trauma as a victim of sanctioned institutional abuse within educational institutions. I considered reporting abusive administrators and/or taking legal action, only to be told by a distinguished staff member there would be repercussions and negative consequences from such action—I would never again be hired by the institution.

As a result of these personal experiences, I became even more committed to investigating sanctioned institutional abuse, how it operates, why certain individuals (the perpetrators) feel entitled to harm others (the victims), what obstacles exist that prevent 52 victims from expressing their voice, and what drives individuals to hide the truth and sacrifice others for their personal and professional gain. I was most concerned about what options were available for victims to seek justice, compensation for lost careers, or just being able to have someone in the institution listen to their plea, take action in investigating their claim, and make a commitment to resolve the matter in a just and fair resolution.

This led me to think about what types of individual(s) have the ability to initiate abuse in an institution. The abuse can be perpetrated by an individual or a group of individuals who are in positions of authority and are jealous or threatened by the academic achievements or success of the individual (the victim) under attack. Kolodny joins this discussion of abuse in academe and provides a perfect example of what few want to recognize exists within our educational institutions.

At a small New England college recently, a feminist professor in the

French department took great pleasure from the fact that her critical

theory book had received laudatory reviews in the major

professional journals. Thus it was with some surprise that she and

her students arrived on campus one day to discover a poster-size

blowup of the only negative review to have appeared, prominent in

the department’s hallway display case, safely locked behind glass.

The nastiest sentences in the review were underlined in red. It was

three weeks before the key to the display case could be located and 53

the poster removed. In the meantime, she heard from students that

some of her colleagues were reciting portions of the negative review

to their classes and making fun of her work based on the distorted

readings of this particular reviewer. When she shared her anger

with feminist faculty in other departments, the French professor

discovered that the feminist critics in the English Department (both

male and female) had long been the subjects of obscene verses

circulated almost monthly by unknown persons. And her colleagues

in the School of Nursing told of needing to take extra security

precautions for their labs whenever their grants supported research

on women’s health issues (101) (my emphasis added).

This example of sanctioned institutional abuse prompted me to ask: Is this legal?

Does this really happen? The answer is quite simple: Yes. The maltreatment can occur in the form of the disguised operative recognized as “sanctioned institutional abuse.” My choice of words as “disguised operative” refers to the fact that the abuse is usually concealed, masked, or camouflaged behind some type of administrative action dependent upon a procedure, ruling, regulation or administrative order. In the case cited above, why did it take three weeks to find the missing key? Were there not locksmiths on campus who could readily open the cabinet to remove the negative review? Who took the initiative (and expense) to super-size the negative review, locate the key to open the cabinet, place the review in the cabinet, and lock the cabinet up—thereby allowing the campus viewers to take note of the negative review and the obvious intent of the 54 perpetrator(s) to cause harm to the feminist professor’s career. The fact that it took three weeks to locate the cabinet key in order to remove the negative review from sight leads one to contemplate how administration officials (who surely were made aware of this situation) allowed this abuse to be exposed publicly for that length of time.

Sanctioned institutional abuse incorporates bullying techniques, but is clearly not limited to bullying and can extend far beyond conventional claims of abusive work environments. Deborah Hastings’ article titled, “Whistle-blowers punished, not praised for reports” very succinctly illustrates this point.16 Citing numerous accounts of individuals labeled as whistleblowers, Hastings discusses the treatment these whistleblowers received when they filed reports of corruption within their rank—illegal imprisonment and subjected to physical and mental interrogation tactics reserved for terrorists and enemy combatants, among others. Hastings includes in her article William

Weaver, professor of political science at the University of Texas-El Paso and senior adviser to the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition, as saying:

If you do it [whistleblow], you will be destroyed … sometimes

people ask me, ‘Should I do this?’ And my answer is no. If they’re

married, they’ll lose their family. They will lose their jobs. They

will lose everything.

16 Hastings, D. (2007, September 26). Whistle-blowers punished, not praised for reports. Arizona Daily Star, http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/printDS/198191, retrieved August 27, 2013. 55

Beth Daley from Project on Government Oversight, an independent, nonprofit group that investigates corruption, is also quoted by Hastings as saying

The only way we can find out what is going on is for someone to

come forward and let us know …. But when they do, the weight of

the government comes down on them. The message is, ‘Don’t blow

the whistle or we’ll make your life hell.’17

The reading practice or message from these examples is quite clear: don’t do it unless you are willing to risk being subjected to impairment of physical health, as well as damage to social, economic and mental health. In each instance, the targeted abuse, more often than not, was the result of a power imbalance between the perpetrator and the victim, where one or more persons ganged up on someone and manipulated the situation through what appeared to be legal means to cause misery and harm to the victim.

Kenneth Westhues, a sociology professor at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, refers to this type of abusive or bullying behavior as “mobbing” and stresses, in particular, educational institutions are endemic with such behavior for

[mobbing] occurs most in work places where workers have high job

security, where there are few objective measures of performance,

17 Ibid. 56

and where there is frequent tension between loyalty to the institution

and loyalty to some higher purpose. College[s] fit that bill.18

As in the whistleblower instances referenced above, I, too, experienced mobbing and various forms of abusive bullying on two separate occasions because I refused to be subject to such behavior from institutional authorities. Needless to say, the social, economic, physical and mental health damage sustained from these perpetrators was of great magnitude. In both instances, I was subjected to four forms of abusive bullying identified by Stallworth and Adams as

regulation bullying where the victim is forced to comply with

unnecessary rules; legal bullying which involves using legal action

to control and punish a person; pressure bullying which involves

making unreasonable time demands; and corporate bullying in

which an employer abuses a worker who cannot easily find another

job (emphasis added).19

How can these perpetrators manipulate the institutional system to the extent they are able to hide their devious ways behind closed doors? Are they the dual-masked pretenders who give and take, create and destroy, and dupe others while at the same time always duping themselves into believing their actions are justified? How are they able to

18 The Chronicle of Higher Education, Workplace Mediators Seek a Role in Taming Faculty Bullies, June 8, 2010, http://chronicle.com/article/Workplace-Mediators-Seek-a-/65815/

19 Ibid. 57 traverse both sides of the playing field? Are they pretenders who sit in their office wearing an authoritative mask of power? Entrance to this private destructive space is granted only to the privileged few who are in agreement with each other and willing to partake in the dastardly ways of sanctioned institutional abuse. They are the pretenders who leverage their persistence to acquire unearned means beyond the usual scope of acquisition—the “cat and mouse” game they play is rigged so that no matter which role they play, they win!

In light of power-building techniques, the pretenders represent the dual images of good and evil, right and wrong, that are fused in a network of collective actions that appear legitimate on the surface, but eventually unveil personal agendas designed to cause harm to a victim—agendas fabricated behind closed doors to avoid public exposure of the true intent of their actions. And, often times, as in the case of academia, these hidden agendas are devised with the cooperation and participation of faculty and administrators in authoritative positions who sanction these harms through a myriad of participatory roles ranging from full participation to silent roles constituting acts of omission. While some silent pretenders believe they have no responsibility for harmful ways, their silence renders them just as guilty as if they had participated in the harmful act—they had the ability to halt the harm, did nothing to stop the abuse, and must share in the consequences when abuse is exposed.

What these pretenders engage in is a planned destruction of an individual or individuals in order to gain advantage for their own personal and/or professional use— 58 one can easily inter-relate personal/professional economic gains as the combined resource growth can greatly increase one’s ability to exponentially augment personal purchasing power. Essentially, their mode of production facilitates increased productivity, thereby increasing their capital and surplus value—a perfect example of classic Marxist theory.

From a parallel perspective of laborer/capitalist, the victim of sanctioned institutional abuse works for the pretender performing tasks for continued subsistence.

The pretender discards the victim when the victim’s services are no longer needed or the victim presents a threat to the pretender—they are discarded, fired, forced to retire, and subject to reduction in force (RIFs) much like machines discarded to the junk yard.

The pretender must always control the situation, similar to the capitalist who fights to control ownership and regulation of property rights. The main objective in either case is for the pretender/capitalist to concentrate the rights of property to the hands of the “few”

(Tucker 1972; Bloch 1983; Nelson and Grossberg 1988; Gottlieb 1992).

Such was the case of Elizabeth Warren, “The Woman Who Knew Too Much,” who on July 18, 2011 was denied the position of heading up the consumer financial watchdog agency by President Obama—the very agency she had created (Andrews,

2011). During her tenure, Warren faced opposition from high ranking members of the financial world who fought hard against her stance on protecting consumers from abusive lending practices. As reported by Andrews, despite the fact that Warren had supporters from a wide range of cultural groups including “12 million members of the AFL-CIO, scores of consumer groups, and eighty-nine Democrats in the House of Representative 59 who signed a letter urging Obama to choose her for the position, among others”—despite all this, Obama passed Warren over for Richard Cordray, former attorney general of Ohio

(Andrews, 2011). What was at stake—the resources, the means, the risk—that would prompt Obama to change course in what surely should have been an unquestioned nomination for Warren? Could it be the corporations who opposed Warren’s agenda and increased resource allocation into lobbyists to assist the fight against Warren—thereby increasing labor and capital? Or what about the

[E]ight hundred and fifty businesses and trade groups that together

paid lobbyists $1.3 billion to fight financial reform … or the

Financial Services Roundtable, which, according to the Center for

Responsive Politics, paid lobbyists $7.5 million … or the Chamber

of Commerce [who] spent $132 million on lobbying .20

And the list goes on. What this unfortunate example illustrates is two reading practices: the first, Obama’s “reading practice” of the Warren affair was such that he assessed his losses if he nominated Warren, and through that reading, determined Warren’s nomination was not worth the risk and potential loss of cultural capital and value to his administrative agendas; and second, Warren’s “reading practice” of the loss of cultural capital and value was such that she assessed her position, ran for public office, and is now a senior United States Senator from Massachusetts (Democratic Party). Her negotiated reading enabled a transition from interpretation of the dominant meanings (that is, the

20 Ibid. 60 sanctioned institutional abuse) to a composition of cultural capital and value required to advance her agendas. Warren set a path to overcome sanctioned institutional abuse; the

President was not as fortunate.

I, therefore, question how theories of visual culture are useful for discussing the representation of relations of power and oppressed voices within the frame of sanctioned institutional abuse. By asking and theorizing how cinematic representations work, I am asking how these media not only represent violence/abuse, but also actively produce violence/abuse. In this respect, I study how visual media constitute spectacles and the purpose they serve as a critical tool for studying visual representations of power, oppression, abuse, institutions, and individual rights. I should note, however, that this is only one component of a much larger spectacle involving how identities and subjectivities are visually constructed and manipulated. 61

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

People (film-maker, audiences) make their own history (films), but not in circumstances of their own choosing. Richard Dyer (1993, 93)

Interdisciplinary Methods: The Foundational Framework

The ways in which we trace concepts and thoughts discussing social conflict, power and voices rely on a vast array of discourses constructed by scholars over time and represent multiple disciplines. Each scholar’s work speaks of the overarching theme of connectivity and facilitates new discourse located within social conflict, and reiterating

Harvey’s concept of the wholes and parts. Ultimately, within each discourse, a new body of work is produced. Interdisciplinary work encourages attention to the “whole” in opposition to disciplinary work which focuses on specialized segments of work and bodies of knowledge.

This understanding sets the stage for the eclectic methodological framework I chose to examine sanctioned institutional abuse—looking at the whole in relation to the parts. The structure emerges from crossing traditional boundaries, and thinking across them, to synthesize visual cultural studies and theorizations in order to investigate sanctioned institutional abuse through the development of real/reel reading practices.

In Chapters One and Two, I discussed several real experiences of sanctioned institutional abuse. From reading about those experiences, the reader has in all likelihood 62 already established a basic reading practice about sanctioned institutional abuse, relations of power, and oppositional voices. Perhaps you, the reader, have experienced similar circumstances or observed this behavior at your own institution. Or, you may have even been an active participant in a scheme of implementing an act of sanctioned institutional abuse against another individual. Or, you may have simply chosen to stand by the sidelines and observe this type of abuse being administered, but decided not to become involved in this unbalanced interaction. Regardless of the type of interaction, a reading practice has been constructed making some type of connection between the written words in this essay and your own personal experience and/or thoughts.

I identify the process of constructing reading practices with Foucault’s (1980) discussion of the dispositif (translated as apparatus) in that the elements of the reading practice consist of a “heterogeneous ensemble consisting of discourses, institutions … in short, the said as much as the unsaid … the apparatus itself is the system of relations that can be established between these elements” (194). Within the visual discourse of sanctioned institutional abuse is the heterogeneous ensemble of relations of power. As this ensemble is deconstructed (and re-constructed), we begin to see how the social agents utilize these elements to make sense of their world, and set limits, define terms, and constrain the character of social life. Each social agent within the sanctioned institutional abuse framework is an active producer and re-producer of cultural materials identified within relations of power and oppositional voices. 63

As we untangle the ensemble of cultural materials, a reading develops that is unique to each individual. Thomas’s (1991) discussion in Entangled Objects suggests that “objects are not what they were made to be but what they have become” (3). I will demonstrate in subsequent chapters, how Thomas’s discussion can be expanded to apply to cinematic representations and the intent of the filmmaker’s decision to produce new visual discourse (film scenes) that takes on expanded meaning to the viewer, as well as the spectator’s read discourse. Essentially, each viewer has what I refer to as a “reader database” into which we deposit messages and meanings we select from visual discourse presented in our everyday lives. From this mental database or what Bordwell (1970) defines as schemata, we make connections which Barthes describes as “different codes communicating solely through their interlocking, the adjustment of their limits” (154).

Our connections or lack of connections may be based on recognition, rejection, acceptances, or any identifiable correlation we make between the codes. In short, the ability to make a connection is dependent upon the events and persons to which the connection responds—the greater the recognition, the greater the connection.

In viewing true life account films, spectators observe visual components within each film scene. As the images and sounds (the visual discourse) are played out on the screen, our mental databases are searching for some connection between the “knowledge” codes represented. If we have experienced abuse, our reaction might be one that says, “I know that feeling and never want to go there again!” We begin to associate with the character in the scene until the next code is played out. As the film progresses and the 64 number of codes increases, our connection to the codes takes on expanded meaning.

This, in turn, commences the development of the reading practices I discussed earlier.

An important element to consider when discussing visual discourse is the possibility of reading and viewing mainstream privileged sites for the analysis of popular understandings of sanctioned institutional abuse, relations of power and oppositional voices. In The Matter of Images, Dryer (1993) emphasizes that people make their own history, and how people make sense of that history is dependent upon what “cultural codes (including sub-cultural) [are] available to them” (2). If an individual has been a member of a culture that has been subject to discriminatory practices, his/her reading of a situation may be very distinct from an individual in a different culture. Each will have developed a reading practice focused on the same visual discourse; however, the messages and meanings within that discourse may be interpreted differently and result in completely different interpretations.

I researched eighty-five (85) films based on scripts developed from true life accounts.21 Ultimately, the films I selected focused on real social conflicts as part of a social drama involving relations of power, oppositional voices, and a search for justice to resolve the social conflict. Circumstances surrounding each social conflict-justice- seeking scenario differ; however, following Victor Turner’s theory of “social dramas,” they all share three common elements within their respective social networks: 1) the

21 Refer to Appendix A: List of films based on actual events for the period 1890-2010s. Source: Wikipedia. Retrieved from http:// http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_actual_events 65 dramas occur within groups of persons; 2) who share values and interests; and 3) who have a real or alleged common history (Mitchell 1980, 145).

I note that each film also shares a common characteristic of “societal change” following the social conflict identified, and action perpetrated upon the oppositional voice—change that reported high-profile impact in the communities in which the initial action occurred, demonstrating the fluidity of narratives to “braid” shared elements as in the parts to the whole.22 The societal change stems from everyone’s experience in human society participating in the drama’s beginning, middle and end.

To facilitate my research, I developed a work plan using a two-part approach of:

1) identifying similarities and distinctions within the films relative to cultural and empirical exploration (film form, function and theory) of the production of social conflict and consequences, disruptive and transformative sub-plot narratives, and 2) identified the films into one of three categories according to the outcome of the social drama—meaning the fate of the lead character identified with the oppositional voice(s).

It is interesting to note that only three outcomes appear to be possible considerations for character fate. That is: 1) death of the oppositional voice; 2) devastation and destruction of the oppositional voice; or 3) vindication of the oppositional voice.23 It is possible the limit of only three outcomes is due to the fact that these types of depictions or storylines are worthy of box office “hits” generating multi-

22 “Community” can refer to both geographical location, as well as industry location (i.e., drugs to community and industry, horseracing to location or racetrack and industry, among others).

23 Each film selected has one major lead character representing the voice of opposition except for the film “In the Time of the Butterflies” whose main character, as well as that of her sisters, was subject to the same fate, thus, the reference to plural “voices.” 66 million dollar revenues for production studios, as well as having high “shock value” action that translates well to cinematic visualization and spectator reception. In what follows, I provide an overview of the films discussed by character outcome.24

Category 1: Death to the Oppositional Voice

The 1983 film Silkwood tells the story of a young female worker (Karen Silkwood portrayed by Meryl Streep) at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site (near

Crescent, Oklahoma) (Hausman, M., Nichols, M. 1983). Silkwood makes plutonium fuel rods for nuclear reactors and deals with the threat of exposure to radiation. In her role as a union activist for the workers, she expresses concern that corporate practices may have an adverse affect on the health of workers at the plant. Silkwood conducts an investigation only to discover falsified corporate safety reports, thereby, impacting the welfare of plant workers. After notifying union representatives about her concerns,

Silkwood becomes active in lobbying efforts for safeguards at the plant. As part of her union activities, Silkwood travels to Washington, DC to testify before the Atomic Energy

Commission.

When Silkwood and other workers become contaminated by radiation, plant officials blame her for the incident, and co-workers express their disapproval of her activities for fear the plant will lose contracts, close down, and job loss will follow.

However, in the process of her investigation, Silkwood discovers that negatives of

24 The film accounts reported in this section are based on my notes in viewing each film and data extrapolated from various sources as cited therein. 67 photographs of faulty fuel rods have been retouched and records of inadequate safety measures have been altered. She arranges a nighttime meeting with a reporter from the

New York Times to turn over documents to the reporter. On her way to meet the reporter, and in the film’s final minutes, Silkwood looks in her review mirror and sees fast- approaching headlights. The approaching vehicle’s lights block Silkwood’s vision and cause a blinding sensation rendering Silkwood unable to see the road ahead. The scene fades showing the aftermath of her fatal one-car crash, and the viewer is left to decide whether the crash was intended or an accident. As we know from the film, Karen

Silkwood is dead.

Category 2: Devastation and Destruction to the Oppositional Voice

In 2007, film director and writer, David Stenn, produced and aired Girl 27, a documentary film about the 1937 rape of MGM movie extra Patricia Douglas (1917-

2003).25 The film highlighted what happened to Douglas while working a studio promotional event that, as a result of the rape and the treatment she received thereafter, destroyed her life. In 1937, Patricia was a 20-year old living in Hollywood with her mother, a mediocre dressmaker with great ambitions; Patricia was an underage talented dancer who landed bit parts in several movies.

Douglas answered a call for a one-day work opportunity with MGM at the Hal

Roach Studios. Truth be known, Patricia was one of 120 young women hired as

25 (Stenn, 2007); Stenn reportedly stumbled across this story while researching his 1993 book, Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow; Jackie Kennedy Onassis was his editor. 68 hostesses for what would turn out to be a wild drunken event hosted by MGM for 282 regional salesmen visiting Los Angeles from distribution branches located throughout the country.

In the film, Stenn reports the salesmen were brought into Culver City by private railcar, and over the course of a three-day party-drinking binge the 282 salesmen had consumed over 500 cases of the finest liquor (scotch and champagne). The evening turned into a drunken free-for-all, and Douglas was raped by a salesman from Chicago.

MGM attempted to keep the incident quiet; however, Patricia was equally determined to bring her attacker to justice and hold MGM accountable for this devastating injustice.

MGM, as the power agent who owned their own police force, railroad, schools, and acting academies, used their position and contacts in Los Angeles and elsewhere to discredit Patricia and have the incident from their official records. In 2003, however,

Stenn located Douglas and through the use of first-person interviews, vintage film footage and music, historical accounts of the political power of movie studios in 1930s

Hollywood, as well as public attitudes toward sexual assault that discouraged victims from coming forward, brought Douglas’ story public.

According to Stenn, upon Patricia Douglas’s death, he contacted the New York

Times regarding posting an obituary for Douglas. In response, and according to Stenn, the New York Times sent him an email stating:

We did not run a Patricia Douglas obituary. Her story is compelling

and you told it. For an obituary we need something more, a

significant legal ruling that grew out of her case … [what you have 69

is] a newspaper story of some sort stating she was a wronged

woman who never got her day in court and vanished from the scene

until you found her. That story is not an obituary.26

Reportedly, in the film, Stenn locates the family members of a man who was alleged to have witnessed the rape. When the witness was asked to corroborate

Douglas’s account of events, he “suddenly didn’t remember.” Stenn reports that it was later discovered that this witness was given an excellent job at the film studio for life— the price paid for silence during Depression era economics.

Stenn’s review of Douglas’s case and subsequent legal battles are described in detail in the film. An analysis of Stenn’s report of the case suggests:

Douglas’s case was filed in California state courts, and subsequently

in federal courts where it apparently sat for three years and was

ultimately dismissed for lack of action. Upon review of the file,

Stenn notes the case had been called for disposition three times;

however, her lawyer did not show on three occasions. Stenn’s belief

is that the only reason you don’t show up at a trial call is because the

case had been resolved. However, inasmuch as there was no

settlement to Douglas and the case had been pending in court, what

happened? Stenn notes that Douglas’s lawyer ultimately ran for

District Attorney of Los Angeles County. Years later, other legal

26 Stenn, notes taken from film footage of Girl 27. June 27, 2012. 70

consultants indicate it appeared MGM had substantial influence in

the community and was able to change the course of events in the

disposition of the case. In both state and federal cases, Douglas’s

mother was assigned to be her guardian ad litem. Stenn further

reports her “mother sold her out” by accepting monetary

considerations and later purchased a liquor store, horses, furs and a

younger husband who stole everything from her.27

When Patricia Douglas was asked by Stenn “what would it take to make you feel vindicated,” Douglas replied, “I want it in black and white.”28

Stenn wrote an article for Vanity Fair published in April 2003 where he recounted many of the details described in his 2007 documentary film. On January 19, 2007, Robin

Abcarian, staff writer for the Los Angeles Times, wrote a story on Douglas titled, “A

Hollywood role she never asked for,” again, recounting many of the same details found in Stenn’s 2003 article and 2007 documentary film. Details of the Douglas story were extrapolated from these two articles and the film.29

Patricia Douglas claims her life was ruined due to what she suffered at the hands of the rape and subsequent action on the part of MGM to discredit her and ruin her reputation; she was devastated and destroyed. Eventually, she and her mother moved to

27 Notes taken by me from review of the film “Girl 27,” as reported by Stenn in video clips from film footage.

28 Ibid.

29 Abcarian, R. (2007, January 19). "A Hollywood role she never asked for." Los Angeles Times, Stenn, D. (2003, April). "It happened one night ... at MGM." Vanity Fair, 2007. 71

Bakersfield and disappeared. The Douglas story was removed from the MGM archives only to be found years later by Stenn at an outside research library. After locating the story, Stenn contacted Douglas for a personal interview and she began to tell her side of the story sixty-six years later.

Category 3: Vindication to the Oppositional Voice

Erin Brockovich is a 2000 biographical film directed by Steven Soderbergh which details the true story of Erin Brockovich (portrayed by Julia Roberts), a young unemployed single mother of three children, who without any formal legal training or law degree initiated an investigation that ultimately would up in a legal battle against Pacific

Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) (Soderbergh, 2000).30 The case origins begin with

Brockovich who hires Ed Masry, a local lawyer, to represent her in a traffic case in which she was involved. After he unexpectedly loses her traffic accident case in court,

Brockovich, expecting to win her case, tells Masry he owes her and the way in which he can rectify the wrong is to hire her in his law office. Masry reluctantly hires her as a file clerk in his office.

In the course of her daily work as a file clerk, she discovers a real-estate case involving PG&E and an offer to purchase the home of Hinkley, California resident

Donna Jensen. Erin fails to understand why medical records are in a real estate file and begins to investigate the case. Clearly, Erin does not understand that as a file clerk she is

30 Soderbergh, S. (2000). In DeVito D., Sher S., Shamberg M., Lyon G. and Hardy J.(Eds.), Erin brockovich Universal Pictures (USA and Japan); Columbia Pictures (International). 72 expected to “file,” not to investigate. After leaving the office without prior approval from the office manager and Masry to conduct fieldwork, she finds evidence that groundwater in Hinkley has been contaminated with carcinogenic hexavalent chromium. Based on her findings and subsequent investigation with environmental consultants at a local university, she convinces Masry that further research is required and convinces Masry to assign her to investigate the case. Ironically, Masry initially fired Erin for leaving the office without permission, but subsequently hired her back after determining her research revealed promising potential for a class action lawsuit—or at least he had the vision it might lead to such action.

While in Hinkley, Erin discovers many of the residents have experienced serious medical problems resulting in multiple operations, findings of malignant tumors—even the chickens in the area are reported dead or hatched with deformities. Brockovich and

Masry lack the financial and administrative resources to pursue legal action of this magnitude in representing 634 plaintiffs and join forces with a larger, more powerful law firm to undertake legal action against PG&E. In the course of the investigation, Erin locates a former PG&E employee who reported being tasked by PG&E managers to destroy corporate documents. However, after noticing many of the residents are reporting serious medical conditions, he keeps copies of the documents instead of destroying the evidence. He turns a memo over to Brockovich that clearly states in print that corporate headquarters knew the water was contaminated and did nothing to correct the situation. In fact, they reportedly advised the local Hinkley operation not to disclose the information. 73

Rather than go to trial and risk delayed court action, Masry and Brockovich work feverishly to persuade all the plaintiffs to enter into binding arbitration. In the end, the judge ordered PG&E to pay a settlement in the amount of $333 million dollars to be distributed among the plaintiffs. In the film, Erin is rewarded by Masry with a bonus check in the amount of $2 million dollars.

In each of these films, the circumstances center on a social drama played out in the form of a performance. How that performance is depicted on the screen must be considered in any film analysis, specifically how the film has a powerful affect on a person, the spectator (Eisenstein 1949). Bauman and Briggs’ (1990) discussion of performance as providing critical perspectives on social life, fosters a discussion

(presented in the next chapter) on how to move the use of stylistic resources (film form and function), context-sensitive meanings (social drama), and conflicting ideologies into a reflexive arena (from methodology to application) that produce individual and collective film discourse and analysis.

Social Drama: Building a Theoretical Interdisciplinary Framework

As I stated previously, Victor Turner’s (1974) schema of “social drama” lends itself to exploring and understanding the visual discourse of sanctioned institutional abuse. His “social drama” framework offers profound insight into understanding how visual discourse produces knowledge and meaning through visual language, and how this knowledge contributes to the development of reading practices. In discussing visual discourse, I recognize the importance of visual statements, visibility and invisibility, in 74 combination with spoken and written statements in the production of knowledge, understandings and meaning. Turner’s social drama model also sets the stage for understanding how the visual discourse of sanctioned institutional abuse transitions from phase to phase, and how within each phase there exists multiple interpretations that, ultimately, impact reading practices.

I use Victor Turner’s basic four-phase structure of social drama as a framework for describing and analyzing social conflict. Philip Smith recognized Turner’s work as an important point of reference for anyone conducting analyses of social process in the real world. Specifically, Smith comments on how Turner

focused on the ways that social dramas seemed to be processually

structured. He suggests that they often exhibit plot-like

characteristics and a regular course of events which can be grouped

in successive phases (2001, 193).

Concurring with Smith, I recognized Turner’s work and phase-like structure of social drama analysis would be complementary to film analysis—specifically for the films I chose to review in this paper. The phase structure allows each film to be analyzed for its individual narrative, as well as categorical analysis pertinent to outcome, as well as collective categorical outcome. By that I mean films can be analyzed individually and within each category on a comparative basis. From this approach, trend analysis studies could be conducted as to similarity in frames within the social drama, within the outcome category, and within comparison of all outcome categories. While trend analysis studies 75 are not the focus of this paper, it is an area of interest I intend to pursue in later discussions outside the scope of this dissertation.

The first phase of Turner’s social drama model is the breach of a norm which may be intentional and deliberate, and which generally signals an infraction of a societal rule—expressed or implied—in a community arena.31 The breach involves a person or party who demonstrates a challenge to entrenched authority. Once the breach is exposed, as Turner states, “it can hardly be revoked” and triggers the second phase, that being the crisis (146).

In phase two, the crisis mode, the relations of active parties are challenged and a juncture of “choosing sides” develops, signaling a turning point in the relations of the social field. The social split has a tendency to take on “luminal” characteristics of a temporal process. This notion of “liminality” was derived from van Gennep’s model of rites of passage, “where the phase between the old and new statuses is called the margin or limen” (Ashley 1990, xviii).

The mounting crisis forces individuals to take sides within the social order; they enter into spaces that are defined by their association. For example, in films where the oppositional voice expresses disagreement with the prevailing social order, individuals within the space of that voice will either: 1) agree; 2) disagree; or 3) express neutrality to the opposing voice. This decision is usually due to fear of commitment to one or the

31 Community may refer to any given body of common interest involving human society such as government, organizations, groups, family, among others. The community is defined by the individuals or participants in that symbolic collective. 76 other (agreement or disagreement), as well as to maintain a space referred to as a “safe zone” which provides a protective mechanism.

Taking sides highlights the act of compartmentalization; similar and like forces join together under a common cause or belief to provide support and, as mentioned earlier, pursue increased resource allocation. It is from the increased resource allocation that communities gain in the political and social order required to challenge the breach while in crisis mode. I further suggest that while individuals transition from one mode to another, or in Turner’s language of “phases,” they enter a “liminal space” and it is in these spaces that movement is constructed to advance to the next phase or regress to a prior phase. Thus, we are constantly moving into and out of spaces—spaces which signify a non-static positioning within social order or a constant processing of our productive labor.

The third phase, redress, takes place as efforts at conflict resolution emerge.

Factors to consider in this phase include the significance of the breach and the social inclusiveness of the crisis, as well as the nature of the social group within which the breach took place. Pertaining to lawsuits, this is the phase where, if successful, redress signals the finality of the initial outcome—unless resolution is not reached. The process of “initial outcome” is identified as a component within redress because, as society has experienced, in the resolution stage there is generally a give-and-take, push-pull, negotiation process whereby the parties attempt to arrive at a mutually beneficial outcome for everyone—or at least that is the rhetoric used to describe this active process. 77

In this phase, as Philip Smith suggests, there is the chance of “symbolic sacrifice and scapegoating” to occur (193).

In lawsuits, this is the phase where testimony from defendants and witnesses comes forth, accusations and implications; in life, this is the phase where the oppositional voice is attacked to demonstrate the volatility of that voice within the prevailing social order. Often times, the agenda of the prevailing power unit is to destroy the opposing voice so as to render it useless, void of any supporting belief—essentially, to eliminate its resource base so as to halt any further production of that labor force; to render is non- existent by virtue of silencing the voice.

Reintegration is the fourth phase of Turner’s model. It is in this phase that oppositional voices chose to join together with the other party

though the scope and range of its relational field will have altered,

the number of its parts will be different, and their size and influence

will have changed—or the social recognition of irreparable breach

between the contesting parties, sometimes leading to their spatial

separation….this phase, too, may be registered by a public

ceremony or ritual, indicating reconciliation or permanent cleavage

between the involved parties (Mitchell 1980, 147).

I like to situate Laura Nader’s work on “harmony ideology” in this phase as an example of how “harmony ideology” facilitates reintegration, as opposed to irreparable breach between the contesting parties. Nader’s work with the Zapotec in Mexico suggests that how we relate to control, to relative power, and to autonomy over an 78 extended period of colonization determines the level of harmony within any given colony

(Nader 1990). For the Zapotec, a bad compromise appears to be better than a good fight.

Despite the fact of a breach, crisis, and redress occurring between the colonizer and the colonized, Nader reports the Zapotec view continued conflict or controversy as bad and that a view of harmonious behavior is more civilized than disputing behavior, or the belief that consensus is of greater survival value than controversy. It is also a form of and a strategy for resisting the political and cultural hegemony of the colonizer.

Thus, reintegration has many possibilities for re-entering social order and one, which I feel is heavily dependent upon the degree of resource allocation accumulated during the four phase process. If the production of the labor is such that workers

(opposing voice in this instance) have accumulated more than adequate political, economic, and social resources to re-enter the social order, their positioning in this space is advanced. If resources are scarce or diminished in scope, re-entry in social order is compromised and, in all likelihood, the social drama process will re-initiate with a new breach and disruption to the social order commences yet again. This is the process for change in social order at any given moment in time regardless of the community or circumstances.

It should be noted, however, that Simon Cottle’s recent work on Social Drama in a Mediatized World: The Racist Murder of Stephen Lawrence suggests adding a fifth phase to Turner’s model to include ebbing/revivification (St. John 2008). Cottle’s extension of the Turner model holds forth that, 79

This [fifth] phase offers an extended conceptualization of Turner’s

social dramas and how these reverberate into the future …. In this

way, then, major social dramas can continue to exert symbolic

agency within the contents, identities, and politics of the future

(110).

Cottle refers to major media events signaled by the term “post” as fitting into this phase: post-Watergate, post-911, or as in the films discussed herein, post-Silkwood, post-

Brockovich, and the list goes on.

From my perspective, ebbing/revivification is a heightened level of transformation due to the mediatized nature of the outcome from the social drama. We see this operative on the daily news as local stories become regional, national, and international reported events. Through the ebbing process, an enhanced history of the issue(s) at stake is created and inserted into an already alert social order ready to accept/reject/ignore the “post-benchmark.” And, again, the post-benchmark enters a

“liminal space” in which the reflexive process can serve as a “checks and balance” on the development of the social order; akin to looking back to see forward.

A review of cinematic representation in social drama theory also requires a basic understanding of film form and function, of discourse and ideology so as to trace how oppositional voices and relations of power in real life are depicted in the reel life. What may take five years to develop within a living social conflict only has ninety minutes on the screen to depict the real conditions of production. Film form, function, discourse, and ideology contribute greatly to film narration and cinematic representations to achieve 80 what Bordwell refers to as rendering story material in order to realize specific time bound effects on a perceiver—the spectator. In total, these elements contribute to the construction of the visual spectacle and how these spectacles are received by the viewer.

Each spectacle produces visible images of the filmmaker’s way of re-telling the story.

Important concepts I discuss in this essay include: Bordwell’s interpretation of prototype, template and procedural schemata, and the extent to which he recognized and placed importance on these as ideologically inflected categories. Again, this refers back to Phillips’ discussion on personal formations; Foucault’s notion of locating discourse from dialogue to ideology and the rules that render an expression discursively meaningful; and Althusser’s assumption of the goal of capital and ideological state apparatuses, the unconscious and reflective mirror-like systems that facilitate the concept of self, and how it is impossible to elude ideology—to not be subject to its agents of repression and inevitability. This approach facilitates a discussion of what I refer to as the “braided narrative,” weaving cinematic theory within the production of culture, economics, among others, and viewing—rethinking film as a text for mediums of exploration--and, how critical readings of the spectacle produce a visual discourse that can be used as a blueprint for understanding sanctioned institutional abuse and the connections between relations of power and opposed voices. 81

CHAPTER FOUR: CRITICAL THINKING OF SANCTIONED INSTITUTIONAL ABUSE IN REEL VISUAL DISCOURSE

For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Luke 8:1732

When you have them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.

H.R. Haldeman’s Office33

The truth always wins, it always does … no matter how many years…the truth will always come out and that’s my vindication. Patricia Douglas, Girl 2734

In this chapter, my discussion of the three selected films compares and contrasts them first within the outcome specific category of death, destruction and devastation, or success/celebration. This exploration will serve to identify as I have previously discussed the social drama in each circumstance, and specifically as their outcome relates to the lead character’s quest to seek justice for the social conflict they strive to resolve. I focus on extrapolating similarities and differences within each social drama and attempt to determine what circumstances were required that would prevent distinctive outcomes.

32 Source: http://biblehub.com/niv/luke/8.htm. Retrieved September 25, 2013

33 (Pakula, 1976); All the President’s Men, voice over.

34 TLR Productions, L., & Webster, L. (. (Producers), & Stenn, D. (Director). (2007, Special thanks given to: Jodie Foster, Jennifer Lopez, and Kelly McGillis). Girl 27. [Motion Picture] Stenn, David. 82

Was death a necessary condition? Could devastation have been prevented? What resources must one have to level the playing field in fighting the social conflict so that annihilation is not an outcome? What messages do these films project to audiences, and specifically to individuals contemplating and/or having spoken out and facing similar outcomes either to themselves or someone within their community? Secondly, following the discussion of the social drama, I contextualize the films within a cultural studies and filmic theory/production critique. I seek possibilities for considering the spectacle as an analytical category signaling the inter-working relationships between the visible and invisible—the institutional power and the oppressed voice, and both as modes of production.

The Spectacle: Re-Telling, Re-Thinking, Re-Considering

In his critical reflections on modern capitalism and consumerism, The Society of the Spectacle, Debord describes the spectacle as “not a collection of images, but a social relation between people, mediated by images” (95). Debord suggests that the spectacle functions much like a visual illusion in that it obscures and distracts, particularly from the functioning of capital accumulation. Mirzoeff argues that in the spectacle, “the connection between labor and capital is lost. In the spectacular society, we are sold … the image rather than the object” (265). I think of the spectacle as a series of frames and consider Bauman’s description of Bateson’s notion of frame “as a defined interpretive context providing guidelines for discriminating between orders of message” (1977, 9).

As an example, in a McDonald’s commercial, we view a series of frames which depict 83 the exterior of the venue (the golden arches) and the interior of the building where the workers labor in low paying jobs to serve such items as “Happy Meals” to demanding customers. In this instance, the frames provide a defined interpretive context for the discriminating order of the interior/exterior messages. In reading this television commercial, Fiske and Hartley (1978) suggest that through television

[we have] an understanding of the way in which television structures

and presents its picture of reality [that] can go a long way towards

helping us to understand the way in which our society works …

hence the television discourse presents us daily with a constantly up-

dated version of social relations and cultural perceptions. Its own

messages respond to changes in these relations and perceptions, so

that its audience is made aware of the multiple and contradictory

choices available from day to day which have the potential to be

selected for future ways of seeing (17-18).

The point to be emphasized here as Bauman suggests is that “just as speaking itself is a cultural system [that] will vary from speech community to speech community, so too will the nature and extent of the realm of performance and verbal art” (13). And with that, reading practices will vary as a result of discrimination between the order of messages and frames that serve to provide a defined interpretative context. McDonald’s golden arches may not provide golden opportunities for everyone.

In Silkwood, Karen reports to work having a nonchalant friendly exchange of words with other workers. The work environment is one of jovial banter until Silkwood 84 passes under the monitoring devices which detect a presence of contamination on her body. The shot moves to the red flashing light warning of danger and a loud overhead buzzer alerts everyone that Silkwood must undergo brutal and harsh body scrubbing to remove traces of the contamination. A close up shot focuses on her face writhing in pain while corporate workers wear protective gear to scrub the naked Silkwood. The spectator is immediately reminded of the dangers facing Silkwood. A viewer to this spectacle, and especially one who works in a factory of similar nature, could interpret the experience completely different from that of another who works in a high rise corporate building.

Social Dramas: Structure Analysis of the Drama

Karen Silkwood, Patricia Douglas, and Erin Brockovich—the real life characters—faced tremendous obstacles in their individual pursuits to reveal hidden truths. All of this was done in the name of justice—seeking justice not only for themselves, but for others. For Silkwood, it was for better working conditions for

Silkwood and her co-workers; for Douglas, for violence committed against her (assault and rape) and for young girls like herself who thought they were answering a call to work when instead they were being treated like lambs going to the slaughter; for Brockovich, a validation that her work merited consideration on a professional level despite having no legal training, but in the end a validation for the hundreds of people in Hinkley who suffered at the hands of greedy and corrupt corporations who only thought of the bottom line—how high the numbers were at the bottom of the profit & loss statement.

Each of these women faced a social conflict initiated through a breach—an infringement of the right to better working conditions, a betrayal by a power mogul to 85 discredit and destroy a young girl who sought justice for being wronged, and a violation of environmental policies established to protect individuals from harm. These social upheavals were caused by human transgressions to keep established power systems from being held accountable for injurious acts on humanity. Could the breach have been prevented? Was it intentional?

In Silkwood and Brockovich, the breach was set in motion the moment the power structures (PG&E and Kerr-McGee) opted to ignore the situation and institute alternative methods of cover-up to disguise what would later become the social conflict. In each instance, the violation perpetrated was the result of the perpetrator taking liberties— liberties they apparently felt were within their realm of possibilities and appeared to be intentional and deliberate.

As reported in Girl 27 by Stenn, the salesmen in the Douglas breach knew when they pinched her nose that her only defense was to open her mouth to breathe; she was then forced to consume the alcohol. Rape occurred. Douglas challenged the entrenched authority of MGM by pressing charges and taking the power broker MGM to court, holding them and David Ross, her rapist, responsible for the violence perpetrated upon her. The crisis began, sides were taken, and actions put into motion to minimize the violence that occurred as a result of the breach. It was during this phase that MGM apparently recognized the need to initiate damage control by attempting to discredit

Douglas. MGM knew that in order to press forward and prohibit Douglas from seeking the justice she so well deserved, they needed to initiate a strong defense and one that would discredit Douglas’s reputation and cast her in a light as a “tramp” and “drunk,” and 86 therefore rape could not be a possibility. Case closed, the defendants found not guilty, and Douglas castigated for voicing opposition to a force much greater than her social network.

Archival material discovered by Stenn provides insight into MGM’s defense strategy. Douglas’s friends and co-workers were called to testify against Douglas and asked questions clearly intended to cast Douglas’s reputation into question. In the film,

Stenn demonstrates he was able to produce a document detailing the types of questions asked of Douglas’s co-workers by MGM legal counsel in preparation for the legal battle.

What did you know about Douglas’s reputation? Had you ever seen her intoxicated before or after the party? What did you know about Douglas’s morality?

In Stenn’s commentary in Douglas, he describes how he searched archival material and discovered a note from the desk of Hal Roach pertaining to the Douglas case. On the archival note were the letters “GU,” meaning genital urinary. Douglas claims the intent was to say she had a form of venereal disease to further cast her reputation into question and shift the focus away from the rapist to her immorality.

Again, if she were found to be immoral there could be no rape. If no rape occurred there was no case. Is it as Mary Douglas states “the idea of purity and pollution [are] central to cultural life…uncleanness is matter out of place” (40)? And, if Patricia Douglas could be found “unclean,” she would be regarded as out of place, as the “other,” and demoralized so as to hide in shame, as well as to be regarded in society as “dirty.”

Essentially, a double crisis was being played out: 1) the crisis of the Douglas-

MGM-David Ross case; and 2) the predicament faced by Douglas’s co-workers in 87 testifying for/against Douglas at the expense of losing any kind of available studio work in the future—it was the Depression, jobs were scarce, and one had to decide whether to stand up for justice and tell the truth or cower to the power faction to save one’s own life from the destruction of being unemployed, shunned by the studios who controlled the social network of life in Los Angeles.

In The Agony of Power, Jean Baudrillard describes domination as being

“characterized by the master/slave relation, which is a dual relation with potential alienation, a relationship of force and conflicts. It has a violent history of oppression ….”

(33) MGM, as well as other studios who survived the economic crisis of the Depression, dominated not only Hollywood, but forces of production including the labor. It should be noted that at this time during the Depression when “studio rivals Fox, Paramount, and

RKO were forced into bankruptcy or receivership,” MGM devised new sales strategy tactics and “reported profits of $14 million that year, almost double those of the prior year” (Abacarian, 2007). Clearly, Douglas did not have the resources required to battle studio giants and without adequate resource allocation her chances of succeeding in her legal claims were virtually non-existent.

Through public mediatization of the case in the newspaper, Douglas’s plight was brought to public attention. Action was taken by MGM to eliminate Douglas from public scrutiny, the case from the legal system, and removal of Douglas and any reference to her from studio archives. Out of sight; out of mind. The ability to dominate the situation is what enabled MGM to virtually bypass the redress phase of the social drama. For

Douglas there was virtually no phase four of the social drama; reintegration simply did 88 not occur for Douglas. As time moved on, Douglas removed herself from Los Angeles and relocated elsewhere. MGM, on the other hand, continued business as usual. No charges were ever brought forward on David Ross. The moral momentum of the

Douglas story was not realized in the public until Stenn released the 2003 Vanity Fair article and the 2007 documentary. What happened was a travesty of justice. Could it have been prevented? Stenn claims that “instead of [Douglas] bartering her silence for a studio contract or cash, [she] went public with her story and filed a landmark lawsuit.

One person I interviewed told me, ‘They had her killed’” (Stenn 2003).

As masters of domination, MGM and its vast network of resources were able to self-regulate the market. In Structures, Habitus, Power: Basis for a Theory of Symbolic

Power, Pierre Bourdieu explains how the self-regulation was possible through

the relations of domination [that were] established [and] maintained

at the cost of strategies which were endlessly renewed because the

conditions required for a mediated, lasting appropriation of other

agents’ labor, services, or homage have not been brought together

(Dirks 1994, 178).

It is within the degree of accumulated capital—i.e., being, the forces of production the studio controlled—that MGM was able to suppress the breach, manipulate the crisis, skip the redress, and reintegrate themselves into the social network as if the event had never occurred. It was only sixty-six years later that

Douglas’s plight came to media attention and public notice of the social drama changed how it was perceived in the court of public opinion. Could this happen today? Has 89 mediatization of events changed how power is/can be controlled within the scope of economic interests, social relationships, and transformational aspects of power?

Karen Silkwood faced similar circumstances detailed in the Patricia Douglas social drama. Both were involved in a breach not only against themselves as individuals, but also to society-at-large in the context of social conflicts that would be felt immediately, as well as for years to come. Rape today is still rape, and women fighting rape cases today face many of the same obstacles Douglas faced sixty-six years ago. Dirt is still unclean and must be removed from society lest it penetrate its bounds and taint the social order.

As I sit here writing this paragraph, I look over and see a legal text sitting on my desk, Race and Races by Perea, Delgado, Harris and Wildman. What historically has been a prime example of thinking about “dirt, unclean nature of things, and the abject?”

Surely, one consideration is race theory and the treatment of people of color within civil society. For example, the distinctly race-aware attention given to racial representations and its impact on society is not surprising. Race has continually been addressed in

Hollywood productions. In 1915, for example, African Americans looked beyond “Birth of a Nation’s” technical and stylistic innovations to decry its inherently white supremacist messages (Griffith, 1915). Boycotts ensued and in response Emmett J. Scott produced the independent film Birth of a Race released in 1918 (Noble, 1918). If was as if to say,

“we will not be removed from society, we will assert our place, our position in the social network despite any attempts to remove us from civil society.” 90

Both Douglas and Silkwood faced opposition and multiple attempts to remove them from the fabric of society, similar to operatives used in denying a place in society for all races. What distinguishes their experiences from that of Brockovich is that neither

Douglas nor Silkwood had resources (economic, social, or political) to counter the efforts of the capitalist producers—the studio and its vast network or the corporate conglomerate. Sanctioned institutional abuse in both Douglas and Silkwood was the result of the oppressed voices situated within an environment of unbalanced relations of power, and clearly lacking capital to defend their minority position.

Conversely, Brockovich is distinguished from Girl 27 and Silkwood in that the former had a valuable resource base of available economic, political, and social capital upon merging efforts (and resources) with another law firm.35 Their capital grew exponentially and, as such, the legal team of Masry, et al. was able to defend their clients’ position without being buried under innumerable demurrers filed by opposing counsel with the intent to stall the case and, ultimately, have it thrown out of court for failure to prosecute, as in the Douglas case.

The Brockovich social drama is still played out in the sense of the breach

(environmental injustice perpetrated upon a community), a crisis (the taking of sides … to join in the lawsuit and eventual binding arbitration); however, it is at this juncture where the social drama differs from Girl 27 and Silkwood. In Brockovich, there is an effort at conflict resolution through the agreement of all parties to enter into binding

35 In the film, there is a tense moment between Erin and Ed Masry when he informs her they have partnered with another law firm as they simply lack adequate resources to continue litigating the case. 91 arbitration—a condition that was neither available nor able to be pursued for either

Douglas or Silkwood. What facilitated the ability to pursue redress in Brockovich that did not exist in the other two cases?

I argue that one major factor was the ability of Brockovich to establish a dialogue that challenged the power structure, PG&E, in attempting to control the production of a one-sided dialogue meant to silence the voice of opposition—Brockovich, et al. There was limited ability of PG&E to decree the oppositional voice as a “symbolic sacrifice or a scapegoat,” as Smith suggests. Once the damaging evidence was produced to PG&E in the form of the memo wherein they attempted to “hide knowledge of the situation,” the production of PG&E’s oppressive forces was halted.

Neither Douglas nor Silkwood were permitted the ability to engage in a dialogue challenging the power structure. As Michael Holquist explains in the glossary he provides for his edition of Bakhtin’s “Dialogic Imagination,”

Everything means, is understood, as part of a greater whole … here

is a constant interaction between meanings, all of which have the

potential of conditioning others. This dialogic imperative, mandated

by the pre-existence of the language world relative to any of its

current inhabitants, insures that there can be no actual monologue

(146).36

36 Michael Holquist (Ed.). (1981). "From the prehistory of novelistic discourse." the dialogic imagination. (C. Emerson, M Holquist Trans.). Austin: University of Texas Press. 92

We must keep in mind that without a dialogue there can be no ability of oppositional voices to participate in the conditions of speaking, of voicing opinions, opposition, and resistance to domination. The attempt to silence oppositional voices is a common operative that power systems demonstrate in all aspects of society. It is the way in which they dominate over the “other” to achieve control in social, political or economic conditions of existence. The taking of one’s voice extends beyond the boundaries of speaking; it is a form of violence.

Borrowing from literature, I cite an example from Stephanie Jed’s essay on “The scene of tyranny: Violence and the humanistic tradition” in The Violence of

Representation (1989), where we come to understand how power systems operate in the face of opposition: how a power system can control those who possess an ability or a dialogue to engage in resistance, opposition to the power structure, and threaten its very existence:

Periander, the tyrant of Corinth sends a messenger to Thrasybulus,

the tyrant of Miletus, to find out how he might best govern his state.

In response to this query, Thrasybulus leads the messenger to a field

and cuts off the tallest standing ears of grain, while questioning the

messenger about his arrival from Corinth. The messenger then

returns to Corinth and reports to Periander how he received no

response from Thrasybulus and how Thrasybulus seemed crazy to

him for the way in which he had destroyed his grain. Upon hearing

the messenger’s report, Periander knows he has been advised to 93

murder his most powerful subjects: the cutting of the tallest standing

grain in Miletus is understood in Corinth as a sign to decapitate the

most prominent citizens (29-30).

Silkwood and Douglas are comparable to the “tallest standing grains” and, as such, were required to be “decapitated” for fear their voices of opposition would be heard, and might change the course of redress within their respective social dramas.

Brockovich, conversely, was a tall standing grain, but in the aspect of this metaphorical story about political violence central to its own concerns, was able to resist the tyrant

(PG&E) and stand tall in the field of grains. Essentially, the Brockovich social drama situated within the metaphorical representation of humanity signaled a code which conveyed a message of successful resistance to the social context. Although spectators viewing Brockovich could see the tremendous struggle located within the social context, there was a glimmer of hope in audience reaction and perception that justice can prevail—that those who harm others will and must be held accountable.

Film Genre: The Genre Re-Production Dispositif and the Reel to Real Experience

Film genres have an interesting way of self-perpetuating. Genres based on true accounts fulfill their audiences’ expectations about key conventions played out in familiar formulae. In this genre of real life stories, the objective is two-fold: 1) the storyline must be produced as a “believable” product in order to make the spectator believe that what they are seeing on the screen actually happened or could happen in real life; and 2) the more believable the product is perceived by the spectator, the likelihood 94 the film will be a box office success, reaping millions in profits for the production studio and partners. Thus, the film is constructed according to a formula that provides a consistent income allowing for the perpetuation of the studio system.

I am interested in the aspect of genre reproduction as it relates to the production of “real life” or “true account” films, and specifically as to how the production of the practice influences story outcomes, subsequent believability of the “true account” by the spectator, and reading practices that could impact real experiences. For example,

Brockovich was released in 2,848 theaters on March 17, 2000. On its opening weekend, it grossed $28.1 million and ultimately went on to make $126.6 million in North America and $130.7 million outside of North America, earning a worldwide total of $256.3 million.37 Silkwood, released in 1983, earned a mere $35 million at the box office—86% less in earnings than Brockovich.38 Did the ability of these films having widespread distribution both nationally and internationally impact spectator’s perceptions of the ability to express an oppositional voice? Did the production practice exercised by 20th

Century Fox and Universal Pictures facilitate not only generous revenue for the studios, but also in doing so, a venue for the oppositional voice to be heard by millions?39 And, in the context of a sub-plot, did the practices of the studios create and promote a sub-plot that warned spectators about the dangers of speaking out, of the price of resistance, and

37 Box Office Mojo. (2008, 12/5/08). Erin Brockovich. Retrieved http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=erinbrockovich.htm).

38 Ibid.

39 Girl 27 does not report any financial statements; probably due to the fact that it is a documentary self- produced by David Stenn, an independent producer. 95 consequences—including death and devastation—in the milieu of establishing an oppositional voice?

Foucault’s discussion on the dispositif as “an apparatus of power relations coordinated in relationships with systems of knowledge,” illustrates how the producers of true life account genre reproduction maintain the ability to portray sanctioned institutional abuse as favorable, unfavorable, neutral or invisible. It is through the film re-production apparatus that the producers first assess what will draw audiences to view such spectacles to more exquisitely yield profitability.40

The image of the victim of sanctioned institutional abuse is key for the functioning of this film re-production dispositif. As Dyer explains in reference to the film Victim,

Examining Victim as a particular characteristic organization of codes

and conventions [gives] warrant for certain kinds of reading on the

part of its audience, that is, a particular set of encodings which

makes possible particular decodings (92).

Was civil society wiser about sanctioned institutional abuse in 2000 when

Brockovich was released? Silkwood, which aired nearly 17 years earlier, did not enjoy the vast financial success as that of Brockovich. How did the Brockovich reproduction apparatus factor in all the elements and decide that taking on objective contradictions to dominant ideology could be better situated in 2000? Was there a shock factor involved in

40 I refer to the apparatus as film “re-production apparatus” as the film is actually a production of a re- telling of a story. 96

Brockovich producers that recognized sanctioned institutional abuse would not be tolerated by society and that by exposing this phenomenon, private companies could realize huge profits? Did the fact that the Brockovich team and the Hinkley residents prevailed over institutional conglomerates generate a particular set of encodings that viewers read as favorable to the oppressed voice?

Following film theory discussions of shock doctrine and disaster capitalism, we understand how utilizing moments of collective social trauma to engage in social and economic engineering can be understood as an integral element of the disaster capitalism complex. The collective social trauma of the Hinkley residents demonstrates how the spectacle of devastation and elimination (death) rely upon the shock doctrine to engage the viewer in understanding the plight of the victim—a plight we have all experienced in one way or another in our lives. The greater the shock doctrine has an effect on the viewer, the greater the likelihood that disaster capitalism will prevail at the bank.

Marketing the brand of the “victim” and making particular elements of the struggle for justice visible, ensures a formula for genre re-production that assures ongoing and ever- increasing funding for the production house.

What impact does the “marketing of victim” have on reel/real reading practices?

The Brockovich, Silkwood, and Douglas stories present visual imagery that portrays these individuals as powerless agents against large institutional giants. Both Silkwood and Girl 27 were produced from a point of view that demonstrates the silencing of the victim, beaten down by the perpetrator—an agent of power that controls the economic and social conditions of the victim. Every time Silkwood speaks openly about corporate 97 misdoings, we anticipate she will have another experience with the “red light” buzzing and signaling a vicious skin washing is about to occur. The washing represents not only a cleansing and stripping of her vulnerable skin, but also serves as a message to the worker viewing this film that speaking out against your corporate employer has painful consequences. Although the viewer may not have experienced a skin washing, the spectator can make a connection between abuse initiated against the employee and their own circumstances.

In Girl 27, the film cuts between images of Douglas, newspaper clippings vilifying Douglas publicly, and interviews with Los Angeles attorneys announcing their amazement on how Douglas was so maltreated by a power giant. The intent in both these instances may not be to create a “right” or “wrong” perspective, but rather a “preferred” meaning about difference and being marked. As Hall explains in Representations, the marking of the victim as “different” or “other” signifies—“it speaks” (230).

Alfred Schutz refers to this as typification which is essential to “the production of meaning” (257). The viewer may not have experienced the type of abuse sustained by

Douglas and Silkwood; however, they hold a basic understanding, or a general concept, of this behavior which facilitates understanding abuse, which the viewer then, in turn, fits or identifies a particular understanding to this behavior and learns to make sense, as well as connections, within the context of the reel/real visual discourse. The film producers rely on the viewer’s ability to identify and typify visual images in order to make an association with the victim. This makes for good box office hits with equally successful 98 profits. But, it also creates a sense of a marketable community consisting of the vulnerable victim, the abusive institution, and the viewer.

The marketable community dispositif contains a system of power relations that share reliance on certain techniques or as Foucault states “methods of application” required for commodity success (McHoul, A., Grace, W. 1993, 67). While marketing the

“other” sheds light on the victim’s tribulations, it also relies on binary power relations of good/bad and strong/weak to tell a profitable newsworthy story. This form of genre reproduction has proven very successful for film producers. For film viewers and victims alike, the re-telling of the story through cinematic representation creates a visual discourse where we learn to make sense of sanctioned institutional abuse and the fact that it is not acceptable to harm others.

Film Theory, Form and Function: Creating the Visual Discourse of Sanctioned Institutional Abuse

How the spectacle is created contributes a visual discourse we rely on to make sense of things. Living in Arizona near the U.S.-Mexico border, we are reminded constantly of the dangers of living on the border. Recent television programs featuring life on the US/Mexico border invite viewers to see frontline danger—perceived or real.

The show’s repeated spectacle of security, danger, border penetration, and the actions of the agents serves to highlight what is constructed as a constant threat to the people who live and work there, and the lives of anyone remotely connected to the border region. For those of us living in this geographic space, we question exactly where this dangerous frontier is located; this is not only a foreign statement to us, but a misleading statement. 99

In the television episodes portraying a dangerous frontier, the scene opens with a long aerial shot of the border that divides the two Nogales—Nogales, Arizona, United States and Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. The narration continues explaining that the manner in which the border can be secured is through the actions of the border agents and the implementation of surveillance strategies.

Foucault’s explanation of panopticism helps us understand this statement and shows how surveillance and quarantine techniques can give way to a systematic surveillance system that relies upon a double mode of binary division and branding which functions to separate the “mad” from the “sane”—similar to the binary process utilized by filmmakers to market true life account films. Foucault’s focus is on those systems that exercise their power over the individual by isolating, branding and differentiating the

“other” and submitting them to a process of surveillance as a means of controlling the individual.41 For Foucault, prison structures illustrate how this system works. The prison structure includes a circular confinement building and central viewing tower from which the supervisor may observe prisoners who are held in individual cells, which serve to isolate the prisoners from one another. “Hence the major effect of the Panopticon: to induce in the inmate a sense of consciousness and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power” (1979, 65).

The key to having power within the panopticon is visibility; being visible and yet unverifiable are the key characteristics to this mechanization of control. In the structure

41 Foucault work focused on studying the architectural surveillance structure of the panopticon. 100 of the panopticon, the central observation tower is lit and configured in such a fashion as to not allow the inmate to see whether or not he/she is being observed. Foucault refers to the pantopticon as a “machine” which disassociates the see/being seen operative. This panoptic principle can be applied in a variety of settings in which the individual is aware that he or she is observed and of the disciplinary mechanism associated with the observation. A characteristic of the panopticon, which is of particular relevance in the analysis of visual strategies, is the machinery of power.

Power has its principle not so much in a person as in a certain

concerted distribution of bodies, surfaces, lights and gazes; in an

arrangement whose internal mechanisms produce the relation in

which individuals are caught up. The ceremonies, the rituals, the

marks by which the sovereign’s surplus power was manifested are

useless. There is machinery that assures dissymmetry,

disequilibrium, difference. Consequently, it does not matter who

exercises power. Any individual, taken almost at random, can

operate the machine [ . . . ]. (66).

While the Border Patrol ultimately operates the panoptic apparatus along the

U.S.-Mexico border, the television cameras invite spectators to participate in the operation of the panoptic machine. The point I make here is that the visual discourse produced is an engaging process between the filmmaker, storyline characters, and the spectator. Bringing the spectator into the equation as an operator of the panoptic machine 101 is a necessity for this type of genre survival. As the Border Patrol agent in the television series speeds along in his/her ATV chasing undocumented persons, the viewer senses a heightened emotion of capturing a human being. For some viewers, the human being may represent the “bad guy,” while for others this individual is merely a person attempting to improve their living conditions and evading the devastating consequences of poverty in their country. The panoptic view for the spectator depends on the reading practice of the personal formations within the viewer’s schemata.

Filmmakers of true life account films rely on similar approaches where the spectator serves as a critical witness to viewing the embodied performance of the victim as the recipient of sanctioned institutional abuse, and the performance of the institution as the perpetrator of that abuse. This structured “order of things” is not automatically constructed, but rather is put into place by aligning signs and symbols that emit messages and meanings designed to impact the development of our reading practices. How frames are placed next to each other and in sequential order, are all part of the production of the visual discourse. What ends up on the cutting room floor are those scenes which have less value to the visual discourse and serve no purpose in either adding to the narrative from the filmmaker’s perspective and/or would only serve to exceed the time limit placed on acceptable film length for spectator viewing.

Film Editing: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Eisenstein, a formalist and contemporary Marxist intellectual, made a lasting impression on the film industry with his few, but vibrantly revolutionary films. He 102 formulated a self-consciously modernist theory of editing—the montage—based on his observations of the psychology of perception and Marxist dialectical materialism. As a designer and later director, Eisenstein worked on experimental Proletkult theater productions which provided him an avenue to experiment with this theory of attractions, which he later expanded in film to develop his theory of montage.

Early in his career, Eisenstein was greatly influenced by Vsevolod Meyerhold whose anti-traditional theater which was a stylized, non-verbal theater incorporated the use of resources generally found in a circus spectacle to create a machine for acting, a system referred to as bio-mechanics (Bordwell 2005). Eisenstein’s introduction to the concept of bio-mechanics, the machine, prompted his long-time theoretical concern with the psychological effects of the aesthetic experience; asking himself the question of what combination of aesthetic stimuli will produce what responses in the perceiver under what conditions. Eisenstein began testing his theory, experimenting with the stage layout to create a series of attractions, as in a circus or cabaret, where “every element can be verified and mathematically calculated to produce certain emotional shocks” (Cook 1996,

143). Eisenstein’s experiments with a montage of attractions continued while he studied the works of Ivan Pavlov’s conditioned reflex theory, and ultimately realigned his notion of attractions with that of shocks or stimuli in his early 1924 film works. In The Cinema of Eisenstein, Bordwell notes that Eisenstein would later attribute his theory of artistic stimulants solely to Pavlov (2005). The stimulants, as posited by Eisenstein, would lead the perceiver to absorb the political theme in his films 103

just as primitive tribes’ dances with animal skins were not

limitations but rather practice exercises for hunting, so agitational

theatre arouses emotion in order to train the Soviet citizen in the

attitudes of the new society (177).

Following Pavlov, Eisenstein believed that film shots, or attractions, could be controlled for specific audience effect. The death scene in Silkwood illustrates this point.

Immediately preceding the film frames illustrating Silkwood’s “death” accident, which the viewer knows is the impending doom, the shots transition from her looking in her review mirror to the car in back of her gaining speed and ultimately overtaking her vehicle. Silkwood’s face registers fear so visible that you cringe in your seat knowing something horrible is about to happen. Switching back and forth between the fast approaching vehicle trying to overtake her and Silkwood’s panic reaction of looking in the review mirror creates a specific audience effect of wanting to shout out to Silkwood,

“get out of the way, they’re coming after you.” The effect is chilling because you know what will happen, but cannot stop it. Immediately after this scene, is silence and the almost zombie-like reaction of people in town watching Silkwood’s vehicle, beaten and bruised, being towed through the center of town. Silkwood is nowhere present in the vehicle and the silence on the screen alerts the spectator to the fact that something terrible has happened to her.

Essentially, Eisenstein identified his theory of montage as a process which operated according to a Marxist dialectic as a way of 104

… viewing human history and experience as a perpetual conflict in

which a force (thesis) collides with a counter force (antithesis) to

produce from their collision a wholly new phenomenon (synthesis)

which is not the sum of the two forces but something great than and

different from them both (Cook 1996, 38).

The synthesis that results from the thesis/antithesis conflict will ultimately become the thesis of a new dialectic, which in turn will generate a new synthesis, and so on as the montage sequence continues. Situating this within the conversation of social drama and liminal spaces, the dialectic process of antithesis/synthesis triggers images of the reflexive nature of movement within these spaces; again, looking back to move forward.

The visual opposition between shots may be a conflict of linear directions, planes, volumes, lighting, etc., and need not extend to the dramatic content of the shot.

Important to the model is that viewers perceive the shots in a montage sequence not sequentially, or one at a time, but rather simultaneously, as if the shots were continuously superimposed upon another. Therefore, in a scientific explanation of film theory,

Eisenstein might map his formula as: ABC = X where the totality or a whole are different than and greater than the sum of its parts, and not ABC = A+B+C. The shots,

A, B, and C are only sequentially on the film strip; when the strip is projected, the viewer’s mind puts the shots together in a manner analogous to photographic superimposition. 105

Eisenstein’s thinking on montage worked toward establishing a cinematic language based on psychological association and stimulation. He often referred to this language as the “dialectical montage which operated according to a precise manipulation of audience psychology on both the emotional and cerebral levels of experience

(Eisenstein 1949). Bazin criticized this theory claiming that dialectical montage was too manipulative in its selective ordering of the viewer’s response; that the analytical fragmentation of a filmed event through montage destroys the reality of space which provides the necessary relationship between the film image and the real world (Gray

1971).

Eisenstein further elaborated the montage theory by distinguishing five separate types, or methods, of montage which can be used simultaneously within any given sequence: 1) the metric; 2) the rhythmic; 3) the tonal; 4) the over-tonal; and 5) the intellectual or ideological. In concept, metric is concerned solely with the tempo of the cutting. His experimentation with metric montage at both accelerated and expanded cutting times as a way of creating tension illustrates this point. For example, Potemkin ran 86 minutes and contained 1,346 shots, whereas Birth of a Nation has a running time of 195 minutes with only 1,375 shots, and the average American film of 1925 ran ninety minutes and contained approximately 600 shots (Cook 1996, 58). Thus, Eisenstein’s manipulation of metric montage in the Odessa massacre scene takes much longer on film compared to similar length films, permitting Eisenstein to suggest a psychological duration for the atrocious event, and destruction of a much greater magnitude. 106

Rhythmic montage is film cutting which is based on the rhythm of movement within the shots, as well as upon predetermined metrical demands. Eisenstein demonstrated this on the Odessa steps with the steady rhythm of the soldiers’ feet as they descend the stairs; Barroso used a similar technique in the scene illustrating the murder of the Miraval sisters in the film In the Time of the Butterflies where viewers see swinging bats at alternate steady rhythms hitting the bodies of the sisters (Bartlett 2001). The question of film form arose within Eisenstein’s consideration of montage and what he referred to as the dominant. In Eisenstein’s approach, he attempted to answer the following question: in any given shot there are multiple attractions; which of these shots should determine the kind of juxtaposition required? If shots A and B are joined based on a conflict of light, can the filmmaker join them to shot C, which might relate to shot B in regards to screen direction? If so, what happens to the conflict of light presented in shots A and B? This scenario of questioning is what prompted Eisenstein to suggest that every shot has a dominant attraction and many subsidiary attractions in the context of view the film. The dominant is that which most fully strikes the viewer’s attention. Just as Eisenstein claims we must listen for tones between shots in films, we must also listen for the tones of social drama described by Turner, et al. in the construction and resolution of social conflicts. We can now see the relationship evolving between film form, function, and portrayal of social drama in the reel world. It is in these “steps’ that we move to Bordwell’s discussion of general theory of perception and cognition.

107

Film Construction: Schemata and Its Relation to Visual Discourse in the Development of Reading Practices

Bordwell contends that any spectator’s activity must rest upon a general theory of perception and cognition. To emphasize his point, he relies on a constructivist theory of psychological activity which contends that perceiving and thinking are active, goal- oriented processes. It is not merely enough to rely on sensory stimuli to determine a percept; that alone is insufficient. Rather, as Bordwell states, “the organism constructs a perceptual judgment on the basis of nonconscious inferences” (1985, 31). Through processes Bordwell defines as “top-down” and “bottom-up,” conclusions are drawn on the basis of the perceptual input. The perceptual input is inferential in that conclusions are drawn on the basis of “premises furnished by the data, by internalized rules, or by prior knowledge” (31). Through the act of perception, the spectator’s schemata—the organized clusters of knowledge which guide our hypothesis making—are called to action. The accumulative contribution in the spectator’s mental database (of schemata) constructs the whole unit of knowledge—the database.

In viewing a film, we delve into our mental database and a sorting process begins to identify the type of schemata from which we will draw our inference for hypothesis- testing. The schemata selection process begins when the perceiver is presented with the activity and an association of schemata is applied to the activity. For example, when we see concrete visual images, we sort through the prototype schemata in our mental database until a match is identified with the visual image. If the visual image is not found in the database, the spectator will attempt to rework the image until a representative 108 image is constructed. Through this process, the perceptual hypothesis is confirmed or disconfirmed, and the hypothesis is either accepted, rejected or refined; schemata is adjusted accordingly to coincide with the hypothesis activity.

In the films presented in this paper, it is likely that our mental databases do not hold all the schemata required to make a “match.” However, we hold similar schemata that enable us, as the spectators, to make a connection and rework the image until a representative figure is constructed. Did we possess prior knowledge about hexavalent chromium and its dangerous properties to the public as exposed in the film Erin

Brockovich?42 Highly unlikely; schemata that we could rework was that of “chemicals in underground water systems” and the danger posed to society.

Girl 27 presents an interesting scenario in reading rape cases. Douglas publicly stated she was raped and MGM denied the act ever took place. In fact, MGM initiated an outright character assassination of Douglas claiming she was a “tainted female” and, as such, a rape could never have occurred. When I first viewed this film in 2012, I was struck with the sickening reality that nearly seventy-five years had passed since the

Douglas incident, and yet rape victims continue to face the same obstacles and challenges in pressing forward with rape claims. As I viewed the Douglas film, I thought of the role of schemata in making connections from acceptable/unacceptable behavior in 1937 to

2012. Perhaps this was Stenn’s intent to enable the viewer to realize that while time passes, the treatment of rape victims in contemporary society remains nearly the same.

42 DeVito, D., Sher, S., Shamberg, M., Lyon, G., & Hardy, J. (Producers), & Soderbergh, S. (Director). (2000). Erin brockovich. [Motion Picture] Universal Pictures (USA and Japan); Columbia Pictures (International). 109

And, therefore, the sanctioned institutional abuse perpetrated by MGM could easily happen (and does) today.

Thus, we see that schemata play an active and important role in the individual’s ability to comprehend the story presented. To a certain extent, filmmakers rely on the spectator’s database to hold basic knowledge of elements of the story presented so we can make sense of the story within the length of the film. If we cannot make sense of the story, the film is usually a box office failure and, in Marxist economics, the production of labor is at a loss—a loss for the film production, as well as for the spectator whose loss of time, knowledge, and satisfaction is factored into the equation.

In film viewing, the sequential order of hypothesis testing is critical for the perceiver to comprehend the film’s activity. The film’s narrative is, therefore, a

“continuous test for hypotheses and, as such, these test are composed in order to reward, modify, frustrate or defeat the perceiver’s search for coherence” (Bordwell 1985, 67).

Essentially, schemata in filmic construction provides us with a mechanism for understanding the importance of schemata databanks as they relate to the filmmaker’s construction of the narrative and the perceiver’s ability to understand the narrative.

Schemata in relation to constructs of social conflict and social drama, enables an individual to gain insightful perspective into the struggle, resistance, and opposition identified in the breach and subsequent crisis. In Brockovich, the social conflict and social drama are played out in terms of powerful conglomerates (PG&E) abusing the

“little man”—the person who cannot represent himself and struggles to be heard.

Douglas’ resistance to accepting MGM’s denial of the rape presents a social conflict not 110 only between the individual and the corporate conglomerate, but also the community to the government—that being the citizens of Los Angeles to a corrupt government and police department.43 Without schemata to fill in the missing blanks, society operates from a position of not knowing—and this is what relations of power often rely on to gain advantage over oppositional voices. How are ideological categories of schemata viewed?

Within the categories and schemata therein are answers to the questions, taking us back to Foucault’s statement that “knowledge is power.”

Screening Sanctioned Institutional Abuse: Althusser and the Function of State Apparatuses

According to Bordwell, film “solicits a particular reading procedure” which takes into consideration film as a particular product manufactured within a given system of economic relations that involves labor to produce the product and transform it into a commodity (Braudy, L., and Cohen, M. 1974, 721). Given this reading, films have become one of the most powerful agents of mass political movements: Brockovich and

Silkwood both served as agents of environmental awareness and a call for accountability reform in large institutions taking responsibility for their actions. Thus, on the one hand a film is a material product of the system, but it is also an ideological product of the system. And, because every film is part of an economic system, it is also part of an

43 This point was also brought out in the film Changeling, which re-tells the 1928 story of Christine Collins (portrayed by Angela Jolie), a single mother whose son vanishes without a trace, and her attempts to locate the boy despite facing opposition and corruption from Los Angeles officials and law enforcement. 111 ideological system (754). Althusser’s work on ideology helps to explain the relationship between the two systems.

In “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses,” Althusser offers a Marxist theory of ideology—the state consists of ideological apparatuses which intervene unambiguously in the interests of the bourgeoisie against the proletariat.44 The state is conceived, under Marxism “as a repressive apparatus … a machine of repression, which enables the ruling class … to ensure their domination over the working class, thus enabling the former to subject the latter to the process of surplus-value extortion (i.e., to capitalist exploitation) (1971, 137).

To understand Althusser’s ideological state apparatuses, we must first understand his assumption (and re-reading) of the goal of capitalism to “reproduce the relations

(material conditions) of production (129). In order to do this, the capitalist system must not only reproduce the material means necessary for the creation of goods in the marketplace, but must reproduce the labor power—the individuals conducting the work.

Capitalism does this by “giving the material mean of survival—wages that enable the worker to live in the complex system of the process of production (131). In addition to enabling the worker to survive physically, the capitalist system must perpetuate the worker’s willingness to work. Thus, the need for a perpetuation of ideology must exist.

In Brockovich, Hinkley (the subordinate of mega power producer PG&E) provided jobs to the residents living in this small community. The local people were able

44 Althusser, L. (1971). Lenin and philosophy and other essays (B. Brewster Trans.). New York: Monthly Review Press. 112 to survive as a result of their production of work for the capitalist, PG&E. As soon as their claims of foul play against the corporation became public, the workers’ survival was in jeopardy. If Hinkley were closed down, the residents would face massive lay-offs which would have resounding economic, political, and social impacts on the community.

The same scenario presented itself in Silkwood, as well as Girl 27. In each spectacle, the viewer receives the message that the workers’ future is in jeopardy if they speak about injustices perpetrated by the institution.

Cinema helps to explain this process in that it is “one of the languages through which the world communicates itself to itself. [They] constitute its ideology for they reproduce the world as it is experienced when filtered through ideology” (Comolli et al.

1999, 755). The task of the film-maker, therefore, is to “show-up the cinema’s so-called depiction of reality. If he can do so there is a chance that we will be able to disrupt or possibly even sever the connection between the cinema and its ideological function”

(755).

For Althusser, ideology is defined as “the system of ideas and representations which dominate the mind of a man or a social group” (158). Althusser further states that ideology is a-historical, eternal—meaning omnipresent in its immutable forms throughout history (162-163). These ideologies operate to secure the relations and skills of labor power through the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence; that is, in ideology, men represent their real conditions of existence to themselves in an imaginary form (163). Thus, there is an imaginary representation of the 113 social relations which govern their conditions of existence (165). This brings Althusser to an important point:

What thus seems to take place outside ideology … in reality takes

place in ideology. What really takes place in ideology seems

therefore to take place outside it. That is why those who are in

ideology believe themselves by definition outside ideology: one of

the effects of it is the practical denegration of the ideological

character of ideology by ideology …. As is well known, the

accusation of being in ideology only applies to others, never to

oneself (175).

One of the ways to reconstruct the constraints of ideology, as suggested by Adorno, is to recognize that we are in ideology and to step outside the limits placed on us by the constraining forces (state) of ideology. ABC Motion Pictures and director Mike Nichols stepped outside the limits placed by the constraining forces of “big business” in producing Silkwood and “inflamed a nation.”45 This was a great risk for a film corporation “for all films are commodities and therefore objects of trade . . . .” subject to audience demand and economic response (755). The social need for bringing forth the

Silkwood, Brockovich, and Girl 27 narratives was supported with a visual discourse that merged “what the public wanted” with “what the dominant ideology wanted.”

45 Inflaming refers to the byline printed on the Silkwood DVD jacket cover: The Controversial True Story that Inflamed a Nation. 114

This merging of the two “wants” reconstructed film production ideology to account for how producers could illustrate attacks on the ideological assimilations.

Firstly, by direct political action, on the level of the ‘signified’, that

is, they deal with a directly political subject. ‘Deal here’ is here

intended in an active sense: they do not just discuss an issue,

reiterate it, paraphrase it, but use it to attack the ideology (this

presupposed a theoretical activity which is the direct opposite of the

ideological one). This act only becomes politically effective if it is

linked with a breaking down of the traditional way of depicting

reality (756).

On the level of form, Brockovich, Silkwood, and Girl 27 all challenge the concept of “depiction” and mark a break with the tradition of embodying it in opposition to ideological concepts long after the spectator leaves the theater.

According to Althusser, there are those who “manipulate the conditions of existence, a small number of cynical men who base their domination and exploitation of the people on a falsified representation of the world they have imagined in order to enslave other minds by dominating their imagination” (163). “But the ability of these cynical men, the ideology of the ruling class, does not become the ruling ideology by the grace of God, nor even by virtue of the seizure of State power alone (185). The ruling ideology operates through the development of State Apparatuses (SAs).

State power is made by two forms of State Apparatus: the institutions that make the Repressive State Apparatuses (RSAs) and the institutions that make the Ideological 115

State Apparatuses (ISAs). RSAs function to secure their relations primarily by violence and secondarily by ideology (144). Repression is made possible by those that discipline, coerce, and repress the populace: the police, the courts, the prisons, the army, etc., are all responsible to the head of State, the government, and the administration (137). The State

Apparatus acts as a “force of repressive execution and intervention in the interests of the ruling classes” (137).

An ISA functions primarily by ideology through controlling systems of thought, and secondarily by repression—acting as gatekeepers, for instance, or coercing certain behaviors such as religious rituals. The infrastructure and superstructure are “secured by the legal-political and ideological superstructure (148) and, in essence, maintained and disciplined by the RSAs. As Althusser writes, “each ISA contributes in the way proper to it; through politics we subject individuals to the political state ideology … through communication apparatuses such as the press, radio and television, we subject every citizen with daily doses of nationalism, chauvinism, liberalism, moralism, etc. (154).

While developing his theory of state apparatuses, Althusser grounded his work in

Marxian capitalist theory of the infrastructure (base), which is the economic base and the place of the material work), and the superstructure. Through the manipulative ideologies represented in these apparatuses, the agent of repression emerges to inflict state ideologies on the labor force; the state apparatuses function in the role of agent of exploitation, of agent of repression, and are able to manipulate the ideologies of the masses (155-56). 116

Thus, summarizing Althusser, the state is the repressive apparatus which must be distinguished in order for the proletariat to seize state power to destroy the existing bourgeois state apparatus and replace it with a proletariat apparatus. Until then, the reproduction of the skills of labor power will always be directed and controlled by the state apparatuses—the ruling classes—and not the labor power itself.

Can cinema function as an ideological state apparatus? Revisiting the conditions under which ISAs operate, cinema could act as an ISA communicator, as a partnership or a producer of cinema, under two conditions: 1) by controlling systems of thought through ideology; and 2) by repression—i.e., withholding information and knowledge, such as the presentation of facts in films “based on true accounts,” or by coercing certain behaviors. How does this relate to our situation of social conflict, social drama, and cinema?

Cinema produced for the masses by the state apparatus, or under control of the state apparatus, expounding cinematic representations of the dominant power’s ideology is an example of how cinema participates in the ISA process. State owned film companies, as well as film production companies and producers working in concert with state agencies or whose belief systems are aligned with state agencies, can be regarded as

ISAs in function. They become producers of films created by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and in turn, affect them.

Propaganda films are a result of this ideological partnership whose films are packaged in numerous ways, but most often in documentary style, fictional screenplays, and animated cartoons meant to convince the spectator about a specific political point or 117 to influence the opinions of the viewer. One of the most notable propaganda films of the

20th Century was Triumph of the Will, created by Leni Riefenstahl, a filmmaker working in Nazi Germany, commissioned by Hitler to chronicle the 1934 Nazi Party Rally in

Nuremberg.46 An interesting observation I made in the process of conducting research for this paper is that Frank Capra’s seven-film series Why We Fight is said to have been directly inspired by and America’s response to Triumph of the Will.

Contextualizing this production/response production scenario, I suggest two points to consider: 1) Capra’s response may have been promulgated by allegiance to

“American” ideology mastered through the government and military through communication channels such as films, etc.; and 2) locating these two films within

Turner’s model of social drama, the social conflict between the ideology represented in both films could stand to symbolize a breach (ideology), crisis (devastation leading to war), redress (the war), and reintegration (re-structuring of social order post-war).

Cottle’s fifth phase would pertain to mediatization of elements that reference any “post-

World War II” activity or reference and it is an excellent way of understanding the enhanced magnitude of media in the production/reproduction of social dramas.

Locating Discourse: Cinematic Representations of Relations of Power and Oppressed Voices

Michel Foucault’s notion of discourse has been widely recognized, argued and disputed over the past twenty-five years from a multitude of disciplines. Critical studies

46 Riefenstahl, L. (Producer), & Riefenstahl, L. (Director). (1935). Triumph of the will (triumph des willens). [Motion Picture] Germany: Universum Film AG. 118 located within linguistics, humanities, philosophy, social sciences, and anthropology and many others have incorporated Foucault’s theories in analyzing literary and non-literary texts generating new dimensions of contemporary criticism (Mills 1997, 1). Given the tremendous attention paid to the term “discourse” in current theoretical analyses, it is perplexing to discover that a clear, concise definition of the term eludes the very word and those who celebrate its usage. Mills’ work, Discourse, offers an accessible and comprehensive analysis of the term and explores the theoretical assumptions underlying it. Mills makes the point that Foucault’s notion of discourse “has been defined in dialogue with and in reaction to the definition of ideology” (32).

Truth, along with power and knowledge, are important considerations when thinking in terms of discourse “since it is because of these elements that discourse has effects” (18). For Foucault, truth is something which societies have to work to produce.

The choice of truth, however, may rest in the authority of the true and scientific (i.e., distinctions in health care systems as to who is ideologically approved vs. ideologically perceived inferior practices) asserting privilege over others. This component of “truth” is what Foucault set out to investigate. He attempted to “discover how this choice of truth, inside which we are caught but which we ceaselessly renew, was made—but also how it was repeated, renewed and displaced (Young 1981, 19). Ideology through the link of truth and power plays a key role in discussions of discourse.

Any attempts at defining the notion of discourse will be problematic and strategically difficult. Just as with our attempt to define ideology, the concept of discourse is difficult to pin down to one meaning. As Michel Foucault comments: 119

Instead of gradually reducing the rather fluctuating meaning of the

word discourse, I believe I have in fact added to its meanings;

treating it sometimes as the general domain of all statements,

sometimes as an individualizable group of statements, and

sometimes as a regulated practice that accounts for a number of

statements (1972, 80).

Given the broad expanse of this interpretation, we can dissect this statement in three parts to uncover the possible direct meanings Foucault assigns to this definition.

Mills suggests that in the broad definition of the first reference, we may view it as a condition of discourse stemming from Foucault’s early work; it may be useful to place this understanding as a referential point to the other sections. A reference to

“individualizable group of statements” is one Foucault exercises when he is “discussing the particular structures within discourses, that is, groups of utterances which seem to be regulated in some way and which seem to have coherence and a force to them in common” (Mills, 7).

It would therefore be possible to talk about discourses regarding legal systems, justice, gender, race, and so on. But, it is the third statement—a regulated practice that accounts for a number of statements—with which many theorists can identify. It is most likely understandable to assume that Foucault makes reference not so much to the utterances/texts that are produced, but rather “the rules and structures which produce particular utterances and texts” (7). It is interesting to note that while each section is identified separately, they can be viewed from a compounded perspective to demonstrate 120 their interchangeability within a complex social practice. Thus, from a reflective standpoint and a cultural studies perspective, it is necessary to demarcate the boundaries of the meanings of discourse in order to be able to decide in which context the term is being used. In doing so, we can ascertain the role and associated effects of truth, power and knowledge within discourse analysis.

With this new perspective, we can listen again to the talk given by Renato

Rosaldo to literary scholars at a December 1992 Modern Language Association forum called “Cultural Studies and the Disciplines: Are there any boundaries Left?”, and remind ourselves that “when one notices the forms of working-class lesbian Chicanas, we should not just see forms of women, Chicanas, and lesbians, but individuals who have dealt with truth, power and knowledge in the context of oppression and divergence” (Rosaldo 1994,

525).

Brockovich, Silkwood and Girl 27 further this argument in analyzing the dynamics of the relations of power and the construction/destruction of oppositional voices, and celebrations, struggling to seek justice—and the price paid to society for that justice.

Through the application of interdisciplinary approaches to understanding social drama, film theory and construction, spectators better understand social conflict and through these films learn more about the “real” through seeing the “reel.” 121

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION

In this essay, I have examined the kinds of representational work diverse visual discourses of sanctioned institutional abuse do in the frame of and/or name of relations of power and oppressed voices. I adopt the notion of the spectacle to study what I see as approved harms and as sanctioned institutional abuse: the visual construction of the social relations, messages and meanings that are visualized in a collection of filmic images. In particular, I draw from understanding spectacles wherein they imply the study of social relations that are mediated by images. And, along these lines, I have analyzed how visual techniques and strategies are deployed in films, as part of a visual culture, and how they teach spectators to see and think about sanctioned institutional abuse, relations of power and oppressed voices. As recent proposals for the Healthy Workforce Bill make evident, discussions about workplace abuse are always already discussions about relations of power and oppressed peoples.

The selection of work discussed in this dissertation serves as and meets every theorist’s challenge, across all disciplines, to embrace opposition and locate it not as the

“other” to be discarded or ignored, but to recognize its importance in understanding social conflict and, in general, human transgressions. As I sit looking at the spines of the books on my library shelves, I read the words, “violence, representation, images, culture, cinemas, understanding, guides to something, reading this or that, unpacking culture, capitalism, social life, stories, senses, power and culture, discourse”—hard copy 122 bibliographies that provide information and knowledge necessary for understanding who we are, and how and why we operate with, for and against each other. For as Harvey states, “they are the parts that make our wholes” (Harvey 1985, 47).

Impact on the Social Order

There is no doubt that the social order changed as a result of each story being challenged by an oppositional voice, lawsuits filed, government intervention, and mediatization of the event. For Erin Brockovich and Karen Silkwood, the mediatization brought forth changes in both the individual, as an agent of oppositional voices, and the power structure as an agent in control of productive forces.

Karen Silkwood, a whistleblower for all intents and purposes, died in a tragic car accident which some believe was the result of foul play for her involvement in planning to turn incriminating documents discovered at Kerr-McGee to a reporter from the New

York Times. Rashke’s extensive details in the novel Silkwood, identify the remedies sought and received as a result of any action involving Silkwood’s death.

In 1981, an Oklahoma jury awarded the Silkwood family $10.5

million; however, the Tenth circuit Court of Appeals in Denver

ignored the findings and overturned the judge’s ruling. The appeals

court then threw out the $500,000 award for Silkwood’s radiation

injury arguing the trial evidence failed to prove she was

contaminated outside work. One of the judge’s disagreed stating he

didn’t think Silkwood had assumed the risk of being contaminated

in her own apartment. Later, the Tenth Circuit Court overturned 123

Kerr-McGee’s $10 million punishment on the grounds that the

Price-Anderson Act shields nuclear corporations working for the

government from punitive damages. Congress initially passed the

Atomic Energy Act of 1954 in part to encourage corporations to join

the government’s Cold War atomic energy program, therefore, the

law made sure that corporations would be covered against any

accident claims up to $60 million; ultimately, Congress gave itself

the right to increase that amount if for any reason it was necessary.

The appeals court finally ordered Kerr-McGee to pay the jury’s

$5,000 award for Karen’s loss of clothes and other personal

belongings (384).

As a result of the Silkwood case, sixteen states filed briefs in support of Silkwood, arguing that states had historic rights to control their own negligence laws. The Supreme court finally agreed to hear the Silkwood case in January 1984, and ruled in favor of

Silkwood (the case was heard 5-1/2 years after the Silkwood trial) stating, “there is ample evidence that Congress had no intention of forbidding the States to provide remedies for those suffering injuries from radiation in a nuclear plant” (387).

Refusing to accept this decision, Kerr-McGee asked the Tenth Circuit Court to overturn the $10 million punitive damage award because Silkwood’s attorneys failed to prove negligence on the part of the company, and if, however, they were found guilty of negligence, the company asked the court to trim the award amount which it deemed excessive. In 1985, the Tenth Circuit Court ordered a new trial to settle both issues. 124

Kerr-McGee offered the Silkwood family $1.38 million to settle out of court without admitting any wrongdoing. The family accepted and the case for the family was over.

The same cannot be stated for Kerr-McGee who was still battling with 40 pounds of missing plutonium.47 Ultimately, the social change for Karen Silkwood was that she was dead.

As scenes from Brockovich illustrate, Erin was an untrained legal file clerk whose unconventional investigative methods released a plethora of inquiry regarding underground water contamination, resulting in one of the largest settlements ever paid in this type of lawsuit ($333 million to the Hinkley plaintiffs). The change for Erin

Brockovich was that she received a $2 million bonus award from Ed Masry following settlement on the Hinkley case.

Conversely, Patricia Douglas lost all opportunity to seek justice in the courts.

Stenn reports the grand jury did not indict the salesman accused of rape. Nevertheless,

Douglas later filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court accusing Ross and studio executives Eddie Mannix, Hal Roach and others of conspiring to “defile, debauch and seduce her for the immoral and sensual gratification of male guests (Abcarian 2007, 2).

When that case was dismissed, Douglas filed suit in federal court.48 Douglas eventually moved away from Los Angeles and died in 2003. Justice appeared to elude her until

Stenn revived the story, produced the documentary movie Girl 27, and screened the film

47 Rashke, R. (1981, 2000). The killing of Karen Silkwood: The story behind the kerr-McGee plutonium case (2nd ed.) Cornell UP: Ithaca.

48 Ibid. 125 in competition at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Douglas surely suffered at the hands of powerful studio executives and their supporting network, and with the release of the

2007 documentary film broke a 65-year silence on what actually happened to her on that one fateful night.

My intent in this paper was to examine the dynamics of sanctioned institutional abuse and the relations of power and the construction/destruction of oppositional voices struggling to seek justice—and the price paid to society for that justice. In each of the three films, the dynamics of the relations of power were identical: a single female, engaged in a social conflict with a large complex power organization. Their fate; however, was not shared: one dead, one destroyed, and one celebrating success. The question I ask, and given the circumstances in these cases, what distinguishing factors emerge to present three different outcomes? And, why is that only one of the leading characters (the oppressed voice) could claim a victory for justice—victory measured in financial remuneration? Does it mean that in order to be victorious we must focus from a viewpoint of economic determinism? Where does agency belong or is it too part of the equation? As the saying goes, “money can’t buy you happiness,” but can it compensate to provide access to political and social access?

In my analysis, I uncovered the complex layers of sanctioned institutional abuse, comparing each film’s merits and collectively as a body of knowledge to establish possible readings (outcomes) that could determine my engagement in decoding the effect of reel/real decisions. I realized that the parts to the whole (and vice versa), coupled with 126 a balance of political, social and economic means were instrumental in my reading of the impact of reel upon real upon reel, ad infinitum.

Power is a fundamental and inescapable dimension of social life. As I have previously stated, Foucault has argued that the forms of power that are at play have undergone a transformation over the past centuries from sovereign power to disciplinary power with its consideration of the panopticon utilized as an architectural form in which a guard in a central tower could see into surrounding cells, but not be seen themselves. In this instance, and in following his work on prisons and institutions, prisoners would be the subject of the guard, but would never really know if they were being watched. As a result, they would most likely monitor their behavior. Foucault’s argument here is that the process of persistent self-monitoring and self-regulation leads to the normalization of the deviant as they internalize the disciplinary regime to which they were subject. If this is the case, what can be said for the spectator who views “based on true accounts” films, and in the process of discovering the outcome realizes the true account has devastating consequences for the oppositional voice? Does that mean we adjust our behavior, our actions, our ability to speak to, for, and against oppositional agencies in favor of normalizing our lifestyle so as not to be labeled deviant?

Or, do we employ “decoding” mechanisms such as those suggested by Hall to determine which reading on the options presented is most viable for our own production?

Meaning, which reading would most resemble how we seek to explore our voice in support of our belief systems facing agencies exerting power over us. What reading practice options are presented to us? Following Hall, do we engage in a dominant- 127 hegemonic reading where one can identify with the hegemonic position and receive the dominant message in an unquestioning manner? Do we negotiate a reading incorporating interpretations from the dominant meanings? Or, do we take an oppositional position, either by completely disagreeing with the ideological position or rejecting it altogether.49

According to Hall then, as viewers we can look at the reel/real as passive, interact with it or ignore it all together.

The Future for Sanctioned Institutional Abuse: Reading the Crystal Ball

What is required initially to combat violations of sanctioned institutional abuse is two-fold: 1) increased research focusing on central tenets of the core issues at stake— namely, methods that provide for public exposure of the manipulative abuse vs. the current trend of “gag orders” or silencing orders placed on victims who prevail in legal claims of sanctioned institutional abuse; identification of accountability charges for the perpetrators; and systematic redress for the victims; and 2) reforms that provide for additional protections to the victims of sanctioned institutional abuse. Protections may be found in today’s ensuing struggle for the uniform passage of the Healthy Workforce Bill

(HWB) giving workers the right to sue their employer for subjecting them to an abusive, malicious, health-harming workplace, as well as allowing employers who prevent and correct it to be free from liability.50 Since 2003, twenty-five states have introduced the

49 Stuart Hall, qtd. In Sturken and Cartwright (57).

50 Source: http://www.change.org/petitions/arizona-state-legislators-pass-the-anti-bullying-healthy- workplace-bill. Retrieved July 12, 2013. 128

HWB; however, no laws have yet been enacted.51 Passage of the HWB is critical as current laws such as the federal Whistleblower Protection Act do not address workplace bullying/abusive conduct, and without such laws employers can legally ignore this abusive conduct and do so. 52

Many areas of cinematic representation in reel/real social dramas, relations of power, and oppositional voices remain to be investigated. In the future, I would like to undertake a study to examine at what point in the social drama analysis of reel to real situations does the spectator feel comfortable in voicing an oppositional opinion? How much is the spectator willing to sacrifice for the ability to exercise an oppositional voice in the face of adversity, power agencies, and other socially controlling factors? So while sanctioned institutional abuse continues to exist, the climate in which it exists in cinematic representations has the ability to expose its raw nature. This process produces a visual culture that, in turn, produces a unique visual discourse in which relations of power and oppressive realism studies can continue. From the reel experience, we can continue to use this format as a means of sending messages to the spectator that sanctioned institutional abuse is not acceptable in any society.

51 Ibid.; there are currently 11 states with 16 bills active.

52 See, Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989, Public Law 101-12 as amended is a U.S. federal law that protects federal whistleblower who work for the government and report agency misconduct. 129

APPENDIX A: SELECTED FILMS BASED ON TRUE LIFE ACCOUNTS

1890s

 Major Wilson's Last Stand (1899) — A short war film that dramatized the final engagement of the Shangani Patrol and the death of Major Allan Wilson and his men in Rhodesia, 1893.

1900s

 The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906) — A film following the life of the legendary bushranger Ned Kelly, often cited as the first full-length feature film.

1920s

 The Battleship Potemkin (1925) — Sergei Eisenstein's classic silent film based on a mutiny that occurred in 1905 when the crew of the Russian battleship Potemkin rebelled against their officers of the Tsarist regime.  The Johnstown Flood (1926)  Chicago (1927) — Phyllis Haver plays Roxie Hart in this silent film based on the 1926 play Chicago by Maurine Dallas Watkins, inspired by the stories of jazz babies on death row Belva Gaertner and Beulah Annan.  The General (1927) — Silent film chronicling the 1862 theft of a railroad locomotive and its recovery by an overlooked "little guy."  Napoléon (1927) — Sweeping French epic tells the tale of Bonaparte.

1930s

 Rasputin and the Empress (1932) — Passion and politics at the Czar's house.  In the Wake of the Bounty (1933) — Australian film about the mutiny.  Cleopatra (1934) — Retelling of the story of Cleopatra VII.  Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) — First Hollywood telling of the mutiny-at-sea tale, with Gable and Laughton.  San Francisco (1936) — Hurly-burly of the Barbary Coast is quickly quashed by the infamous 1906 temblor.  You Only Live Once (1937) — Though called Eddie & Joan, they are loosely Bonnie and Clyde, just three years after the outlaws' deaths.  Marie Antoinette (1938) — Based on the life of Marie Antoinette from her betrothal to Louis XVI through her reign as the last queen of France to her execution. 130

 Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) — The future President (Henry Fonda) finds success as a lawyer — and finds himself a wife (Marjorie Weaver).

1940s

 Young Tom Edison (1940) — Inventor Thomas Edison's boyhood is chronicled and shows him as a lad whose early inventions and scientific experiments usually end up causing disastrous results until a life or death event in his home town redeems him and his ideas.  Edison, The Man (1940) — In flashback, fifty years after inventing the light bulb, an 82-year-old Thomas Edison tells his story starting at age twenty-two with his arrival in New York.  Sergeant York (1941) — Alvin C. York, a pacifist from the Tennessee hills, becomes the most decorated American soldier of World War I. Gary Cooper won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Directed by Howard Hawks.  The Pride of the Yankees (1942) — Gary Cooper plays NY Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig, "the luckiest man on the face of the earth"; Gehrig's teammates including Babe Ruth play themselves in the film. Herman J. Mankiewicz and Jo Swerling adapted Paul Gallico's story; Sam Wood directed.  Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) — Story of George M. Cohan, the actor-singer- dancer-playwright-songwriter-producer-theatre owner-director-choreographer known as "The Man Who Owns Broadway."  Dillinger (1945) — Early outlaw depiction, starring Lawrence Tierney; uses footage cannibalized from Lang's You Only Live Once.  Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) — Loosely, life of songwriter Jerome Kern, played by an all-star cast: Sinatra, Garland, Horne, et al...  Rope (1948) — Two young men attempt to prove their superiority by performing the "perfect murder" of a former classmate, hiding his body in a chest in their apartment, and then serving dinner off it for a party. Based on a 1929 play that was inspired by the Leopold and Loeb murder in 1924. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.  Citizen Kane (1941) - Inspired by true events

1950s

 Young Man with a Horn (1950) — Self-taught cornetist Bix Beiderbecke sets new jazz standards, but succumbs to alcoholism at 28.  5 Fingers (1951) — James Mason plays Cicero, World War II-era spy in Ankara, Turkey, the highest-paid spy in history.  The Desert Fox (1951) — German general Erwin Rommel evades the Allies in North Africa, but not the Gestapo back home. 131

 A Place in the Sun (1951) — Update of Dreiser's An American Tragedy; Chester Gillette was executed for drowning his pregnant girlfriend.  Moulin Rouge (1952) — John Huston's colorful film about artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.  Houdini (1953) — Fanciful account of the life of magician and escapologist Harry Houdini starring Tony Curtis.  Titanic (1953) — Film about the RMS Titanic.  The Dam Busters (1955) — Technically challenging raids against German dams in World War II required development of "bouncing bombs".  To Hell and Back (1955) — Audie Murphy, America's most decorated soldier, played himself at studio's urging; he wanted Tony Curtis.  Lust for Life (1956) — Force-of-Nature painter Vincent van Gogh, played by Kirk Douglas. Anthony Quinn plays Paul Gauguin.  The Wrong Man (1956) — Hitchcock effort with Henry Fonda as a man wrongly accused of armed robbery.  Man of a Thousand Faces (1957) — Life of silent film actor Lon Chaney, Sr., child of deaf-mute parents, played by James Cagney.  The Spirit of St. Louis (1957) — Charles Lindbergh's first solo flight across the Atlantic in 1927, with James Stewart as "Lucky Lindy."  I Want to Live! (1958) — Heavily fictionalized story of Barbara Graham, a woman convicted of murder and facing execution.  A Night to Remember (1958) — Documentary-style telling of the Titanic's demise, from the still-definitive 1955 book by Walter Lord.

1960s

 Sink the Bismarck! (1960) – Behemoth German battleship flees British armada before being bombarded and sent to the bottom in May 1941.  Spartacus (1960) — Stanley Kubrick's epic treatment of Roman slave revolt known as the Third Servile War in 73 B.C.  El Cid (1961) — A highly romanticized story of the life of the Castilian knight El Cid.  Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) — Spencer Tracy portrays an American judge in Nuremberg in 1948, assigned to preside over the trial of four German judges, each allegedly guilty of war crimes and charged with having abused the court system to help cleanse Nazi Germany of the politically and socially undesirable.  Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) — Burt Lancaster portrays convicted murderer Robert Stroud.  Gypsy (1962) — Musical film about the relationship between legendary stripper Gypsy Rose Lee and her irrepressible stage mother. Adapted from the Broadway show, which was in turn based on Lee's memoir.  The Counterfeit Traitor (1962) — William Holden as World War II spy Eric Erickson whose life view is broadened by the woman he loved (Lilli Palmer). 132

 The Longest Day (1962) — About "D-Day", the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, during World War II.  The Miracle Worker (1962) — Blind and deaf humanitarian Helen Keller and her teacher, the titular Annie Sullivan; reprised by Broadway cast.  Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) — Telling of the famous mutiny tale.  Lawrence of Arabia (1962) — David Lean's epic on T. E. Lawrence.  Cleopatra (1963) — Chronicles the struggles of Cleopatra VII, the young Queen of Egypt, to resist the imperialist ambitions of Rome.  The Great Escape (1963) — Allied prisoners attempt a mass, 175-man breakout of Stalag Luft III.  PT 109 (1963) — U.S. President John F. Kennedy's exploits and heroism as captain of the ill-fated patrol boat, cut in half by Japanese destroyer in World War II.  Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)  The Sound of Music (1965) — The story of the Von Trapp family, with Julie Andrews as the young woman who leaves an Austrian convent to become a governess to a Naval officer widower's seven children.  Harlow (1965) — Biographical film about the life of film star Jean Harlow, starring Carroll Baker in the title role.  The Battle of Algiers (1966) — Based on occurrences during the Algerian War (1954–62) against French colonial rule in North Africa, the most prominent being the titular Battle of Algiers.  Bonnie and Clyde (1967) – A highly romanticized story of outlaw couple Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker.  In Cold Blood (1967) – The Clutter family murder in 1959 Kansas, taken from Truman Capote's book of the same name.  The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967) – Based on the true events leading to the 1929 murder of seven mob associates of the North Side gang. The murder was led by Al Capone's (played by Jason Robards) South Side gang.  The Boston Strangler (1968) – Tony Curtis is Albert DeSalvo, convicted and imprisoned for the Boston area "Green Man Rapes" and suspected of the murders of thirteen women from 1962 through 1964.  Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) – An account of outlaw pair who fled the closing Old West for greener pastures of Bolivia.  Kappalottiya Thamizhan (1961) - Indian Tamil film based on the life of Va Vu Chidambaram Pillai starring Sivaji Ganesan and Gemini Ganesan  Cast a Giant Shadow (1961) - The life of Colonel David Marcus, who volunteered to help Israel in the war of independence. With Kirk Douglas  Battle of Britain (1969) The dogfights between the R.A.F and the Luftwaffe resulting in the failure of Hitler's Operation Sea Lion.

1970s 133

 Shangani Patrol (1970) — A war film, shot on location in Rhodesia, based on the pursuit of King Lobengula in 1893 that ends with the heroic last stand of Major Allan Wilson and his men.  Patton (1970) — Story of U.S. General George S. Patton.  Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) — Sprawling Japanese and American production of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.  10 Rillington Place (1971) — Events surrounding the wrongful execution of Timothy Evans, a Welshman framed for the death of his daughter by his landlord, English serial killer John Christie. Christie would kill women in his flat at 10 Rillington Place, and parts of the film were filmed in that actual location.  Brian's Song (1971) — Story about Brian Piccolo who played for the Chicago Bears starring James Caan and Billy Dee Williams.  The French Connection (1971) - Based on the story of drug smuggling from Marseille to New York City in the 1960s.  Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) - Czar Nicholas II, the inept monarch of Russia, insensitive to the needs of his people, is overthrown and exiled to Siberia with his family.  Lady Sings the Blues (1972) — Film about jazz singer Billie Holiday, loosely based on her 1956 autobiography.  Badlands (1973) — Fictionalized account of 1957 Nebraska murder spree by Charles Starkweather and his 15-year-old girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate.  Dillinger (1973) — Story of the 1930s gangster starring Warren Oates.  Papillon (1973) - Based on the life of French convict Henri Charrière  Serpico (1973) — Story of New York City policeman Frank Serpico, played by Al Pacino. Directed by Sidney Lumet.  The Exorcist (1973) — Based on William Peter Blatty's novel of the same name, which is based on a 1949 case of demonic possession that Blatty heard about as a student at Georgetown University.  Lenny (1974) — Biographical film about the comedian Lenny Bruce.  The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) - Horror film based on the massacre of several people in the USA.  Jaws (film) (1975) - Thriller film based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name based on shark attacks.  Dog Day Afternoon (1975) — Events surrounding a 1972 Brooklyn bank robbery. John Wojtowicz, played by Al Pacino, said the film was "only 30% true."  The Hindenburg (1975) — German airship LZ 129 Hindenburg exploded on landing in 1937. Film's sabotage theme was superseded by new 1990s evidence.  All the President's Men (1976) — Reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal leading to President Nixon's resignation.  Bound For Glory (1976) — Biopic about Depression-era folksinger and social advocate Woody Guthrie.  Sybil (TV 1976) — True story based on the life of Shirley Ardell Mason who was diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder. 134

 Helter Skelter (1976) — The Tate/LaBianca murders in L.A. in 1969, perpetrated by the Manson Family.  A Bridge Too Far (1977) — Tells the story of the failure of Operation Market Garden during World War II.  MacArthur (1977) — Retells World War II-era General of the Army Douglas MacArthur's life from 1942, before the Battle of Bataan, to 1952, the time after he had been removed from his Korean War command by President Truman for insubordination.  Midnight Express (1978) — Based on the book by William Hayes and his experiences after he is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison.  The Buddy Holly Story (1978) — Biopic about Texas musician Buddy Holly.  The Amityville Horror (1979 film) (1979) — Based on the alleged real life experiences of the Lutz family who buy a new home in Long Island, only to flee after they experience a series of frightening paranormal events.  Norma Rae (1979) — Woman (Sally Field) who works in a North Carolina textile mill gets involved in organizing the place.  Operation Thunderbolt (1973) - Based on the Israeli commando raid in Entebbe, Kenya, to release more than 100 hostages

1980s

 Breaker Morant (1980) — Based on a 1902 incident in the Boer War.  Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) — Adapted from the autobiographical book by Loretta Lynn and George Vecsey. Directed by Michael Apted.  The Elephant Man (1980) — Story of Joseph Merrick. Directed by David Lynch.  Raging Bull (1980) — Based on the life and career of middleweight boxing champ Jake LaMotta, played by Robert De Niro.  Gallipoli (1981) — Depicts the Anzac battlefield at Gallipoli and the Battle of the Nek on August 7, 1915.  Mommie Dearest (1981) — Joan Crawford's adopted daughter opens Joan's closet and exposes the wire hangers therein.  Gandhi (1982) — Biographical film based on the life of Mahatma Gandhi.  10 to Midnight (1983) — Parallels the murders committed by Richard Speck. Directed by J. Lee Thompson.  Cross Creek (1983) — Mary Steenburgen as The Yearling author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. The film is based, in part, on the author's 1942 memoir, "Cross Creek".  Frances (1983) — Based on the story of actress Frances Farmer who battled the studio system and mental illness.  Silkwood (1983) — Inspired by the true-life story of Karen Silkwood, who died in a suspicious car accident while investigating alleged wrongdoing at the Kerr- McGee plutonium plant where she worked. 135

 The Right Stuff (1983) — Based on Tom Wolfe's 1979 book about the test pilots involved in early high-speed aeronautical research and the United States' first attempt at manned spaceflight.  Adi Shankaracharya (1983)- Sanskrit film based on the life of philosopher Adi Shankaracharya by G. V. Iyer.  Amadeus (1984) — Adapted by playwright Peter Shaffer; directed by Miloš Forman. Based on the theory that composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was murdered by fellow composer Antonio Salieri.  The Killing Fields (1984) - Based on the Cambodian civil war  The Burning Bed (1984)- An abused battered wife has had enough of husband beating up on her. Everywhere she turns for help, there's not much anyone will do. After he rapes her one night, she sets the bed on fire with him in it asleep. Based on the True Story of Francine Hughes.  Marie (1985) — Based on Marie Ragghianti's exposure of the 1970s Tennessee parole board scandals; adapted from the book Marie: A True Story by Peter Maas.  Out of Africa (1985) — Meryl Streep maintains a lovely home while spinning tales, shooting lions and falling in love with Robert Redford in the story of Karen Blixen's years on her coffee farm in Kenya. Danish accent. Directed by Sydney Pollack.  Sweet Dreams (1985) — Country music legend Patsy Cline's story, played by Jessica Lange.  The Falcon and the Snowman (1985) — Based on the story of childhood friends turned traitor spies Christopher Boyce and Andrew Daulton Lee.  At Close Range (1986) — Based on rural Pennsylvania crime family led by Bruce Johnston, Sr. Directed by James Foley.  The Delta Force (1986) — Based heavily on the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 in 1985. Directed by Menahem Golan.  Heartburn (1986) — Based on Nora Ephron's autobiographical novel about the breakup of her marriage to Carl Bernstein.  Hoosiers (1986) — Based loosely on the 1953-54 Milan High School basketball team, winners of that year's Indiana state H.S. basketball championship despite representing a school of just 160 students.  The Mission (1986) - The experiences of 18th century Jesuits in South America starring Robert De Niro  Act of Vengeance (1986) — Based on the Joseph Yablonski Family murders in connection with the United Mine Workers.  Sid and Nancy (1986) — Based on the relationship of Sex Pistols bassist, Sid Vicious and his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, Sid's drug use, and the controversy surrounding  Cry Freedom (1987) — Based on the life of South African activist Steve Biko.  La Bamba (1987) — Based on the real life events that affected the lives of rock star Ritchie Valens, his half-brother Bob Morales, his girlfriend Donna Ludwig and the rest of their families.  The Last Emperor (1987) — Based on the life of Chinese emperor Pu Yi. 136

 Matewan (1987) — John Sayles film about a coal miners' strike in the 1920s.  Nayagan (1987) — Based on the life of Underworld Don Varadarajan Mudaliar.  Salvador (1986) - The story of an American journalist in El Salvador during the Salvadoran civil war  The Untouchables (1987) — Loosely based on the 1930s crackdown on Chicago gangster Al Capone by Treasury Department agent Eliot Ness.  The Accused (1988) — After two trials the 1983 gang rape of Cheryl Araujo at Big Dan's Tavern in New Bedford, Massachusetts is finally avenged. This film frankly addresses unspoken prejudice against rape victims.  Bird (1988) - Forest Whitaker portrays the troubled life of jazz musician Charlie 'Bird' Parker. Directed by Clint Eastwood.  A Cry in the Dark (1988) — Meryl Streep plays an unlikeable woman convicted of her child's murder by the court of public opinion. Australian accent. Directed by Fred Schepisi.  Eight Men Out (1988) - Based on the 1919 Black Sox scandal  Mississippi Burning (1988) — Based on the FBI investigation following the 1964 slayings of three political activists. Directed by Alan Parker.  Talk Radio (1988) - Based on the assassination of radio host Alan Berg. Directed by Oliver Stone  Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988) — The story of Preston Tucker, the maverick car designer and his ill-fated challenge to the auto industry with his revolutionary car concept.  Casualties of War (1989) — Based on the events of the incident on Hill 192 in 1966 during the Vietnam War.  Glory (1989) — Based on the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War. Directed by Edward Zwick.  My Left Foot (1989) — Story of Christy Brown, disabled Irish writer who could type only with the toes on his left foot.  Born On The Fourth Of July (1989) - Autobiography of Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic. Directed by Oliver Stone  A City of Sadness (1989) — Story based on 228 Massacre. It tells the story of a family embroiled in the tragic "White Terror" that was wrought on the Taiwanese people by the Kuomintang government (KMT) after their arrival from mainland China in the late 1940s, during which tens of thousands of Taiwanese were rounded up, shot, and/or sent to prison. The film won the Golden Lion Award (i.e., Best Film Award) at the 1989 Venice Film Festival.  Full Metal Jacket (1987) - Based on the book The Short-Timers which tells the experience of a soldier during Vietnam war  White Mischief (1987) — Based on the events of Sir John "Jock" Delves Broughton and the Happy Valley set in 1940 during World War II.  Small Sacrifices (1989)- On the 19th of May 1983 Diane Downs stops at the McKenzie-Williamette-Hospital and cries for help. She is wounded on her arm and her three children are also wounded seriously. She says that a stranger shot at them but the investigation of detective Welch bring out that Diane is a liar. 1989 137

American made-for-TV movie written by Joyce Eliason and based on the best- selling true crime book by Ann Rule of the same name. The film is about Diane Downs and the murder and attempted murder of her three children  A Cry for Help (1989)- The Tracey Thurman Story is a 1989 NBC TV-movie based on the 1985 ruling Thurman v. City of Torrington. The film stars Nancy McKeon as Tracey; Dale Midkiff as Buck; and Bruce Weitz as Tracey's lawyer, Burton Weinstein. Tracey Thurman  I know my first name is Steven (1989) - "I Know My First Name Is Steven" chronicles the true story of Steven Stayner's life after being kidnapped at the age of seven and held with his captor for seven years. He returns to the police station one night after rescuing another child from his captor. At first, he denies the allegations that he was sexually abused, however later during the movie it is revealed he indeed was abused during those seven years.  Everybody's Baby - The Rescue of Jessica Mcclure (1989) - Based on Jessica Mcclure - An 18 month old baby who got stuck in a well in the backyard for 58 hours.

1990s

 Too Young to Die? (1990)- Television movie starring Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis. It touches on the debate concerning the death penalty. It is loosely based on the true story of Attina Marie Cannaday  Awakenings (1990) — Long-comatose patients wake up; adapted from Oliver Sacks's memoir of the same title. Directed by Penny Marshall.  Europa Europa (1990) - German film based on the true story of Solomon Perel's life  GoodFellas (1990) — Based on the book "Wiseguy" by Nicholas Pileggi, the true story of Henry Hill. Directed by Martin Scorsese.  The Krays (1990) — Trendy take on the criminally insane East End gangsters the Kray twins, who enjoyed a brief, black-humored celebrity during London's Swinging Sixties.  Not Without My Daughter (1990) — Story of Betty Mahmoody. Directed by Brian Gilbert.  Vincent & Theo (1990) — The intense relationship between an art dealer and his alienated older brother. Directed by Robert Altman.  White Hunter Black Heart (1990) — Based on the location filming of The African Queen in 1951.  Bugsy (1991) — Glamorized, sanitized story of the putative father of the Las Vegas Strip. Directed by Barry Levinson.  Switched at birth (1991) - Kimberly Mays and Arlena Twiggs get switched at birth.  The Boys from St. Petri (1991) - Danish World War II film 138

 JFK (1991) — Loosely based on New Orleans DA Jim Garrison's late-'60s prosecution of defendant Clay Shaw — plus pieces of a half-dozen other conspiracy theories — in the John F. Kennedy assassination.  Mission Of The Shark (1991) - Based on the saga of the USS Indianapolis (CA- 35)  A League Of Their Own (1992) - Based on the All American Girls Professional Baseball League  Alive (1993) — Based on the Piers Paul Read book that tells the story of the crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 in 1972. Directed by Frank Marshall.  And the Band Played On (1993) — Adapted from the book of the same title by Randy Shilts. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode.  Fire in the Sky (1993) — A group of men who were clearing bush for the government arrive back in town, claiming that their friend was abducted by aliens. Nobody believes them, and despite a lack of motive and no evidence of foul play, their friends' disappearance is treated as murder.  Gettysburg (1993) — Based on the story of the Battle of Gettysburg. Originally made to be TV minseries, it is one of the longest feature films ever released.  Heaven & Earth (1993) - Based on the experiences of Le Ly Hayslip during the Vietnam War  The Puppetmaster (1993) — It tells the story of Li Tian-lu who becomes a master puppeteer but is faced with demands to turn his skills to propaganda during the Japanese-ruled Taiwan from pre-1896 to the end of World War II in 1945. The film won the Jury Prize at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival and the FIPRESCI Prize at Istanbul International Film Festival.  Rudy (1993) — Based on the story of Notre Dame football walk-on Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger. Directed by David Anspaugh.  Schindler's List (1993) — Adapted from the book Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally about Oskar Schindler and his actions to save over 1,000 Jews from the Holocaust. Directed by Steven Spielberg.  Cool Runnings (1993) — Based on the true story of the First Jamacian bobsled team trying to make it to the winter Olympics. Directed by Jon Turteltaub.  The Amy Fisher Story (1993)- television film dramatizing the events surrounding Amy Fisher's teenage affair with Joey Buttafuoco and her conviction for aggravated assault for shooting Buttafuoco's wife.  8 Seconds (1994) — Based on the story of Lane Frost (Luke Perry), who died by injuries sustained by a bull he was riding in a championship. Stephen Baldwin plays Tuff Hederman.  Ed Wood (1994) — Based on the story of Edward D. Wood Jr., the worst film director of all time, starring Johnny Depp as Ed Wood and Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi, and directed by Tim Burton  Heavenly Creatures (1994) — Based on the true story of Juliet Hulme and Pauline Parker, principals in the 1954 Parker–Hulme murder case in New Zealand. 139

 The Madness of King George (1994) — King George III's madness stemmed from porphyria. Based on the play The Madness of George III.  Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994) — Film about writer Dorothy Parker and the members of the Algonquin Round Table, a group of writers, actors and critics who met almost daily from 1919 to 1929 at Manhattan's Algonquin Hotel.  Quiz Show (1994) — Adapted from a book by Richard N. Goodwin about the real-life American television quiz show scandals of the 1950s. Directed by Robert Redford.  Apollo 13 (1995) — Story of the Apollo 13 lunar mission, based on the book Lost Moon by Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger. Directed by Ron Howard.  Braveheart (1995) — Based on the story of William Wallace of Scotland.  Casino (1995) — Second Pileggi/Scorsese collaboration based on the last mafia- run casino in Las Vegas, the fictional Tangiers.  Dangerous Minds (1995) — Based on the story of teacher LouAnne Johnson who takes on the challenge of an unruly class and wins them over.  The Basketball Diaries (1995) - Based on the autobiographical book of the same name by Jim Carroll  Nixon (1995) - The story of President Richard Nixon.  Balto (film) (1995) - The story of how Balto, a Siberian Husky made the 1925 serum run to Nome  Operation Dumbo Drop (1995) - Based on a true story as depicted by United States Army Major Jim Morris.  Ravan Raaj (1995) - Indian Hindi film based on true story  Bastard Out of Carolina (1996) — Based on real-life events of child abuse from the semi-autobiographical book of the same title by Dorothy Allison. Directed by Angelica Huston.  Fly Away Home (1996) — Adapted from the book by Bill Lishman. Directed by Carroll Ballard.  The Ghost and the Darkness (1996) — Based on Tsavo's (Kenya, Africa) two man-eating lions who killed 130 people over a nine-month period.  Ghosts of Mississippi (1996) — Based on the 1994 third re-trial of Klansman Byron De La Beckwith. Directed by Rob Reiner.  Killer: A Journal of Murder (1996) — James Woods plays the evil 1920s murderer Carl Panzram, who befriended prison guard Henry Lesser. Directed by Tim Metcalfe.  Michael Collins (1996) — Based on the life of IRA leader Michael Collins.  The Crucible (film) (1996) - based on the salem witch trials  Seven Years In Tibet (1997) — True story film based on the book written by Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer.  Amistad (1997) — Based on the true story of a slave mutiny that took place aboard the ship La Amistad in 1839, and the legal battle that followed.  Anastasia (1997) — Loosely based on the story of the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia. Directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. 140

 Boogie Nights (1997) - Loosely based on the life of porn star John Holmes  Donnie Brasco (1997) — Loosely based on Joseph D. Pistone, FBI agent who successfully infiltrated the Bonanno crime family in N.Y.C. during the 1970s.  Four Days in September (1997) — Adapted from the book by Fernando Gabeira. Directed by Bruno Barreto.  Prefontaine (1997) — Based on the life of Olympic hopeful Steve Prefontaine, a long distance runner who lived in Oregon and died young.  Private Parts (1997) — Based on shock jock Howard Stern's 1993 autobiography of the same name.  Rosewood (1997) — A dramatization of a 1923 horrific racist lynch mob attack on an African American community.  Iruvar (1997) — Based on the life of M. G. Ramachandran and M. Karunanidhi.  Kundun (1997) — Based on the life of the Dalai Lama.[1][2]  Selena (1997) — Based on the life of Mexican-American singer Selena Quintanilla Perez.  Titanic (1997) — Based on the events of the Titanic, directed by James Cameron.  A Civil Action (1998) — Based on the book of the same name by Jonathan Harr that tells the true story of environmental pollution that took place in Woburn, Massachusetts in the 1980s.  Daun di Atas Bantal (1998) — Indonesian award winning film based on true stories in the lives of three street boys in Yogyakarta. Directed by Garin Nugroho.  Elizabeth (1998) — A film of the early years of the reign of Elizabeth I of England and her difficult task of learning what is necessary to be a monarch.  Gia (1998) - Movie based on the life of Gia Carangi, a top fashion model from the late 1970s.  Gods and Monsters (1998) — Last days of British film director James Whale.  Patch Adams (1998) — Story of the "medical doctor, clown, performer, social activist"[3] Patch Adams. Directed by Tom Shadyac.  Saving Private Ryan (1998) — Story of the Niland Brothers during World War II. Directed by Steven Spielberg.  Without Limits (1998) — Based on the life of runner Steve Prefontaine. Directed by Robert Towne.  Angela's Ashes (1999) — Based on the memoir of the same title by Frank McCourt.  Anna and the King (1999) — Story of Anna Leonowens. Directed by Andy Tennant.  Boys Don't Cry (1999) — Story of hate crime victim Brandon Teena. Directed by Kimberly Peirce.  Girl, Interrupted (1999) — Directed by James Mangold.  The Hurricane (1999) — Based on the imprisonment of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. Directed by Norman Jewison.  The Insider (1999) — Based on the experiences of Dr. Jeffrey Wigand, a tobacco industry whistleblower. Directed by Michael Mann. 141

 The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999) — Based on the story of Joan of Arc, a young girl who believed she was God's messenger.  October Sky (1999) — Adapted from the memoir Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam. Directed by Joe Johnston.  RKO 281 (1999) — Story of the making of Citizen Kane. Directed by Benjamin Ross.  The Straight Story (1999) — Based on the story of Alvin Straight's journey across Iowa and Wisconsin on a lawnmower.  Topsy-Turvy (1999) — After Gilbert and Sullivan's latest play is critically panned, the frustrated team threatens to disband until they are inspired to do their masterpiece, The Mikado.  The Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999) — Based on the story of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates on their rivalry  Bombay (film) (1995) - Indian bilingual film circles around 1993 bombay riots  Border (1997 film) (1997) - Indian war film based on Indo-Pakistan War of 1971

2000s

 Thirteen Days (2000) — Set during the two-week Cuban missile crisis in October 1962, and it centers on how President John F. Kennedy, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and others handled the explosive situation.  Almost Famous (2000) — Based on Cameron Crowe's early life.  Bawandar (2000) - Indian film, based on the true story of Bhanwari Devi, a rape victim from Rajasthan, India.  The Iron Ladies (2000) — Thai comedy film based on a men's volleyball team which was composed of gay and transgender athletes.  The Dish (2000) — The story of the Parkes antenna, in New South Wales, Australia, how it plays a key role in the first Apollo moon landing, and the quirky characters of the nearby town of Parkes and the roles they play.  Chopper (2000) — Based on the biography of Australian criminal Chopper Read. Directed by Andrew Dominik.  Erin Brockovich (2000) — Story of Erin Brockovich. Directed by Steven Soderbergh.  Men of Honor (2000) — Based on Master Chief Petty Officer Carl Brashear the first African-American Master Diver of the US Navy. Directed by George Tillman, Jr..  The Perfect Storm (2000) — Adapted from the book The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger about the 1991 Perfect Storm. Directed by Wolfgang Petersen.  Remember the Titans (2000) — Based on the 1971 football season of the newly integrated T. C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia.  Shadow of the Vampire (2000) — Story of the making of Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens. Directed by E. Elias Mer.  The Cat's Meow (2001)  Rock Star (2001) — Based on Tim "Ripper" Owens. 142

 Quitting (2001) — Chinese drama film based on the life of actor Jia Hongsheng who was suffering from heroin and marijuana addiction from 1992 to 1997.  Ali (2001) — A biography of sports legend, Muhammad Ali, from his early days to his days in the ring.  A Beautiful Mind (2001) — Adapted from Sylvia Nasar's A Beautiful Mind, an unauthorized biography of John Nash. Directed by Ron Howard.  Behind Enemy Lines (2001) — Loosely based on the Mrkonjić Grad incident. Directed by John Moore.  Black Hawk Down (2001) — Adapted from Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern Warfare by Mark Bowden about the Battle of Mogadishu.  Blow (2001) — Based on the American cocaine smuggler George Jung. Directed by Ted Demme.  Bully (2001) — Based on the case of Bobby Kent, who was murdered by seven teens in what is now Weston, Florida. Directed by Larry Clark.  Enemy at the Gates (2001) — Based on Vasily Zaytsev during the Battle of Stalingrad. Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud.  Pearl Harbor (2001) — Based on the events of the Pearl Harbor attack and the Doolittle Raid. Directed by Michael Bay.  From Hell (2001) — Based on Jack the Ripper murders.  Riding in Cars with Boys (2001) — Based on Beverly Donofrio, who wrote the book on her life titled "Riding in Cars with Boys".  Catch Me If You Can (2002) — Story of con artist Frank Abagnale. Directed by Steven Spielberg  8 Mile (2002) — Based on rapper Marshall Bruce Mathers III (Eminem) and his rap battles in Detroit.  Chicago (2002) — Adapted from the stage musical by Bob Fosse and Fred Ebb. Directed by Rob Marshall.  City of God (2002) — Adapted from a book by Paulo Lins. Directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund.  Dahmer (2002) — Story of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.  Frida (2002) — The story of Frida Kahlo.  Kandahar (2002) — Story of Afghan refugee Nelofer Pazira's return to Afghanistan. Directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf.  The Laramie Project (2002) — Adapted from the play The Laramie Project, both by Moisés Kaufman.  The Mothman Prophecies (2002) — Based around paranormal events in Point Pleasant, West Virginia culminating in the Silver Bridge collapse on December 15, 1967. Directed by Mark Pellington.  Paid in Full (2002) — Based on events in the life of drug dealer Azie Faison during the crack epidemic in 1980s Harlem, leading up to the murders of his friends Rich and Donnell Porter. Directed by Charles Stone III.  The Pianist (2002) — Based on the memoir by Władysław Szpilman, a Polish musician of Jewish origins and childhood survivor of Nazi-occupied Poland. 143

 Prom Queen: The Marc Hall Story (2002) — Based on the 2002 court case, Marc Hall v. Durham Catholic School Board.  Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002) — Based on the book Follow The Rabbit Proof Fence. Directed by Phillip Noyce.  The Interrogation of Michael Crowe (TV 2002) — Based on the 1998 case and Interrogation of Michael Crowe.  Ted Bundy (2002) — Story of serial killer Ted Bundy.  We Were Soldiers (2002) — Based on the Battle of Ia Drang, the first major engagement of American troops in the Vietnam War. Directed by Randall Wallace.  Bloody Sunday (2002) — Based on the events of Bloody Sunday.  The Rookie (2002) — Based on the life of Jim Morris.  Veronica Guerin (2003) — Based on the true story of an Irish journalist Veronica Guerin.  The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) — The murder of several people in Wisconsin.  Memories of Murder (2003) — South Korean film based on the true story of serial killers between 1986 and 1991.  44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out (2003) — Based on the real-life story of the 1997 robbery known as the North Hollywood shootout.  Antwone Fisher (2003) — Based on the autobiographical book Finding Fish. Directed by Denzel Washington.  Elephant (2003) — Based on the events in the April 20th 1999 Columbine High School massacre in Columbine, Colorado.  Gods and Generals (2003) — Prequel to Gettysburg, about General Stonewall Jackson.  Monster (2003) — Story of serial killer Aileen Wuornos. Directed by Patty Jenkins.  Radio (2003) — Based on the real-life story of South Carolina high school football coach Harold Jones and his mentally challenged assistant, James Robert "Radio" Kennedy, adapted from a 1996 Sports Illustrated article by Gary Smith entitled "Someone to Lean On".  Shattered Glass (2003) — Based on Stephen Glass's journalistic career at The New Republic during the mid-1990s and the discovery of his widespread journalistic fraud.  Touching the Void (2003) — Adapted from the book by Joe Simpson. Directed by Kevin MacDonald.  Wonderland (2003) — Based on the Wonderland murders which occurred in Los Angeles in 1981. Directed by James Cox.  Seabiscuit (2003) — Based on the book Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand.  Troy (2004) - Based on Homer's Iliad.  Against the Ropes (2004) — Based on the life of American boxing manager Jackie Kallen. 144

 12 Days of Terror (2004) — Based on true events that occurred in July 1916 in Central and Southern New Jersey, the film recounts 12 days during which people along the Jersey coast were subject to attacks by a shark (in the film it is a great white shark).  The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004) — Story of failed assassin Samuel Byck. Directed by Niels Mueller.  The Aviator (2004) — Story of Howard Hughes, Directed by Martin Scorsese.  Friday Night Lights (2004) — Adapted from Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream by H. G. Bissinger, about the 1988 football season of Permian High School in Odessa, Texas. Directed by Peter Berg.  Beyond the Sea (2004) — Based on the life of singer Bobby Darin.  Hidalgo (2004) — Story of horse rider Frank Hopkins. Directed by Joe Johnston.  Hotel Rwanda (2004) — Story of the Paul Rusesabagina's experiences during the Rwandan Genocide. Directed by Terry George.  Kaadhal (2004) — Based on a true love story.  Kinsey (2004) — A look at the life of Alfred Kinsey (Neeson), a pioneer in the area of human sexuality research.  Miracle (2004) — Story of Herb Brooks and the U.S. Olympic hockey team leading up to, and during the 1980 Olympic Games. Directed by Gavin O'Connor.  Der Untergang (2004) — German film based on the final twelve days of Adolf Hitler's life in his Berlin bunker and Nazi Germany in 1945.  Open Water (2004) — Based on story of Tom and Eileen Lonergan, who were left behind on their scuba diving trip in the South Pacific. Directed by Chris Kentis.  Ray (2004) — A 2004 biographical film of singer Ray Charles.  Something the Lord Made (2004) — The first heart surgery.  Alexander (2004) — Based on the life of Alexander the Great.  Finding Neverland (2004) — The story of Sir James Matthew Barrie's friendship with a family who inspired him to create Peter Pan.  36 Quai des Orfèvres (2004) — French film based on a true story about the police.  Black Friday (2004) — Indian Hindi film based on the 1993 Bombay bombings.  The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) — Biographic film about the early life of Che Guevara.  Sins (2005) - Based on a true story of a catholic priest from kerala who was hanged to death due to his sexual relationship with a married woman.  Aurore (2005) — Based on the murder of Aurore Gagnon.  Capote (2005) — During his research for his book In Cold Blood, an account of the murder of a Kansas family, the writer Truman Capote, develops a close relationship with Perry Smith, one of the killers.  Cinderella Man (2005) — Based on the story of James J. Braddock, a supposedly washed up boxer who came back to become a champion and an inspiration in the 1930s. 145

 Beyond the Gates (2005) — Based on events set during the early days of the Rwandan Genocide. Directed by Michael Caton-Jones.  The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) — Story loosely based on Anneliese Michel. Directed by Scott Derrickson.  The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005) — Based on the life of golfer, Francis Ouimet. Directed by Bill Paxton.  The Great Raid (2005) — Story of the raid at Cabanatuan. Directed by John Dahl.  The Green River Killer (2005) — Based on the real life serial killer Gary Ridgway. Directed by Ulli Lommel.  Jarhead (2005) — Based on the Gulf War memoir of Anthony Swofford. Directed by Sam Mendes.  The Last Hangman (2005) — Based on the life and career of British executioner Albert Pierrepont, from the early 1933 until the end of his career in 1955, during which he executed some 608 people including the Nuremberg war criminals to Ruth Ellis, the last women to be executed in Britain.  Lies My Mother Told Me (2005) — Based on the real life murder of Larry McNabney,who was overdosed of horse Tranquilizer in late 2001 by his own wife, Lauren Renee Sims Jordan (A.K.A. Elisa McNabney) & her accomplice, Sarah Dutra.  Marley & Me (2008) — Based on the memoir of the same title by journalist John Grogan.  Lords of Dogtown (2005) — Based on the documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke.  Munich (2005) — Loosely based on Operation Wrath of God following the aftermath of the Munich massacre. Directed by Steven Spielberg.  The New World (2005) — Depicts the founding of the Jamestown, Virginia settlement. Inspired by the historical figures Captain John Smith and Pocahontas.  North Country (2005) — Based on a lawsuit. Directed by Niki Caro.  Only the Brave (2005) — Story of the rescue of the Lost Battalion by the 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II. Directed by Lane Nishikawa.  Syriana (2005) — Geopolitical thiller film loosely based on the book See No Evil by Robert Baer, a former FBI agent based on his experiences.  Walk the Line (2005) — based on two autobiographies of Johnny Cash, Man in Black, and Cash: The Autobiography.  The World's Fastest Indian (2005) — The life story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who spent years building a 1920 Indian motorcycle — a bike which helped him set the land-speed world record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967.  Coach Carter (2005) — Based on the Richmond High School basketball team led by coach Ken Carter.  Sehar (2005)- Loosely based on real-life gangster and hired killer, Shree Prakash Shukla.  Black Book (2006) - Dutch film based on true story of a young Jewish girl set during World War II. 146

 Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005) - Film about Curtis 50 Cent Jackson's life.  The Zodiac (2006) — Film about the Zodiac Killer.  Provoked (2006) — Film based on the true story of Kiranjit Ahluwalia who murdered her abusive husband.  Alpha Dog (2006) — Based on the kidnap and murder of Nicholas Markowitz organized mainly by Jesse James Hollywood, with names changed.  Marie Antoinette (2006)— Based on the life of Marie Antoinette, last queen of France, from her betrothal and marriage to Louis XVI to her reign as queen to the French Revolution.  An American Haunting (2006) — Based on the legend of the Bell Witch.  The Black Dahlia (2006) — Based loosely on the true story of the unsolved Black Dahlia homicide in January 1947. Directed by Brian De Palma.  Bobby (2006) — Based on speculated events leading to the shooting of Robert F. Kennedy at The Ambassador Hotel in 1968. Directed by Emilio Estevez.  Catch a Fire (2006) — Based on the experiences of former migrant worker turned Umkhonto we Sizwe member Patrick Chamusso during apartheid in the 1980s. Directed by Phillip Noyce.  Find Me Guilty (2006) — Based on the trial of Mobster Giacomo "Jackie" DiNorscio, that became the longest Mafia trial in American history. Directed by Sidney Lumet.  Flags of Our Fathers (2006) — Based on the book Flags of Our Fathers written by James Bradley and Ron Powers about the Battle of Iwo Jima and Raising the flag on Iwo Jima.  Gridiron Gang (2006) — Based in real incidents involving youth gang members in a youth jail named 'Killpatrick Camp' who played into a football team led by the Coach Sean Porter.  Glory Road (2006) — Based on the story of the 1965-66 Texas Western basketball team and its march to the national championship, although with some liberties taken.  Hollywoodland (2006) — Based on the suspicious death of actor George Reeves on June 16, 1959. Directed by Allen Coulter.  Infamous (2006) — While researching his book In Cold Blood, writer Truman Capote develops a close relationship with convicted murderers Dick Hickock and Perry Smith.  Invincible (2006) — Based on the story of Vince Papale who played for the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1970s as a walk-on.  The Last King of Scotland (2006) — Based on factual events during Idi Amin's rule of Uganda. Directed by Kevin Macdonald.  Lonely Hearts (2006) — Loosely based on the investigation of homicide detective Elmer C. Robinson into the Lonely Hearts Killers. Directed by his own grandson Todd Robinson.  The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) — Based on true story of Chris Gardner, starring Will Smith 147

 The Queen (2006) — After the death of Princess Diana, HM Queen Elizabeth II struggles with her reaction to a sequence of events nobody could have predicted.  Buenos Aires, 1977 (2006) - Argentinian political thriller film based on military dictatorship from 1976 to 1983.  Take the Lead (2006) — Based on the story of Pierre Dulaine, as he teaches potential high school drop-outs how to ballroom dance during detention, in an attempt to raise their self-respect and confidence.  Traces of Love (2006) — Based on the Sampoong Department Store collapse of 1995.  United 93 (2006) — Based on United Airlines Flight 93 and the passengers on board who prevented the hijackers reaching their intended target. Directed by Paul Greengrass.  We Are Marshall (2006) — Story of the aftermath of the 1970 plane crash that killed the entire Marshall University football team. Directed by McG.  World Trade Center (2006) — Based on the rescue of John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno freed from the wreckage of the collapsing World Trade Center towers.  Karla (2006) — True story film based on serial killers Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka.  A Mighty Heart (2007) — Based on the murder of Daniel Pearl in Pakistan.  The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) — Based on the life of Jean-Dominique Bauby.  An American Crime (2007) — Based on the torture and murder of Sylvia Marie Likens.  American Gangster (2007) — Based on the true life story of Frank Lucas, a former heroin dealer, and organized crime boss in Harlem during the late 1960s and early 1970s.  The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) — Based on the last year of Jesse James' life, leading up to his assassination by Robert Ford.  Battle In Seattle (2007) — Based on the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 1999 protest activity.  Becoming Jane (2007) — A biographical portrait of a pre-fame Jane Austen and her romance with a young Irishman.  Borderland (2007) — Loosely based on serial killer/cult leader Adolfo Constanzo.  Breach (2007) — Based on the capture of Soviet spy Robert Hanssen.  Curse of the Zodiac (2007) — Based on the Zodiac killings.  Charlie Wilson's War (2007) — Based on Texas congressman Charlie Wilson's covert dealings in Afghanistan.  Chicago Massacre: Richard Speck (2007) — Based on the true story of 1960s mass murderer Richard Speck.  El Cantante (2007) — Based on the life of legendary salsa singer, Hector Lavoe. Directed by Leon Ichaso. 148

 Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) — A mature Queen Elizabeth endures multiple crises late in her reign including court intrigues, an assassination plot, the Spanish Armada, and romantic disappointments.  Freedom Writers (2007) — Based on the book, The Freedom Writers Diary, by teacher Erin Gruwell.  Goodbye Bafana (2007) — Based on the relationship between Nelson Mandela and James Gregory.  The Hoax (2007) — Story of the fake autobiography Clifford Irving supposedly helped Howard Hughes write.  I'm Not There. (2007) — Story on the life of Bob Dylan, where six characters embody a different aspect of the musician's life and work.  In the Valley of Elah (2007) — Based loosely on the homicide of returning Iraq War veteran, Richard T. Davis in 2003 by fellow soldiers from Baker Company. Directed by Paul Haggis.  Into the Wild (2007) — Based on the 1996 non-fiction book of the same name by Jon Krakauer about the adventures of Christopher McCandless.  The Killing of John Lennon (2007) — Story of Mark Chapman's plot to kill John Lennon.  Chapter 27 (2007)  Kuppi (2007) — Indian Tamil film based on the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.  Mongol (2007) — Intended to be the first in a trilogy of films based on the life of Genghis Khan.  Pride (2007) — Based loosely on the true story of Jim Ellis and his African American swim team in 1974 Philadelphia.  Primeval (2007) — Based on tales of a real man-eating crocodile named Gustave, still living in Burundi.  Rescue Dawn (2007) — Based on the story of Dieter Dengler, a US Navy pilot who was shot down in Loas during the Vietnam War.  Rise of the Footsoldier (2007) — British gangster film based on actual events.  Rohtenburg (2007) — Based on the "Rotenburg Cannibal" (Armin Meiwes).  Satham Podathey (2007) — Indian Tamil thriller film based on a true story.  September Dawn (2007) — Based on the September 7–11, 1857 Mountain Meadows massacre.  Shootout at Lokhandwala (2007) — Hindi film based on the shootout made by Mumbai police in encounter of gangster Maya Dolas.  Stuck (2007) — Loosely based on the hit-and-run committed by Chante Jawan Mallard.  Sybil (2007) — True story based on the life of Shirley Ardell Mason who was diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder.  Talk To Me (2007) — Based on the life of Ralph 'Petey' Greene.  The Girl Next Door (2007) — Loosely based on the torture and murder of Sylvia Marie Likens. 149

 What We Do Is Secret (2007) — Based on the 1970s Los Angeles punk band, The Germs and their lead singer, Darby Crash.  Zodiac (2007) — Based on the story of the Zodiac Killer.  Guru (2007) — Indian bi-language (Hindi and Tamil) film loosely based on the life of Dhirubhai Ambani.  21 (2008) — Inspired by the story of the MIT Blackjack Team.  The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008) — Based on German militant group, the Red Army Faction, the film retells the story of the early years of the RAF, concentrating on its beginnings in 1967 (at the time of the German student movement) up to the German Autumn (Deutscher Herbst) of 1977.  Hunger (2008) — Based on Bobby Sands and the 1981 Irish hunger strike.  The Bank Job (2008) — Based on a 1971 London robbery allegedly concocted by MI5.  Cadillac Records (2008) — Based on the life of influential Chicago-based record company executive Leonard Chess, and the singers who recorded for Chess Records.  Changeling (2008) — loosely based upon the real-life Wineville Chicken Murders, involving Christine Collins and the disappearance of her son.  Camino (2008) — Inspired by the real story of a girl who died from spinal cancer at fourteen in 1985 and is currently in process of canonization.  Che (2008) — Merged version of two films: The Argentine and Guerrilla about the life of Marxist revolutionary, Che Guevara.  Cape No. 7 (2008) — Story based a report about a Taiwanese postman who successfully delivered a piece of mail addressed in the old Japanese style - the sender was the former Japanese employer of the recipient. Taiwan has been ruled by Japan from 1896 to 1945, and the film depicts the subtly long-lasting relations between the people in Taiwan and Japan.  The Counterfeiters (2008) — Austrian film based on Operation Bernhard.  Defiance (2008) — Story of the Bielski partisans.  The Duchess (2008) — Based on the life of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire.  The Express (2008) — Based on the life of "The Elmira Express" Ernie Davis, the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy.  Flash of Genius (2008) — Story of Robert Kearns, inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper and his claims and lawsuit against Ford Motor Company.  Forever the Moment (2008) — Based on the achievements of the South Korean women's national handball team at the 2004 Summer Olympics.  Frost/Nixon (2008) — Story of the 1977 televised Frost/Nixon interviews.  Living Proof (2008) — Based on the true life story of Denny Slamon, who helped develop a breast cancer drug called Herceptin 2.  Max Manus (2008) — Norwegian film based on a true story of Max Manus who helpes to save his country from the Germans during World War II.  Jodhaa Akbar (2008) — Based on the life of Mughal emperor Akbar the Great. 150

 Milk (2008) — Based on the life of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office in California.  The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) — Based on the lives of Anne and Mary Boleyn, the sisters contend for the affection of King Henry VIII.  Stone of Destiny (2008) — Story of Ian Hamilton who helped recapture the Stone of Scone for Scotland.  The Stoning of Soraya M. (2008) — Story of Soraya Manutchehri, a victim of stoning in Iran.  The Stranger (2008 film) (2008) — A young couple staying in an isolated vacation home are terrorized by three unknown assailants.  Valkyrie (2008) — Story of the 20 July plot of German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler.  Flammen & Citronen (2008) — Based on the life of Bent Faurschou-Hviid and Jørgen Haagen Schmit, members of the Holger Danske, a Danish resistance group in Nazi-occupied Denmark.  Max Manus (2008) — Norwegian biographic war film based on the real events of the life of resistance fighter Max Manus (1914–96).  W. (2008) — Based on the life and presidency of George W. Bush.  Felon (2008) — Based on events in the 1990s at California State Prison, Corcoran.  Accident on Hill Road (2009) — Based on Chante Mallard.  The Blind Side (2009) — Based on the life of Michael Oher.  Coco avant Chanel (2009) — About fashion designer Coco Chanel before she was famous.  Julie & Julia (2009) — Lives of two food writers contrasted: pioneer Julia Child in the 1940s and 21st century Julie.  Notorious (2009) — The life and career of rapper Biggie Smalls before his death.  Deadfall Trail (2009) — Based on a three-week survival trip in the Kaibab National Forest.  Public Enemies (2009) — The FBI tries to take down notorious American gangsters John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd during a booming crime wave in the 1930s.  Amelia (2009) — A look at the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart, who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to make a flight around the world.  The Young Victoria (2009) — A dramatization of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert.  Prayers for Bobby (2009) — True story of Mary Griffith, gay rights crusader, whose teenage son committed suicide due to her religious intolerance. Based on the book of the same title by Leroy Aarons.  Bright Star (2009) — The drama based on the three-year romance between 19th century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, which was cut short by Keats' untimely death at age 25. 151

 Invictus (2009) — Based on the real life story of South Africa president Nelson Mandela and François Pienaar, the captain of the Springboks, the South African rugby union team.  The Informant! (2009) — Based on the real life story of Mark Whitacre, the highest ranked executive in U.S. history to turn whistleblower.  The Haunting in Connecticut (2009) — Psychological supernatural film based on true events.  Mao's Last Dancer (2009) — Based on the autobiography of ballet dancer Li Cunxin.  Formosa Betrayed (2009) — The film portrays the KMT-government intentionally wiped out the Taiwan people's opposition voices in 1980s, inspired by two actual events, one surrounding the death of Professor Chen Wen-Chen (陳文成) of Carnegie Mellon University in 1981, and the other the 1984 assassination of (American-citizen) journalist Henry Liu in California.  The Soloist (2009) — Based on the life of Nathaniel Ayers.  Everyman's War (2009) — Based on the Battle of the Bulge during World War II.  The Damned United (2009) — British sports film based on Brian Clough's tenure as Leeds United's manager.  Taking Woodstock (2009) — American comedy based on the Woodstock Festival of 1969, directed by Ang Lee.  Taking Chance (2009) — Based on the experiences of Lt. Col. Michael Strobl escorting the body of Marine Chance Phelps back to his hometown from Iraq.  Hachiko: A Dog's Story (2009) — Based on the dog Hachikō.  The Stoneman Murders (2009) — Hindi film based on the real life Stoneman serial killings that made headlines in the early 1980s in Mumbai.  The Killing Room (2009) — Based on the MKULTRA programme by the CIA, even though the characters are fictional.  Periyar (2007) — Indian Tamil biographical film based on the life of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy.  Kamaraj" (2004) — Tamil biographical film based on the life K. Kamaraj who was known "kingmaker" during 1960's in India.  Bharathi (2000) — Tamil biographical film based on the life of Mahakavi Subramaniya Bharathiyaar.  LOC Kargil (2003) — Indian war film based on the 1999 Kargil War.  The Hurt Locker (2008) — Oscar winning war film inspired by real events.  Kalloori (2007) — Indian Tamil movie whose climax was based on real life incident in which 3 girls were burnt to death in Dharmapuri, directed by Balaji Shakthivel.

2010s

 The Bang Bang Club (2010) - Based on true story  A Kiss and a Promise (2010) — "Kiss" tells the real-life story of a sociopath (Mick Rossi), who owns and operates a bed and breakfast in Ontario with his 152

wife, played by Natasha Gregson Wagner; co-starring Patrick Bergin and Sean Power.  Letters to God (2010) — based on the true story of Tyler Doughtie. The story took place in Nashville, Tennessee.  The Silent House (2010) - (Spanish: La Casa Muda) a Uruguayan Spanish- language horror film directed by Gustavo Hernández. The film is inspired by real events that took place in the 1940s.  D.C. Sniper (2010) — Story based on the Beltway sniper attacks.  Temple Grandin (2010) - a 2010 biopic directed by Mick Jackson and starring Claire Danes as Temple Grandin, a woman with autism who revolutionized practices for the humane handling of livestock on cattle ranches and slaughterhouses.  Extraordinary Measures — Based on the story of John Crowley.  Fair Game (2010) — Based on the outing of former CIA agent Valerie Plame by members of the US government. (See: Plame Affair)  Green Zone (2010) — The film tells events from the end of the invasion phase of the war until the transfer of power to the Iraqis.  Lula, o filho do Brasil (2010) — based on the life of Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva  Of Gods and Men (2010) — Based on the assassination of the monks of Tibhirine.  The Runaways (2010) — Based on the '70s girl rock band The Runaways, focusing in particular on the relationship between rockers Cherie Currie and Joan Jett. Adapted from Currie's memoir.  The Social Network (2010) — Based on creation of Facebook and the lawsuits that followed.  Dear Mr. Gacy (2010) — a true story based on the book The Last Victim by Jason Moss  127 Hours — Based on the story of Aron Ralston, the American mountain climber who amputated his own arm to free himself after being trapped by a boulder for six days in Blue John Canyon in 2003.  Unstoppable (2010) — Based on a runaway train carrying hazardous material putting a city in danger.  The Fighter (2010) — Based on the life of boxer Micky Ward and his half- brother, Dicky Eklund.  The Whistleblower (2010) — Inspired by actual events, the film tells the story of Kathryn Bolkovac.  Bonded by Blood (2010) — based on the Essex boys, a group involved in organised crime in Essex, England and their suspicious murders which are still debated today. (also see Rise of the Footsoldier).  Secretariat (2010) — Based on the story of a horse named (Secretariat), who won the Triple Crown in Belmont Stakes and still holds the unbeatable record after 37 years; even helped his owner, Penny Chenery, to regain her pride. 153

 Conviction (2010) — Based on the story of a sister who goes to law school so she can become her brother's attorney, as the brother has been wrongly convicted of murder. Betty Anne fights for her brother Kenny's life.  Nadunissi Naaygal (2010) — Indian Tamil film based on a true story  Rakta Charitra (2010) — Indian trilingual film (Telugu, Hindi, and Tamil) based on true story directed by Ram Gopal Varma  Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey (2010) — Indian Hindi movie based on Chittagong Uprising in 1930  I Love You Philip Morris (2010) — true story based on the life of Steven Jay Russell  The Special Relationship (2010) — American-British political film based on relationship between Tony Blair and Bill Clinton  The King's Speech (2010) — Historical British drama based on King George VI, who was suffering from stammer  Striker (2010) — Set in a Mumbai ghetto in the mid '80's and based on true life accounts.  You Don't Know Jack (2010) — Based in part on the book, Between the Dying and the Dead: Dr. Jack Kevorkian's Life And The Battle To Legalize Euthanasia.  Bruce Lee, My Brother (2010) — Based on the life of Bruce Lee in his teenage years to part of his adult years.  17 Miracles (2011) — Based on the actual experiences of members of the Willie Handcart Company of Mormon pioneers following their late-season start and subsequent winter journey to Salt Lake City in 1856.  1911 (2011) — Chinese historical drama based on 1911 Revolution and Xinhai Revolution; starring Jackie Chan.  The Amityville Haunting (2011) - Inspired by the book The Amityville Horror.  No One Killed Jessica (2011) - Based on real life murder case of Jessica Lall.  Dolphin Tale (2011) - The film is inspired by the true story of a dolphin named Winter who was rescued off the Florida coast and taken in by the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.  The Craigslist Killer (2011) - The film is inspired by the true story of a man named Philip Markoff who killed one woman and is known to have assaulted at least two others.  The Rite (2011) - The film is based on the book The Making of a Modern Exorcist by Rome-based Matt Baglio, which was published in 2009. The film is based on the early life of Father Gary Thomas.  The Way Back (2011) - A true story of seven men escaping the prison in Siberia, (held by Stalin) walking through the Gobi desert, Himalayas and all the way to the Great Wall of China.  Moneyball (2011) - Based on Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis.  Machine Gun Preacher (2011) - Biopic film based on the life of Sam Childers, starring Gerard Butler. 154

 Monica (2011) - An Indian Hindi film based on a true story inspired by the murder case of Shivani Bhatnagar.  Sanctum (2011) - Film inspired by Andrew Wight's near-death experience of leading a diving expedition miles into a system of underwater caves, then having to find a way out after a freak storm collapses the entrance. Produced by James Cameron.  Soul Surfer (2011) - An American drama about a thirteen-year-old surfer who loses her arm in a shark attack but is determined to get back in the water.  Not a Love Story (2011) - An Indian Bollywood movie based on the 2008 Neeraj Grover Murder Case.  Thambi Vettothi Sundaram (2011) - Indian Tamil film based on true story.  The Devil's Double (2011) - True story film based on Uday Hussein body double Latif Yahia.  Puncture (2011) - Based on a true story, Mike Weiss (Chris Evans) is a young Houston lawyer and a drug addict.  Texas Killing Fields (2011) - Based on true events about the murder of women picked up along I-45 and dumped in an old oil field in League City, Texas.  Blackthorn (2011) - Western film based on the life of Butch Cassidy in Bolivia  Kill the Irishman (2011) - Biopic movie based on the life of Danny Greene  Margin Call (2011) - American independent film loosely modeled on Lehman Brothers and Financial crisis of 2007-2008  J. Edgar (2011) - Biopic movie based on the life of J.Edgar Hoover, directed by Clint Eastwood.  Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011) - based on the September 11 attacks on the Twin Towers  The Dirty Picture (2011) - Indian Bollywood biopic movie based on the life of Silk Smitha  Juan y Eva (2011) - Argentinian movie based on the Argentine president Juan Perón and Eva Perón first meeting during 1944 San Juan earthquake  Red Dog (2011) - Australian family film based on a true story from the novel Red Dog  50/50 (2011) - Comedy-drama film loosely based on the life of screenwriter Will Reiser  We Bought a Zoo (2011) - Comedy-drama film based on a memoir by Benjamin Mee.  Janie Jones (2011) - Based on the story of a young girl who has been abandoned by her former-groupie mother informs a fading rock star that she is his daughter.  Ragini MMS (2011) - Bollywood horror thriller movie based on true story  The Fields (2011) — Story based on the life of screenwriter Harrison Smith  The Help (2011) - based on the civil rights era  Snowtown (2011) - based on the Snowtown murders  Yugapurushan (2011) - Malayalam film based on the life of the saint Sree Narayana Guru 155

 Act of Valor (2012) - American action flim inspired by true US Navy SEALs missions around the world  Aravaan (2012) - Tamil period film which is based on a Tamil novel which decipits the history of Madurai from 1310 to 1910  Big Miracle (2012) — True story movie based on Operation Breakthrough in 1988  Buddha in a Traffic Jam (2012) — Bollywood movie loosely based on the life of Arundhati Roy  Game Change (2012) — HBO political movie based on John McCain 2008 presidential election campaign  Kazhugu (2012) — Indian Tamil movie based on real life incidents, has been shot in real locations  Last Flight To Abuja (2012) — Nollywood film based on true events  Pachai Engira Kaathu (2012) — Indian Tamil political movie based on true events which happened in Pollachi  People Like Us (2012) — based on a real story of a sister and a brother never knowing that they are siblings  Vinmeengal (2012) — Indian Tamil movie based on a real life incident  The Vow (2012) — Romantic movie based on true events  Won't Back Down (2012) — loosely based on the events surrounding the use of the parent trigger law in Sunland-Tujunga, Los Angeles in 2010  When the Lights Went Out (2012) - based on the British poltergeist case The Black Monk of Pontefract  Silent House (2012)  Chasing Mavericks (2012) - based on the life of surfer Jay Moriarity  Argo - based on the Canadian Caper, the rescue of dramatization of six U.S. diplomats from Tehran in 1979 during the Iran hostage crisis  The Impossible (2012) — Based on a Spanish family who survives by tsunami tragedy in December 26, 2004 at Thailand, directed by J.A. Bayona starring Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor.  42 (2013) - based on Jackie Robinson's breaking of the "color barrier" of Major League Baseball in the 1940s.  Bling Ring (2013) - based on the Bling Ring's breaking into Hollywood Hills homes.  The Attacks of 26/11 (2013) - based on the 2008 Mumbai attacks.  The A.R.K. Report (2013) - based on the search for the hidden Ark of the Covenant. [4]

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_actual_events 156

REFERENCES

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