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An Auteur Analysis of Films Directed by Adrian Lyne

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CREATING DISCUSSION: AN AUTEUR ANALYSIS OF FILMS DIRECTED BY ADRIAN LYNE Stephanie Oliver, B.A. Thesis Prepared for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS May 2017 APPROVED: Harry Benshoff, Major Professor George-Larke Walsh, Committee Member Jacqueline Vickery, Committee Member Eugene Martin, Chair of the Department of Media Arts David Holdeman, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Victor Prybutok, Vice Provost of the Toulouse Graduate School Oliver, Stephanie. Creating Discussion: An Auteur Analysis of Films Directed by Adrian Lyne. Master of Arts (Media Industry and Critical Studies), May 2017, 137 pp., 31 figures, bibliography, 88 titles. This thesis examines the various "signature" threads that are present within the "oeuvre" of the Hollywood filmmaker Adrian Lyne. The goal of this thesis is to showcase both how and why Lyne can be thought of as an auteur and to open up his films to new and previously unexplored meanings. Lyne's eight feature films are analyzed in-depth individually and in comparison to one another from a variety of theoretical frameworks and points of focus in each of the body chapters. Copyright 2017 by Stephanie Oliver ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis is the product of so many extraordinary forces. First, I will always fondly remember the COUNTLESS nights that I struggled to write it while watching Texas Rangers Baseball games, Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015), Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001), Shakespeare in Love (1998), and Dancing With The Stars (Val Chmerkovskiy videos on YouTube got me through some of the darkest times of my writing process). Second, this thesis would not have been possible without the COUNTLESS hours I spent talking about it (in person and on the phone) with my mother (first and foremost), father, uncle, chihuahuas, committee members, best friends, and fellow graduate students (you all know who you are). Finally, my parents’ and professors’ encouragement and support is the literal foundation on which this thesis was written and I hope to one day repay them for everything that they have given me. In the end, it should be “acknowledged” that this thesis is dedicated to ALL of my sources of inspiration and support. I thank you ALL with everything that I am and everything that I hope to become. On a (more) personal note - In writing this thesis, my love of film (and the study of it) grew so much more than I anticipated and I learned more about myself than I ever thought was possible. This thesis represents everything that I love about film, critical-cultural studies, and the human condition. I feel very privileged and grateful that I was given the opportunity to write it. After completing this final step of my Master’s degree, I now know (with complete certainty) that I would gladly give many more years of my life to the pursuit of learning and writing about films (which is ultimately the plan). iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 Understanding Lyne as an Auteur....................................................................................... 2 The Cultural Importance and Influence of Lyne’s Work.................................................... 7 Lyne’s “Look”: From the Small Screen to the Big Screen ............................................... 18 Chapter Breakdown: The “Big Picture(s)” ....................................................................... 29 CHAPTER 2. “YOU LOOK LIKE KIDS, BUT YOU DON’T ACT LIKE THEM!”: THE ARTICULATION OF FEMALE STRUGGLE, DESIRE, AND AGENCY ............................... 34 Trials and Tribulations: The “Troubled” Evolution of Melodrama .................................. 37 Growing Pains: Lyne’s “Brand” of Family Melodrama in Foxes, Flashdance, and Lolita ........................................................................................................................................... 41 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 67 CHAPTER 3. “I’LL TELL YOU, MY DARLING, IT’S A HELL OF A LIFE”: HEGEMONIC NEGOTIATION OF MASCULINITY AND THE CRITIQUE OF URBAN CAPITALISM .... 69 The Rise of “Neo-Noir”: Tracing Lyne’s “Dark” Roots .................................................. 72 The Cities That Never Sleep: The Expressive Noirish Landscapes of Lyne’s Films ....... 75 The Noirish Nature of 9½ Weeks, Jacob’s Ladder, and Indecent Proposal ..................... 84 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 102 CHAPTER 4. “NO ORDINARY LOVE”: CHALLENGING HETERONORMATIVITY THROUGH “TRANSGRESSIVE” SEX AND SEXUALITY ................................................... 104 It’s All About Sex: Sexually Transgressive “Narrative Formulas” in Lyne’s Films ...... 106 The “Sexual Initiation and Self-Discovery” Narrative Formula ..................................... 107 The “Return of the Repressed” Narrative Formula ......................................................... 114 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 124 iv CHAPTER 5. SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... 125 Conclusion: The “Impossible Contradictoriness” of Lyne’s Films ................................ 125 What’s Next For Lyne? ................................................................................................... 127 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................... 131 v LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1: Kim Basinger’s iconic striptease in 9½ Weeks ............................................................ 20 Figure 2: Intercut close-ups on Diana’s hands and face while she is tenuously washing the dishes in Indecent Proposal .......................................................................................................... 22 Figure 3: A close-up of a wine bottle exploding signals the drastic climax to this scene between the struggling married couple in Indecent Proposal ..................................................................... 22 Figure 4: The cover art images Foxes, Flashdance, and Lolita ................................................... 29 Figure 5: Disturbing and somewhat indecipherable images appear on cover art for Jacob’s Ladder ........................................................................................................................................... 30 Figure 6: The contrasted posing of the men and women, some with literal splits or rips in between them on the Fatal Attraction and Indecent Proposal cover art ...................................... 32 Figure 7: While attending her high school child development class, Jeanie (Jodie Foster) appears disinterested and distracted as she holds her “baby” upside down in an early scene of Foxes .... 34 Figure 8: Jim in Rebel Without of Cause (on the left) and Madge with her mother (Lois Smith) in Foxes (on the right) ................................................................................................................... 45 Figure 9: Alex feels “out of place” in her steel mill work attire as she walks through a group of trained ballet students in an early scene of Flashdance. ............................................................... 52 Figure 10: Flashdance opens with a low angle shot of the female protagonist Alex in the center of the frame as she stops to pet a stray kitten in the middle of the street on her way to work ..... 54 Figure 11: Pictured here, “Alex” blurs the lines between masculine and feminine in her outspoken and aggressive attitude as well as in her personal style of dress ................................. 54 Figure 12: Pictured on the left is the first time the viewer (and Humbert) sees Lolita. Pictured on the right is one of the many instances where Lolita puts herself “on display” to coerce Humbert into giving her what she wants ...................................................................................... 62 Figure 13: On Humbert’s final visit with her, Lolita is all “grown up” and expecting her first child............................................................................................................................................... 65 Figure 14: The “final” image of Lolita. Lolita is “frozen in time” in the mind of Humbert in her most “pure” and “innocent” state, while she once more dominates the frame and is shown looking up at Humbert (and into the camera at the viewer), forever “returning his gaze.” .......... 66 vi Figure 15: Just two “guys” sharing a drink and a smoke while venting about the daily grind of work, marriage, children, and the endless cycle of monotony that comes with them in 9½ Weeks ....................................................................................................................................................... 69 Figure 16: The city is a living and breathing entity in the lead couples’ relationship in 9½ Weeks. ..........................................................................................................................................
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