Reflections of Marshall Mcluhan's Media Theory in the Cinematic
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Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Jakub Vémola Reflections of Marshall McLuhan’s Media Theory in the Cinematic Work of David Cronenberg and Atom Egoyan Master’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: doc. PhDr. Tomáš Pospíšil, Dr. Brno 2009 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. Jakub Vémola I would like to thank doc. PhDr. Tomáš Pospíšil, Dr. for sparking up my interest in Atom Egoyan’s work and providing me with valuable advice and resources. TABLE OF CONTENTS: I. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 II. Marshall McLuhan .................................................................................................... 3 II.1 Brief Biography ...................................................................................................... 3 II.2 Medium is the Message .......................................................................................... 5 II.3 Medium as an Extension of the Human Body ........................................................ 7 II.6 The Gadget Lover ................................................................................................... 9 II.5 Media Hot and Cold ............................................................................................. 11 II.6 Film vs. TV .......................................................................................................... 15 II.7 What McLuhan Got Wrong .................................................................................. 18 III. Atom Egoyan’s Family Viewing ............................................................................ 21 III.1 The Life and Work of Atom Egoyan .................................................................. 21 III.2 Family Viewing – Brief Introduction and Plot Summary ................................... 24 III.3 McLuhan’s Concepts in Family Viewing ............................................................ 26 III.4 The Film Language of Family Viewing .............................................................. 34 III.5 The Mediated Intercourse – Brief Sequence Analysis ........................................ 38 III.6 Is McLuhan there? – A Short Chapter Summary ................................................ 43 IV. David Cronenberg’s Videodrome .......................................................................... 45 IV.1 The Life and Work of David Cronenberg ........................................................... 45 IV.2 About Videodrome .............................................................................................. 48 IV.3 McLuhan’s Concepts in Videodrome ................................................................. 50 IV.4 The Film Language of Videodrome .................................................................... 57 IV.5 The Sadistic Intercourse - Brief Scene Analysis ................................................ 61 IV.6 McLuhan in Videodrome – A Short Chapter Summary ..................................... 66 V. Conclusion................................................................................................................. 69 VI. Works Cited ............................................................................................................ 72 I. Introduction The aim of this thesis is to investigate, present and compare the way in which the concepts and theories of the great Canadian media thinker, Marshall McLuhan, are reflected and reinterpreted in the work of Canadian filmmakers David Cronenberg and Atom Egoyan. The films I have chosen to analyze are David Cronenberg’s Videodrome (1983) and Atom Egoyan’s Family Viewing (1987). There are several reasons these two movies were selected as the basis of this thesis. First, both films appear to be employing a number of McLuhan’s key concepts and translating them skillfully into cinematic language. Secondly, even though both movies are fairly effective in bringing these concepts “to life,” they treat them in a different way and tend to accentuate slightly different aspects and consequences of McLuhan’s theories. Thirdly, each of these films uses different genres, means of expression and cinematic techniques, which provides a great opportunity to examine significantly different modes of representation being applied to describe very similar concepts. In the second chapter the life and the work of Marshall McLuhan will be briefly introduced, paying particular attention to those biographical facts and the key features of his media theory which are related to, and encompassed within the films in question. Then, in order to allow the reader to grasp the character of McLuhan’s way of thinking, the key parts of his media theory will be presented. I will bring in the concepts of a medium as a message, a medium as an extension of the human body, the gadget lover and the division of media into hot and cool. Then I will present some of McLuhan’s comments regarding the nature and working of the film and the television medium. At the end of the chapter certain blind spots and limitations of McLuhan’s media theory will be brought up. 1 In the subsequent chapters each of the filmmakers will be introduced with regard to the nature and character of their creative work and their respective films. Then the plot of these films will be briefly outlined, to provide necessary background for both the formal analysis of the cinematic language and the interpretation of McLuhan’s media theory depicted in the movies. Subsequently, the specific embodiments of the key concepts of McLuhan’s media theory will be brought to readers’ attention and analyzed. In the next section I will attempt to outline some characteristic features of the film language used in the movies in question. Namely I will focus on certain aspects of the films’ photography, mise-en-scéne and montage and the way they collaborate with the thematic level of the respective movies. Then I will choose a scene or a sequence representative of each of the films and of the cinematic techniques employed by their directors. These sequences will be analyzed in greater detail in order to examine the way the visual aspects of the cinematic language participate in the message of the films and help to formulate McLuhan’s thoughts. The formal analysis of the films and sequences will be based on Louis Giannetti’s book Understanding Movies and James Monaco’s How to Read a Film. In the end the approach of these films towards McLuhan’s concepts will be compared giving particular attention to the differences and similarities in both the thematic focus of the films and the film language they employ. 2 II. Marshall McLuhan II.1 Brief Biography Marshall McLuhan, the “Oracle of the Electronic Age”, was undoubtedly one of the most prominent and influential Canadian media theoreticians. His extensive work on the character of electronic media has had a profound effect on many of his followers and it has radically altered the way the new media are perceived. Yet before introducing the key concepts of McLuhan’s media theory which, in my opinion, resonate strongly in both David Cronenberg’s and Atom Egoyan’s films, I would like to briefly introduce the life of this “media prophet.“ The short presentation of McLuhan’s biography should provide a valuable insight into the nature of his theoretical concepts. Marshall McLuhan was born on July 21, 1911, in Western Canada’s Edmonton, Alta. He was raised in the family of a real-estate agent and an actress. According to Liukkonen, he was a very obstinate child and a difficult student. A Few years after his birth, his family moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba where he stayed until 1934 when he received an M.A. in English literature from the University of Manitoba. Later on he spent several years at Cambridge University studying under I. A. Richards 1 whose approach towards poetry influenced his study of media (Merchand). McLuhan was also inspired by the work of another Cambridge professor, F. R. Leavis (Merchand). In 1936 McLuhan left Cambridge and shortly after his return to Canada, he converted to Catholicism. His conversion seems to have had a profound effect on his interpretation of technology (Kroker 70). Soon after that he started to teach at the Jesuit University of St. Louis. According to Gordon, it was the shock McLuhan experienced at 1 I.A. Richards was a well known British literary critic who is often considered to be one of the founders of the contemporary study of literature in English (Constable). 3 his first teaching post, which lead him towards media analysis. This shock was caused by the feeling of a huge generation gap between him and his students who were only five to eight years younger (Gordon). In 1943 he met the English painter, novelist and critic Windham Lewis who deeply influenced his thinking (Liukkonen). In 1944 he returned to Canada and two years later he started to teach at the University of Toronto where he remained for the rest of his career. There he met the political economist Harold Innis from whom he overtook the notion of time and space based media (Marchand). He was also influenced by James Joyce’s critique of radio and television and later on started to devise his own conception of media as extensions of the human body (Gordon). McLuhan collaborated rather closely with television. In 1959 he became the director of the Media Project