REVISITING AND RE-VISIONING WAR GENRE CONVENTIONS ON FILM: THE HURT LOCKER by JAN ELIZABETH MILLER A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Art and Art History Film Studies Program 2013 This thesis entitled: Revisiting and Re-visioning War Genre Conventions on Film: The Hurt Locker written by Jan Elizabeth Miller has been approved for the Department of Art and Art History and the Film Studies Program Ernesto R. Acevedo-Muñoz, PhD., Chair Melinda Barlow, PhD. Thomas W. Zeiler, PhD. Date The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signatories, and we Find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards Of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline. Miller, Jan Elizabeth (M.A. Art and Art History, Film Studies) Revisiting and Re-visioning War Genre Conventions on Film: The Hurt Locker Thesis directed by Associate Professor and Director Ernesto R. Acevedo-Muñoz ABSTRACT Kathryn Bigelow’s 2008 war film, The Hurt Locker, revisits many of the war genre’s conventions and is quite unlike other war films from Hollywood’s industry-made canon. Conventions were intentionally side-stepped or revised with respect to the Iraq War, which has also been unlike any other war in American history. This thesis examines the conventions of the war film and is structured around the narrative and formal aspects of the genre, offering an in-depth analysis of where and why The Hurt Locker stands in confrontation with those conventions. This thesis is particularly concerned with The Hurt Locker’s aversion to binaries and a political statement. I argue that The Hurt Locker intentionally avoids or revises generic conventions in order to convey political ambiguity, to analyze and develop a stronger sense of character, and to differentiate the realities of the Iraq War experience from other wars and war experiences. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am especially indebted to one very patient and supportive professor, Ernesto R. Acevedo- Muñoz. By far the most influential person of both my undergraduate and graduate careers, Ernesto has been indispensable to my growth as a student over the past five years. I am most appreciative to you for sharing your passion for film and for your patience and dedication to my—and your other students’— success. Thank you. Quite poetically I came into the Film Studies Program with Ernesto’s “Introduction to Film Studies” course and I am both grateful and delighted to be finishing the Film/Art History BA/MA Program with Ernesto as my thesis advisor. I would like to thank the members of my thesis committee, Thomas Zeiler and Melinda Barlow. Tom was a very important professor in my undergraduate career at CU Boulder and I would like to thank him for helping and supporting me in achieving my goals, most especially with TWB-CU. Very few professors are as devoted as he is to his students’ success and happiness and it means a great deal to me to have been able to include him in this very important part of my graduate career. A huge thank you goes out to Melinda Barlow who joined this thesis adventure without even knowing who I was. Melinda agreed to sit on my committee solely based on a good word and I cannot thank her enough for trusting that word and supporting the success of this thesis. Thank you, Melinda, for taking the time to help a stranger on her journey! I have made a few good friends from this experience who have really stood out. Thank you most to Shea Johnson for reading drafts and offering encouragement both for this thesis and in other courses. I will never forget our 36-hour library experience; you really helped me realize that I could accomplish the goals I set out for. Thank you. I would also like to thank Sarah Budisavljevic, Stephanie Ahlgrain, Megan Cruise, and Lea Hahlbeck for helping me to grow as a person from the earliest years of my career at CU through to the end. iv I am increasingly grateful to Dana Odendahl who deserves a huge thank you for being there through all of the ups and downs, offering support, advice, and much needed encouragement. Your enthusiasm for life is contagious and I cannot thank you enough for all that you do for me—and the people around you—each and every day. Thank you to my parents, Patti and Kerry Miller, for allowing me the freedom to follow the somewhat unconventional path toward my dreams, even when that path has led into the unknown. I look up to you both and I am extremely grateful to you for being such cool and loving people and parents. Thank you, Mom, for all of your helpful edits and suggestions! Finally, I would like to thank Jake Wood. Without your love and support, this thesis might not have gotten done. You have helped me to realize my dreams and together we are making our dreams come to life. I am excited to see what our future holds! I could not have made it this far without any of you and it is my pleasure to have this opportunity to thank you for making this thesis possible. v CONTENTS TITLE PAGE ..............................................................................................................................i SIGNATURE PAGE ................................................................................................................ ii ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................. iv-v CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................vi LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................. vii LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... vii-viii CHAPTERS I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... ……1 II. NARRATIVE CONVENTIONS: BEHAVIORS AT WAR ......................... ……11 a. SETTING AND CHARACTER ................................................................................... 12 b. PLOT, CONFLICT, CLIMAX, AND RESOLUTION................................................. 13 c. MASCULINITY AND HEROISM .............................................................................. 14 d. BROTHERHOOD CAMARDERIE ............................................................................. 19 e. “US” VS. “THEM”....................................................................................................... 22 f. COLLECTIVE IDENITY AND THE MISSION ......................................................... 28 III. NARRATIVE CONVENTIONS: BEHAVIORS AT HOME ............................... 33 a. THE RETURN HOME AND REINTEGRATION INTO SOCIETY ......................... 33 b. THE WOMAN AT HOME .......................................................................................... 37 IV. FORMAL CONVENTIONS ................................................................................. 40 a. EDITING AND CINEMATOGRAPHY ...................................................................... 40 b. SOUND DESIGN AND MUSICAL SCORING .......................................................... 46 c. MISE-EN-SCENE ........................................................................................................ 56 V. CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................... 69 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................... 74 FILMOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 76 APPENDIX . .................................................................................................................... 77-88 A. DRAMATIS PERSONAE .......................................................................................... 77 B. DETAILED PLOT SUMMARY ................................................................................ 80 vi TABLES Table 1. Details from Iraq war films, 2005 thru 2008 ................................................ 3 FIGURES Figures 1. George W. Bush as Cowboy from The Denver Post .................................... 5 2. George W. Bush as Cowboy from Der Spiegel ............................................ 6 3. General Patton and the American Flag ....................................................... 12 4. Gears of War .............................................................................................. 17 5. Gears of War XBOX cover art ................................................................... 17 6. Thompson and Sanborn’s Camaraderie ...................................................... 20 7. Sanborn crouching over Thompson’s “grave” ........................................... 20 8. Iraqi Insurgent #1 a. At the window ............................................................................... 27 b. Point of view shot looking down at James .................................... 27 c. Face-on .......................................................................................... 27 9. Iraqi Insurgent #2........................................................................................ 27 10. Iraqi man with video camera .....................................................................