These topics are intended to facilitate our discussions and, possibly, to spur ideas for writing your contact papers. Please consider them while you read, and be prepared to discuss them in section.

Discussion Topics - April 14

Film -Chinatown

Sexuality- Notice the role of sex in the film starting with the surveillance photos in the opening sequence. Notice also Jake’s sexual joke. What kind of sexual relationships are shown in the film? How are they related to violence? How does the romance between Jake and Evelyn function in this film? What cliches are brought in?

Family- What kind of family structures are explored by the film? Are any of them stable or functional? Consider the family of the surveillance photos as well as the Mulwrays and Crosses.

Sight- How does sight and images of sight figure in the film? What is Seen/unseen? Known/unknown? How are they related? What does this have to do with detection? Think about the flaw in Evelyn’s eye as well as the repeated image of eyeglasses. What is the result of knowledge? What kind of knowledge does Jake have?

Types of Authority- What kings of authority are represented in the film? Consider the official power of the police lieutenant Lou versus Jake’s unofficial power. How are they different or the same? Why does Jake quit the police force? Who holds the key to knowledge? How are Hollis Mulwray and Noah Cross different in their authority?

Femme Fatales?- Does Jake misjudge Evelyn? Is Evelyn a femme fatale? Why or why not? What about Ida (the false Mrs. Mulwray) or Catherine?

Race, Class, and Gender- How are images of race and gender constructed? Notice the Chinese servants, the Mexican-American boy on the horse, the “Oakies” in the valley, and the exclusion of Jewish people at the old folks home. What do these people represent or expose about the story? Consider the same question in relation to the women and class structure in the film. How are women represented? Where does Catherine (the child of an incestuous union between a wealthy father and daughter, raised in Mexico and Spanish speaking fit in all this)?

Social Darwinism- How do parts of this film fall into the category of depicting a “survival of the fittest” philosophy. What kind of place is Los Angeles and by what is it surrounded? Who wins in the end? What do the tidepools represent?

Chinatown- Why is the film titled Chinatown? Why does it end here? What previously happened in Chinatown? What does it mean for Jake Gittes? What do you make of the ending? What kind of ending is it? Notice the film’s circularity. At the beginning Jake tells his client to forget about his wife’s infidelity, at the end he is told to forget what he knows and has seen.

“Narrative Structures in Fleming” by Umberto Eco
Dichotomies- Eco highlights the oppositions between characters and values which make up the Bond novels. What does this kind of Manichean division allow the reader? What choices are given to the reader? How is a villain different than a hero, and both of them different from women or M?

Psychology- Why is it important to disregard Bond’s psychology and see him as a physical rather than a psychological being? How does Eco show the mind/body and man/machine dichotomies working within Bond? What does Bond represent? Is he human?

Race, Class, and Gender- How does Eco see race, class, and gender constructed in the Bond novels? Who are the heroes and the villains? Why does he think this may not be purely racist? What is the general function of women in these novels? What kind of pathway do their characters follow? What kind of role does money play? What kinds of values do these choices emphasis?

Sexuality- Notice the way in which sexuality and the sex act is coupled with violence. What are the relations between Bond and the women like? Notice the villains atypical and non-procreative sexual characteristics.

Formula and Familiarity- Eco observes the formulaic quality of Fleming’s work and the genre in general. How does he postulate that the formula is able to generate pleasure for the reader? How is this ordering of this formula like play, games or gambling? What does this play achieve?

Fairy-Tales- How are the Fleming novels like fairy tales?

Types of Readers- What are the two types of readers Eco posits for the Bond novels?