The Pervert's Guide to Ideology
"Starting from the provocative premise that political and commercial regimes regard us as 'subjects of pleasure', controlling us by offering us enjoyment, director Sophie Fiennes and charismatic philosopher Slavoj Žižek repeat the formula of their 2006 collaboration, The Pervert's Guide to Cinema.
The quirky, genial Žižek employs cleverly chosen clips from a huge variety of movies – including Brazil, M*A*S*H, The Sound of Music, and Brief Encounter – to illustrate his fascinating monologue, frequently appearing on sets and in costumes which replicate scenes from the films in question. For example, dressed as a chubbier, bearded Travis Bickle, he expounds the darker subtexts of Taxi Driver's plot from within the anti–hero's grotty apartment. This entertaining approach helps to ensure that what might otherwise have been a dense, even daunting intellectual challenge is actually an engaging and unexpected delight."
(The Institute of Contemporary Arts)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Do Look Now: A playful meditation on sexual pleasures
"From academic and cinephile Helen Yeates comes this 16–minute mash–up of sexual and erotic scenes that creatively pushed the sensual boundaries of cinema, challenging audiences over the last four decades.
An ironic intercutting of arousing and transgressive scenes, Do Look Now creates a provocative interplay of love, sex, desire, humour, nostalgic yearning and cultural memory.
Part postmodern pastiche, part cut–up passion project, Yeates's creation explores the contours of female eroticism and sexual politics, playing with the way context can lend fresh meaning and nuance to sexual depictions."
(Brisbane International Film Festival, 2012)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Jane Campion: A Girl's Own Story (short film)
"Jane Campion has been a dominant force in world cinema for nearly two decades. Shot delicately in black–and–white, A Girl's Own Story is an early short film that traces the stories of three suburban teenage girls (Pam, Gloria and Stella) in 1960's Australia. It deals with the difficulties of burgeoning sexuality, incest, friendship and family against the backdrop of Beatlemania and an era that valued the isolating notions of purity and wholesomeness over honesty and acceptance."
(Anton de Lonno 11 July 2010, Senses of Cinema)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Peggy Orenstein on our gender performance culture
"Peggy Orenstein ('Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie–Girl Culture') and Kaveri Subrahmanyam ('Digital Youth: The Role of Media in Development') had a conversation about girl culture and digital media for Googlers in Santa Monica on February 9, 2011. They were joined by Adriana Manago, who works with Kaveri at the Children's Digital Media Center (UCLA/CSULA)."
(About @Google Talks, 9 February 2011)
Fig.1 Kaveri Subrahmanyam talks to Peggy Orenstein about "Cinderella Ate My Daughter", About @Google Talks [18:24]
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Miss Representation: mainstream media is contributing to the under-representation of women in positions of power
"Like drawing back a curtain to let bright light stream in, Miss Representation (90 min; TV–14 DL) uncovers a glaring reality we live with every day but fail to see. Written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the film exposes how mainstream media contribute to the under–representation of women in positions of power and influence in America. The film challenges the media's limited and often disparaging portrayals of women and girls, which make it difficult for women to achieve leadership positions and for the average woman to feel powerful herself.
In a society where media is the most persuasive force shaping cultural norms, the collective message that our young women and men overwhelmingly receive is that a woman's value and power lie in her youth, beauty, and sexuality, and not in her capacity as a leader. While women have made great strides in leadership over the past few decades, the United States is still 90th in the world for women in national legislatures, women hold only 3% of clout positions in mainstream media, and 65% of women and girls have disordered eating behaviors.
Stories from teenage girls and provocative interviews with politicians, journalists, entertainers, activists and academics, like Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Margaret Cho, Rosario Dawson and Gloria Steinem build momentum as Miss Representation accumulates startling facts and statistics that will leave the audience shaken and armed with a new perspective."
(Jennifer Siebel Newsom)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
