Blog Assignment #5: Melancholia & Mourning: the Death of Cinema

Numerous critics and scholars have lamented the impending death of the cinema as we (or they) know it. There seems to be a fear associated with the change around the corner. For Susan Sontag, the fading of the cinephiliac experience (both due to changing film techniques that inhibit scanning and to a declining love for the cinema in younger generations) has resulted in a highly commercialized cinema that lulls its spectators into inattention. For Geoffrey Cheshire, the digital technology associated with television will result in a change in the cinematic experience, wherein the cinema that was once a place of immersion will become a place for live interaction and, thus, distraction. Both insinuate that spectators today lack the ability to notice the details within the visual image. Whether this is due to a change in film style (faster cutting, less long shots) or a change in attention span (why can't I have my cell phone on during the movie?), it does appear that the cinematic experience is changing.

Scholars and critics usually have one of two responses: to fear and denounce technological (and experiential) change OR to embrace it, asking...what can this do for the cinema? Your job is to offer your opinion on this topic. How has the cinema changed in the last decade, and is this a good or a bad thing?

Like we discussed in class, you will use the film to DO theory. In other words, begin from a moment in Melancholia (von Trier, 2011) that resonates with you. The implications of this moment within the film's plot don't necessarily matter; what is more important is what you DO with the knowledge you create from it. (Something like this: There was a moment when....and it made me wonder how this applies to my reaction as a spectator...or how it applies to the drastic responses of critics in relation to the 'death' of the cinema...) Remember, this is YOUR theory, your opinion. You can reference the articles we discussed, but your post is about what YOU think about how cinema is changing/dying/coming to life/morphing into something new.

Group TWO: 300 words minimum; due Friday by 3:00 pm.

Group ONE: Respond to (agree or disagree with) someone's post using a DIFFERENT moment from the film to either build on or contradict the position presented, 300 words minimum, due Sunday by noon.