Student: Samuel Bundenthal
Graduation date: May 2019
Type: Concentration (single major)
Date approved: December 2016
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Summary
American cinema has existed for over a hundred years. In this time, thousands of films have been produced, which have been both reflections and influences upon our culture and our ideology, and have contributed to the cultural zeitgeist. (Mittman 2012). Given that this relationship exists, this concentration is concerned with how American Cinema as an art form and as an industry has helped shape our ideas about ‘the environment’, and what this has done to aid or detract from social movements around conservation, climate change, and environmental justice.
Anders Hanson argues that, as ‘the environment’ has become a key public and political concern, much of what we know and learn about it comes from the media. Despite being an idea that is not easily definable, such attempts to frame it have largely been shaped by it’s portrayals in the media. This extends much deeper than just our beliefs and our knowledge about these issues, but also how we as individuals, communities, and societies, view, perceive, and relate to our environment (Hanson 2011).
To measure these influences, Daniel Franklin theorized 1st and 2nd order effects of film. A 1st order effect is a direct connection between what we see on a screen and what we do. For example, if a person saw Erin Brockovich (2000) and decided to take up arms against a local energy company’s dangerous regulations. Media, broadly speaking, can also create a worldview that influences behavior. Franklin categorizes this as a 2nd order effect. If climate justice activists are portrayed in film as the protagonists and act heroically, then the viewer of that film will form a positive association with climate justice activists.
Hanson argues that because the construct of the environment cannot speak for itself, problems become well known to the public through claims making and communication, which is largely the duty of the media (Hanson 2010).
How does the discourse affect the film and television industry? Film is primarily a product to be sold and consumed; in order to survive and continue to make money, film producers must continue to innovate and apply new and relevant idea to their storytelling (Lampel and Shamsie 2003). Film does this by reflecting discourses seen in popular culture and transposing them upon a new medium for mass consumption. Michael Ryan and Douglas Kellner write that “cinema and television were integral to the dissemination of the new radical ideas and values” (1988).
The billions of dollars at stake within the film and television industry in America means that there are an extremely diverse set of actors at play. Established production corporations, like Disney or Paramount, are able to more aggressively market their products and the ideas they endorse than an independent company or production. Money becomes a determinant factor in a productions ability to proliferate their message. This means that certain ideas in discourse surrounding climate change, environmental justice, or conservationism don’t get proper dedication, because they are not profitable.
Despite being a place of progressive discourse, the ideas expressed are only allowable within a certain sphere, that ensures the perpetuation of the industry itself without undermining its power. In order to survive, Hollywood must “promote ideology by linking the effect of reality to social values and institutions in such a way that they seem natural or self-evident attributes of an unchanging world,” (Ryan and Kellner, 1988).
This concentration is situated in American film and television as it’s medium of choice. Film and television is primarily an art form, and is thus different from most other mass media. It has the ability to deliver a narrative in a unique format. Film and television is a massive industry in which money is a driving factor for many decisions, but also includes independent filmmakers who may differ from the industrial norm. Film and television is also widely proliferated and consumed across the nation.
This concentration focuses on film and television’s effect on the discourses surrounding climate change, environmental justice, and conservation efforts. All three of these are topics within the scope of environmental studies which have historically inspired widespread social movements in America and have been the subject of public policy decisions. All three are prominent and current topics in which discourse continues to this day, and include the scientific, socio-political, and ethical frameworks of environmental studies, respectively.
Hereafter, this concentration also uses the shorthand ‘environmental discourse’ to denote all discourse on climate change, environmental justice, and conservation efforts, and, likewise, the shorthand ‘environmental movements’ to denote all climate justice, environmental justice, and conservationist movements.
Gasland (2010) is an independent documentary produced by Josh Fox, who explicitly stated that he created the film to raise awareness about and combat the practice of fracking in America, which he felt was endangering the lives of American citizens. The film was screened at Sundance Film Festival in 2010 to widespread critical acclaim, and owes its viewership and profits to the publicity from the festival. This is a unique film that starts an environmental justice movement in opposition to fracking. Discourse around the practice was nonexistent prior to Fox’s statement, and, since then, the anti-fracking movement has emerged as a veritable force in American politics and policymaking (Vasi et al. 2013).
Franklin’s theory of the orders of effect can be seen in the release of the film Jaws in 1975. The film was the first commercial blockbuster and saw widespread release. However, in the wake of the film’s screening, America saw a rise in shark deaths as byproducts of fishing and as the result of deliberate shark hunting. In the 1st order, we see people emulating the actions of characters they see on screen- that of hunting sharks. In the 2nd order, we see that people develop a mindset that sharks are inherently malicious and hunt humans, which in turn influences their behavior. There existed little need for conservationists to fight to protect sharks prior to the film’s release, because this mindset had not yet become a public issue. Once the fear is incepted into the public consciousness, it becomes difficult to remove that fear, especially if the fear is of a massive predator like a shark.
Terra Nova is a science-fiction television show produced by Steven Spielberg, which aired on Fox for a single season in 2011. The show initially takes place in the near future, where overpopulation and the overexploitation of resources threatens all life on earth. This premise relates to Franklin’s 2nd order of effect. What does this portrayal do? Population and resource use are seen as the biggest problems in the world, and the show presents population control and resource management as panacea’s for these problems. Despite being a relatively new production, it still assumes the problems and the solvency of classic environmental thought from decades ago, and perpetuates a Malthusian ideal of the tragedy of the commons.
Filmography:
Erin Brockovich. March 17, 2000. Directed by Steven Soderbergh. USA: Universal Pictures. Film.
Gasland. January 24, 2010. Directed by Josh Fox. USA: HBO International. Film.
Jaws. June 20, 1975. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Universal Pictures. 1975. Film.
Terra Nova. 2011. Produced by Steven Spielberg, Created by Kelly Marcel and Craig Silverstein. Fox.
Bibliography:
Mitman, Gregg. Reel Nature: America’s Romance with Wildlife on Film. University of Washington Press, 2012.
Franklin, Daniel P. Politics and Film: The Political Culture of Film in the United States. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2006.
Hanson, Anders. “Communication, media, and Environment: Towards reconnecting research on the production, content, and social implications of environmental communication”, the International Communication Gazette vol. 73 no. 1-2 (7-25) (2011).
Hansen, Anders. Environment, Media and Communication. Routledge, 2010.
Vasi, Ion Bogdan, Edward T Walker, John S Johnson, and Hui Fen Tan. ““No Fracking Way!” Documentary Film, Discursive Opportunity, and Local Opposition against Hydraulic Fracturing in the United States, 2010 to 2013.” American Sociological Review 80, no. 5 (2015): 934-59.
Ryan, Micahel and Douglas Kellner. Camera Politica: The Politics and Ideology of Contemporary Hollywood Film. Indiana University Press, 1990.
Lampel, Joseph and Jamal Shamsie. “Capabilities in Motion: New Organizational Forms and the Reshaping of the Hollywood Movie Industry”, Journal of Management Studies vol. 40 no. 8 (2189-2210) (2003)
Questions
- Descriptive: How have films or television programs influenced environmental discourses in the past? How has the coverage of these movements in film and television changed over time? How do film and television differ in their messages about environmental movements?
- Explanatory: How big a role does money play in both motivating and allowing for the creation of films with messages about environmental movements, regardless of the value judgement therein? Is the critical or commercial success of a film or the ratings of a television show a determinate factor in its ability to influence discourses?
- Evaluative: How vital is media in the form of film of television coverage to the success or failure of environmental movements? Who or what directly benefits from the production of film and television that focuses on climate change, conservation, or environmental justice? What are the strengths and weaknesses of film and television as media for this discourse?
- Instrumental: Should more or less agency be given to film television as mediums for the proliferation of discourse on climate change, environmental justice, and conservation efforts? Should filmmakers continue to work within the Hollywood system or should they work independently, if they want to contribute to the discourse?
Concentration courses
- RHMS 425 (American Cinema Studies, 4 credits), fall 2018. Capstone project for situating and studying American Cinema anyhow it has changed as an art form over it's lifetime.
- RHMS 325 (The Documentary Form, 4 credits) fall 2017. Analysis of how documentaries are made and how messages are conveyed in this format.
- RHMS 302 (Media Theory, 4 credits) spring 2017. Foundational study of how media operates in a democracy like the United States, and how they interact with society at large.
- ENVS 350 ( Environmental Theory, 4 credits) spring 2017. Critical thinking about environmental theory to understand how discourse has changed over time.
Arts and humanities courses
- PHIL 215 (Philosophy and the Environment, 4 credits). Pre-approved A&H course; no justification required.
- ENG 300 (Fiction Writing, 4 credits) fall 2017. Critical to understanding the art of storytelling and message creation in narrative fiction.