Food, appetite and consumption in postmodern film
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Date
2009-01-12T09:51:06Z
Authors
Isaacson, Sara
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Abstract
Abstract
The following dissertation aims to analyse and explore the significance of consumption
and consumerism, from both a personal and global perspective, by viewing society
through the prism of what it chooses to eat. It will be argued that food is a powerful tool
of communication, as it allows one to assert a sense of individuality and at the same time,
integration in the world, with the choice of certain foods, the rejection of others and the
specific preparation we choose to impose on our food in order to make it suit our personal
and cultural tastes. Appetite is explored insofar as there are many kinds other than the
culinary; the sexual, the violent and thus the origins and ramifications of these appetites
must be explored in order to better understand why we consume. The choice of American,
French and English texts allow for a broader scope of analysis, and what these countries
choose to include in their cultural diets allows us to better understand the consumerism
within their societies. The significance of using film is that it provides a richly visual
impact which one could compare to the surveying of a sumptuous meal. It is said that we
eat with our eyes first, and the camera allows us to witness the consumption we see
taking place on screen and we are encouraged to consume the films by reflecting on our
own consumptive habits and appetites. The theatrical style of Tarantino and Greenaway
allows for the intertextuality between film and the stage. The blending of time frames in
Jeunet and Caro’s work with the use of a retro-style film that actually takes place in the
future and Tarantino’s use of a non-linear narrative, allows the potency and power of film
to emerge; what the camera allows us to see and what it hides from us, especially when
expressing the concerns of postmodernism. We are given the opportunity to relate to the
characters of these films by viewing what they eat, what appetites they cultivate, the
effects of their consumptive habits, and finally, we are encouraged to consider what role
we play in the consumer world.