Invisible Children: A Case Study

In 2003, three young film school graduates—Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey, and Laren Poole—decided to take a trip to Sudan to make a documentary. None of them had ever made a documentary before, and only one of them had ever been to Africa. They earned money by sending off letters to friends and family asking for donations, bought their equipment off of eBay, and got on a plane to Africa. They met up with Jolly Okot, who became their guide during their adventure. She offered to drive the boys to Sudan. However, on the way to Sudan, a truck in front of them was shot and the road became too dangerous to travel (Invisible Children: Rough Cut, 2003). Jason, Bobby, and Laren were stuck in Gulu, Uganda for the night (Sarette). Gulu is located in northern Uganda just south of Sudan, an area now considered one of the most dangerous places in the world (Thomson). While in Gulu, they quickly became aware of dozens of children flocking to the city. They asked Jolly what was happening, and she explained that every night the children would travel several miles on foot to the city to sleep in hospitals, bus stations, verandas, and anywhere else they could find space to curl up. She then told them a horrifying story: Every night, a rebel group called the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), led by a man named Joseph Kony, traveled through the villages, kidnapping children, killing their families, and forcing the children to become soldiers in his war against the Ugandan government. The children ran away to hide from Kony and his army (Deneen).

The rebel movement began in the 1980s with a woman named Alice Lakwena, who believed that the Holy Spirit spoke to her and told her to overthrow the government of Uganda. She gained a strong following, known as the Holy Spirit Movement, and lead a powerful resistance against the government. When she was exiled a few years later, Joseph Kony took over, claiming to be Lakwena’s cousin and saying that the Holy Spirit spoke to him as well. However, Kony’s following was not as large. The people of Uganda began to grow tired of the rebellion, and lost interest. In order to replenish his diminishing numbers, Kony and his rebels resorted to abducting children and training them to be soldiers (Eichstaedt xix). It is believed that over ninety percent of Kony’s troops were abducted as children (Batstone 111).

The Ugandan government has not done much to help the situation, though they have made attempts. In 1996 they began relocating citizens to displacement camps, where they hoped to be able to protect them from the LRA (Batstone 145). However, the camps were disgusting places full of disease, cramped space, and food shortages, and though the government promised to return these people—called internally displaced persons, or IDPs—to their homes, approximately one million people still live in these camps today (Eichstaedt 29). Now, in 2011, the war between the LRA rebels and the government of Uganda is the longest-running war in Africa, and has also been called “the most neglected humanitarian emergency” in the world today (invisiblechildren.com).

Jason, Bobby, and Laren knew that now that they had this information, there was no way they could ignore it. The result of their visit to Uganda was Invisible Children: Rough Cut, a fifty-five-minute documentary exposing the horror that until then seemed as though it could only exist in fiction. The film is fast-paced, described as having an “MTV-feel” as opposed to a “PBS-feel” (Sarette). In order to get their film out there, they used what is known as “guerilla marketing;” they recruited fifty college students to travel the country with them in a van to screen Rough Cut at roughly one thousand venues such as high schools, universities, and churches (Steers). These screenings marked the beginning of the Invisible Children movement. Once they saw their audiences’ reactions and realized the impact of their film, they founded Invisible Children, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to exposing the plight of the child soldiers and seeing an end to the LRA’s reign (Khabie).

Invisible Children, Inc.’s outreach is unique; they use film as a primary tool for their outreach, producing both DVD releases and online videos. The organization partnered with Digitaria, a digital marketing and technology firm, to develop a brand and a website (Khabie). Since Rough Cut, Invisible Children, Inc. has released several other films and dozens of online videos. These films and videos are their main method for communicating with their supporters and distributing updates and calls to action. In addition to their online marketing, which also includes an email system and a frequently updated blog, the organization continues to travel around the country screening different films. Invisible Children’s outreach program is deliberately targeted to the population they want to impact: students. As mentioned before, their films and videos have a distinct “MTV feel” to them, and the majority of their screenings are held at high schools or universities (Sarette). Their films were also shown on the socially conscious television network Halogen in April 2010 (Chowning).

Invisible Children, Inc.’s calls to action are never general; they are always very specific, dedicating each video to one specific child. They design their campaigns around helping individuals, people with names, faces, and stories (Sarette). The Roadies—the volunteers who spend months traveling the country screening the films—actually bring some of the former child soldiers with them on the tours and let that individual tell his or her story firsthand (Sarette). The organization designs campaigns that get their supporters physically involved. For example, during the “Global Night Commute” in 2007, thousands of people walked several miles to a central location and slept there; the purpose was to raise awareness for the children in Uganda who would commute every night to avoid abduction by the LRA. During the “Displace Me” campaign, also in 2007, even more people left the comfort of their homes and spent the night in the streets to experience what it was like to be displaced (invisiblechildren.com). These tactics make the plight of the children of northern Uganda more tangible, even if it is just symbolic, and are therefore more likely to draw people into the cause.

In 2009, Invisible Children began a movement called “We Want Obama.” The organization created a Citizens Arrest Warrant for Joseph Kony, which was subsequently signed by 259,472 people. This warrant called on President Obama to take action against the LRA. Invisible Children came up with the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009. The purpose of this law is:

“Stopping the LRA, by mandating President Obama to devise an interagency strategy to prevent LRA violence, which should include a multilateral plan to apprehend top LRA leaders, encourage defections of rebel commanders, demobilize child soldiers, and protect civilians from rebel attacks; and investing in sustainable peace, by targeting US assistance to recovery and reconciliation efforts in northern Uganda, which are essential to rebuilding and healing war-affected communities and preventing future conflicts” (“LRA”).

There were three separate campaigns involved in the movement. The first was called “How it Ends.” On June 22 and 23, 2009, nearly two thousand people traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with their elected officials. They joined over four hundred lobbying meetings to request that Congress pass the bill. As a result of this campaign, sixty-six Representatives and seventeen Senators co-sponsored the bill. The next phase was called “Hometown Shakedown.” On November 18, 2009, thousands of activists made phone calls to their Senators and Representatives, again attempting to persuade them to pass the bill. As a result, seven Senators and six Representatives co-sponsored, including Majority Leader Harry Reid and Foreign Relations Committee Chair John Kerry. The support of these two men led to the Senate’s first vote on the bill in December 2009. The fight for the bill went on for the next six months (“LRA”).

The third step of the movement was called “Dr. Coburn: Please Say Yes.” On December 19, 2009, Senator Coburn blocked the bill from passing in the Senate; his reasoning was that he had concerns about the source of funding for recovery and rehabilitation of Uganda. Over fifty activists pledged to stand outside Coburn’s office for twenty-four hours a day until the block was lifted. Eleven days later, Coburn finally pledged his support. The next day, the bill passed unanimously in the Senate. By the end of the “We Want Obama” movement, the bill had a record-breaking amount of support from Congress: two hundred sixty-seven members of Congress cosponsored the bill. Due to the incredible amount of public support, President Obama held a public signing ceremony for the bill and released the first statement by any administration outlining the United States government’s commitment to ending the threat of the LRA (“LRA”).

Invisible Children, Inc. publicized the “We Want Obama” campaign through their blog and through online videos imploring supporters to help. The success of this campaign is a great example of how the organization operates through films and videos. The videos are shorter, more commercialized, and focus on whatever specific campaign is happening at the moment, or advertising for upcoming tours and events. The films are about bigger issues; Rough Cut is about exposing the plight of the children and raising awareness about the atrocities of the LRA. One form of media is not more or less effective than the other; both have specific purposes and both carry out their purposes quite successfully. The organization does not have huge distribution deals for their films; they have to rely almost exclusively on their own resources, and their success in promoting themselves has earned Bobby, Laren, and Jason appearances on popular television talk shows like Oprah and Larry King Live, in magazines like Rolling Stone and GQ, and endorsements by celebrities such as Pete Wentz and Kristen Bell (invisiblechildren.com). Invisible Children, Inc.’s goal is not to make as much money as they can, or become famous. Their purpose is to expose the situation in northern Uganda to as many people as possible and provoke a reaction from their audiences.

The original reaction to the first ten minutes of the film is typically humor; it seems as though it will tell the story of three young men who go on a crazy adventure in Africa, discover themselves, and return home with a fun story to tell. But as the film goes on, it has an intensely sobering effect; one particularly heartbreaking scene involves a young man named Jacob, who had escaped from the life of a child soldier and was being hunted by the LRA. He mentions early on in the film that the children do not cry; if they cry, and the rebels see them, the rebels will kill them for being weak. But towards the end of the film, when talking about his older brother who was killed by the LRA and what he would say to his brother if he saw him again, Jacob dissolves into heart-wrenching sobs, and the camera stays on him for almost two minutes as he cries. The filmmakers use images such as this, coupled with sad yet inspiring music, to create a dramatic effect. The audience can never fully understand the plight of these children and the lives they have led. The way the film is presented draws the audience in and makes them connect with the characters; Jacob becomes a protagonist of sorts, and when he breaks down into tears only a heartless person would not want to take him in his or her arms and comfort him.

In addition to the hundreds of thousands of people who participate in the campaigns and movements instigated by Invisible Children, many more thousands of people have helped in monetarily. One program started by the organization is called Schools for Schools (S4S). The goal of S4S is to raise the standards of secondary education in northern Uganda and to encourage and support rehabilitation and recovery purposes. Schools around the country are involved in a competition to raise the most money, which is used to build and reform schools in Uganda (invisiblechildren.com). According to the Invisible Children website, S4S raised over one million dollars this year. Donations also support the Legacy Scholarship Program, which provides scholarships and mentoring to high school and university students from northern Uganda. Thanks to the donations, Invisible Children, Inc. is currently able to provide scholarships to 563 secondary school students and 201 university students. Audience members have also joined the TRI Foundation, which requires them to donate three dollars a week, or twelve dollars a month, to Invisible Children. All of the money goes towards rehabilitation and recovery programs (invisiblechildren.com).

Overall, the audience reaction has been to take action. One young student said after a screening, “At first, the movie is so funny it gets your attention, but by the end, you just feel responsible and obligated to do something to help” (Vaughn). This reaction is typical of most audiences, and it is exactly the reaction that Invisible Children is hoping to create. However, there is a lot of criticism about Invisible Children, Inc. Many people say that the boys took a stupid risk by thinking they could just walk into the most dangerous place in the world unprepared and unprotected—they did not even do a lot of research about Sudan before they left. They simply relied on Jason Russel’s experience from his trip to Kenya, and it did not seem to occur to them, from what Rough Cut shows, anyway, that Kenya and Sudan are two very different worlds. Many critics—specifically people who have worked “on the ground” in Uganda for months or years—say that three white boys from California could never possibly hope to understand a day in the life of a northern Ugandan citizen. These critics claim that the organization was started by rich, private-school kids who just want to feel like they are making a difference in the word, and they refer to the organization as being full of hypocrites who preach about the issues all day before returning home to their soft beds and other luxuries (Steers). These criticisms are completely understandable, though it is heartbreaking that some people can be so dismissive of such an important cause. But despite these critical views, the overwhelming response is anger, empathy, and the desire to take action.

The media has a tendency to focus its attention on economically relevant issues. In his book Not For Sale, David Batstone says, “Perhaps if the rebels were stealing oil rather than children, the world would pay more attention” (135). Thanks to Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey, and Laren Poole, the world has started to pay attention. Ultimately, it is not a question of whether the films are more effective or the actions are more effective. Rough Cut was able to expose the situation, which led to more films and videos, which led to actions, which led to the social change. It is all one long chain of events; none of the steps could have happened without the ones before it, and none of the other films or actions would have occurred at all if not for Rough Cut. However, even though all of these steps have been taken as a result of Invisible Children: Rough Cut, the war in Uganda is not over. Invisible Children is still holding campaigns to raise awareness and aid; on April 25, 2011, they will hold the “25 Campaign”, in which thousands of people will go silent for twenty-five hours so that the victims of the LRA can be heard. Money raised for this campaign will fund “The Invisible Children Protection Plan” and other rehabilitation projects. Invisible Children also has plans to tackle Joseph Kony in The Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and Sudan, where he and his troops have spread and continue to cause terror. Since Rough Cut was made, so many more people are aware of Africa’s longest-running war. As of 2009, the LRA has been charged by the International Criminal Court with eighty-six counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity (Eichstaedt 8). Kony himself has thirty-three (9). In December 2001, President George W. Bush declared the LRA a terrorist organization (Batstone 135). There is no way to know if this issue would have been brought to light without the work of these three young men, but because of their film the issue was brought to the world’s attention much sooner. So the ultimate question is, “Can a film change the world?” The answer: Yes, yes it can, and the proof can be seen in Invisible Children: Rough Cut.



Works Cited

Batstone, David. Not For Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade and How We Can
Fight It. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2007. Print.

Chowning, Kyle. “Halogen TV to Air Television Premiere of Invisible Children
Documentaries.” Halogen. Web. 2 Apr. 2010. 8 Feb. 2011.

Deneen, Sally. “Making a Difference—Invisible Children: Helping Young Victims in War-
Torn Africa.” Success. Web. 2011. 8 Feb. 2011.

Eichstaedt, Peter. First Kill Your Family. Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books, 2009. Print.

Invisiblechildren.com

Khabie, Daniel. “Making Invisible Children Visible.” bizSanDiego. Web. 4 Jan. 2007. 8 Feb.
2011.

“LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009.” Resolve. Web. 2011. 8 Feb.
2011.

Russell, Jason, Bobby Bailey, and Laren Poole. Invisible Children: Rough Cut. 2003. Film.

Sarette, Chris, and Susannah Vila. “How a Documentary Film Led to New Legislation.”
Alliance for Youth Movements. Web. 2011. 8 Feb. 2011.

Steers, Julia. “Giving a Voice to Africa’s Child Soldiers.” The Huffington Post. Web. 22 Feb. 2011. 25 Feb. 2011.

Thomson, Mike. “Who Can Stop the LRA?” BBC. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. 27 Feb. 2011.

Vaughn, Peggy. “Opening Eyes to Uganda’s ‘Invisible Children.’” Gazette. Web. 14 Feb. 2007.
28 Feb. 2011.

Trans-Cinema Night

Emily Collette, Kate E Lykins, Queer Straight Alliance, and

Stephens College Film series Present:

A TRANS-CINEMA DISCUSSION

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6th at 7:00 p.m.

STEPHENS COLLEGE- CHARTERS AUDITORIUM

Come for a discussion with a panel featuring Elise Taggart-counselor for Trans-people, her guests, as well as a few friends from Stephen’s own QSA!

The Low Down on Trans-Cinema Night

Emily Collette and I (Kate E Lykins) am throwing an event for our 'Cinema and Social Change' class. The assignment is to "work on organizing a screening and implementing an outreach plan." I chose the topic of Trans-people because a good friend of mine began her transition into a woman almost three years ago and it has been a fascinating story. I am considering making a short doc about her for my senior film project. I know there are many people that don't know much about Trans-people so we are organizing this program to both inform and inspire people that would like to know more.

Here's the DETAILS:

WHEN: Wednesday, April 6th at 7:00 p.m.

WHERE: Charters Auditorium in Stephen's College

WHO: Emily Collette and Kate E Lykins. We are screening the film through Stephens College's Film Club. QSA (Queer Straight Alliance) is assisting in promoting the event by using their Facebook and contacting guests. We wil one or two of Stephen's security available during the panel in case situations need handling.

FILM: Emily and I are going to show TransAmerica because it is a well known movie and we'd be able to discuss the narrative film idea of Trans-people vs. real life.

PR: In order to publicize the event we will use resources such as Facebook, Twitter, and E-mail. We will also give out flyers.

MEDIA: There will no media present at the event.

Here's the PLAN:

1) Emily and I will arrive at Charters Auditorium around 6:45 p.m. to set up and greet those who show up.

2) At about 7:00 p.m. we will start "Trans-America"

3)When the film is finished we will set up the panel in front of the room. The panel will consist of Kate, Emily, and guests

4) Kate and Emily will introduce why they created the event. Then the panel will introduce themselves to the audience with their names and a little about themselves.

5) The Panel will be a Q&A between the audience and the members. Emily and I will provide questions to help get the discussion going.

QUESTIONS

*This panel is a Q&A for the audience members that would like to know more. We are planning on asking as little as possible to allow guests to ask questions and for the panel to express what they feel is important. Even so, here are a few questions that may come up.

1) Do you feel that "Trans-America" provides an appropriate representation of Trans-people?

2) How do you feel media effects the Trans-society?

3) Do you feel like Trans-people are correctly represented in film/Hollywood.

4) What are some of the greatest problems that Trans-people face? What can people do to reach out and help?

5) Are there any other films that you feel represent Trans-people in a realistic light?

PLEASE COME!!!

My Case Study Concerning Society and Women Sexuality

CASE STUDY: PASSION AND POWER; THE TECHNOLOGY OF ORGASM

Looking back, in all my years I don’t remember seeing much of the female genitalia. I was lucky to have an extensive stretch of sex ed. throughout school, but there was something missing. I had only been exposed to my lower parts through diagrams and scientific jargon. I was too embarrassed to say the word vagina, let alone ask my mother about it. My first year at a woman’s college I was introduced to the film Passion and Power: The Technology of Orgasm. This film went under the covers to explain the importance of female ‘self love’ and society’s views of it throughout time.

Julie Tietz use the film Passion and Power: The Technology of Orgasm in her curriculum at Cottey College. Via e-mail, I asked why she chose this particular film in her Human sexuality progam. She said,“It shows how views toward sexuality, and female orgasm in particular, have changed over the course of history, It gives context to our current views about female orgasm and masturbation” (Tietz 2011).

Trisha Stubblefield, also a teacher at Cottey, uses this film a lot of her courses concerning women. She says,

“The interviews get to me every time I watch it--one of the main reasons I show it is that, even though many of the women who are interviewed are older, women of all ages STILL are so disconnected from their bodies. To hear older women speak so honestly and openly about their lack of knowledge is very moving (in the same way The Vagina Monologues is)--and to hear students discuss the issues in similar ways is so heartbreaking and so powerful. If women can't connect with/to their own bodies, how can they connect to any other bodies? Plus, I think it's important for students to know that when feminists complain about the government interfering with women's bodies, they aren't ONLY talking about abortion. I think the documentary deals with topics ALL women should know about!! And, I think the history it presents is the kind of history that we have traditionally been denied and that has not been taken seriously by the academy. But, it tells us SO much about gender, power, medicine, consumer culture, etc.!” (Stubblefield 2011).

I chose to focus my case study on Passion and Power: The Technology of Orgasm because it goes deep into the history of society’s views of women sexuality. According P&P, the uterus was “adored” in the medieval ages. The mass public thought that an orgasm was necessary for cJonception. This encouragement of pleasure did primarily focus on the goal of procreation, but pleasure was included.

Rachel Maines, Ph.D., who wrote Technology of Orgasm, the book that inspired this film, revealed a little secret that not many people know. As she was looking in needlework magazines of the early 1900’s, she was shocked to find ads for vibrators. When she looked deeper into the issue, she found that vibrators were touted as an invention to assist with medical problems that had been diagnosed for decades(Passion and Power, 2008).

Maines found that the act of orgasm was thought to be a cure for hysteria. Hysteria is a condition caused by “the revolt of the uterus against neglect” with symptoms like “yawning, itching, stomach upsets, insomnia, disagreeing with husbands, etc” (Passion and Power 2008). Women suffering from hysteria would see their local doctor routinely for their “chronic illness” and pay two to three dollars a visit for a relieving “massage.” These massages of the vulva could take up to an hour and required a lot of skill. The doctors of the time “didn’t like that” and looked for something a little easier(Passion and Power 2008). Thus, the vibrator was born.

After years of adaptions there was a mechanical tool that was “fast, efficient, and required little skill” (Passion and Power, 2008). Soon doctors everywhere treated those poor hysteric maidens with the push of a button. These excursions were expensive so, due to popular demand, it was only reasonable for these magic wands to go on sale to the public. At five to fifteen dollars a pop, your very own buzzer would pay for itself by two to three weeks.

How could it be that women were getting off going to Dr. Phalanges while their husbands went off to work, funding the whole thing? Rachel Maines defines the miracle with one phrase, “social camouflage.” It was seen as a cure and labeled as a massage. Why aren’t we still granted the same luxury now every time we are caught “reading french novels while wearing a corset?” (Passion and Power). Vibrators began to appear in stag films and photos. The camouflage cover was blown. Doctors and respectable consumer magazines retired their use of vibrators for fear of being involved with something sexual (Passion and Power 2008).

In the 21st century, I see female masturbation in our world as a social taboo. Any sight or sound of a woman feeling sexual pleasure has threat of being against the law. In the film we meet Joanne Webb, a respectable, all American woman. She saw people all around her uneducated sbout sex and felt it a duty to help educate those in need. Also, a way to earn some extra cash. This housewife started a business with the Passion Parties Company and began to sell “erotic goods” (technologyoforgasm.com 2010).

Joanne’s voice is the first voice you hear when watching Passion and Power: The Technology of Orgasm. She begins with her story.

“There was a voicemail message on my cellphone. It said ‘Mrs. Webb, there has been a warrant issued for your arrest on an obscenity charge. Be sure to turn yourself in between four and five this afternoon with a 1,500$ bond.” (Passion and Power).

As the story unfolds it is revealed that she was arrested for selling vibrators with the intent of her customers using them rather than buying them as “novelties” or “gag gifts” (Passion and Power 2008) This is where we, as an audience realize that It’s illegal to sell vibrators in Texas.

This spoke to females/feminists everywhere. I found this same story being told in a book called Full Frontal Feminism. The chapter concerning sex and masturbation and spoke of a Texan housewife who was arrested for selling vibrators. The book went further to say

“anything that vibrates (and is therefore fun for the ladies) is outlawed in eight states. Seriously- Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Virginia, Alabama, and Colorado all have ‘anti-erotic massager’ laws. Something tells me these states don’t have a similar ban on Lubriderm or Playboy” (pg 39 Valenti, Jessica).

Why is it that men can use tools for sexual satisfaction, but women cannot?

One reason for this anxiety of female pleasure is the media’s repression of it. In the film, This Film is Not Yet Rated, Kirby Dick goes on a hunt to discover the true faces of the group that determines film ratings. The Motion Picture Association of America. One subject he focuses on is the harsh ratings relating to scenes with sex. It seems the more realistic the sex, the older you have to be to see it. The most fantastical or unrealistic films slide by with a mere PG-13 (Kirby Dick, 2006). What does that say about our youth's views on fornication?

What Dick goes on to explore is the fact that female pleasure is far more condemned by the MPAA than a male. The MPAA would brand a film with a NC-17 for having a viewing of pubic hair, but not even flinch at a man convulsing with release (Kirby Dick, 2006). Are we only allowed to see men reach ecstasy and then turn a cold shoulder on a woman getting her share?

There are humorous interpretations everywhere in blockbuster movies such as American Pie (1999) and Fired Up(2009). Knocked Up (2007) doesn’t show any character “cocking the gun,” but there are frequent discussions about using a maple leaf tattoo as a target and a husband’s personal gratification habit ruining the softness of towels. Now, compare the number of films in which you see or hear about male masturbation and that of females.

2010 was an amazing year of Hollywood with two well-known movies that bravely portrayed women masturbation. In The Runaways (2010), Kristen Stewart sits outside a door while coaching her fellow band mate how to feel good. Oscar winning Natalie Portman expiraments with her pleasure in Black Swan (2010). Both were honest representations of masturbation.

I think just seeing that masturbation is out there is huge for the development of young women. Film and television arethe strongest representations of “seeing is believing.” We saw these women masturbate on TV, therefore we know self-love exists. Trisha Stubblefield says

“I think [Passion and Power] is [an effective source of media in inducing social change concerning women sexuality]. For example, I KNOW women who think they are deformed in the ways Betty Dodson talks about. Those misguided beliefs have a serious effect on these women's self identity, self worth, intimate relationships, etc. Getting information out there is so important; women talking to other women is so important; recovering women's history is so important. Part of why I show the DVD is that I hope to inspire students to work for social change--I hope the video angers them and saddens them and moves them to act in some way.” (Stubblefield)

Passion and Power: The Technology of Orgasm has created quite a life for itself. It was released in 2008 and has been awarded as “being one of the best Docs of 2009” by the Video Librarians Staff (technologyoforgasm.com). The film is being sold as an educational DVD, which allowed me to see it for the first time. As a documentary, it had a successful festival life. It screened At the Siskel Film Center, NYU, Cornell, Philadelphia International Film Festival, San Francisco Women’s Film Festival, and many more (technologyoforgasm.com).

It’s important for the society to embrace the female genitalia and the pleasure it can bring. This could also fix a lot of relationships by helping women feel more confident in being equal when in a sexual relationship. They will know what they like.

“It’s impossible to tell another person what gives you pleasure if you can’t give yourself pleasure. Think about how difficult it would be to show someone how to play the piano if you’d never seen one before” (Pg 61. Carol Livoti, 2004).

The knowledge of one’s own body could be a catalyst for the desire to share the information with a partner. That communication is a good path to go on in order to have a healthy sexual relationship.

“Women have been denied too much for too long, and they have internalized misogyny for too long, and they have so much to offer the world and themselves, and they are human beings! I encourage liberation by choosing to make my career in a women's college (in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere!), by mentoring students, by encouraging their voices, by supporting their choices, by treating them as adult human beings, by listening to them, by presenting information they need to know, by developing in them skills to make their voices heard, by taking them seriously.” (Stubblefield 2011)

As a feminist, much like Trisha Stubblefield, I plan to go out of my way to inspire women around me to take pride in their clitorises and to talk about it. Maybe this way some young woman who’s scared of her downstairs will be brave enough to turn on the light.

~

Case Study: Passion and Power; The Technology of Orgasm BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

American Pie. Dir. Paul Weitz." Perf. Biggs, Jason. Universal Pictures: 1999, Film.

Fired Up. Dir. Will Gluck." Sony Pictures: 2009, Film

Knocked Up. Dir. Judd Apatow." Perf. Rogan, Seth. Universal Pictures: 2007, Film.

Livoti, Carol and Topp, Elizabeth, First. Vaginas: An Owner's Manual. 1st ed. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 2004. 58-61. Print.

Passion and Power; The Technology of Orgasm. Dir. Omori, Emiko. Slick, Wendy." Perf. Betty Dodson, Rachel Maines, Reno, Beann Sisemore, Joanne Webb, Katherine Young, Dell Williams. First Run Features: 2008, Film.

"Passion and Power: The Technology of Orgasm."Passion and Power: The Technology of Orgasm. Wabi Sabi Productions, 2010. Web. 28 Feb 2011. .

Stubblefield, Trisha- Professor. E-mail Interview by Kate E Lykins 07 03, 2011. 14 March 2011.

This Film is Not Yet Rated. Dir. Kirby Dick." Independent Film Channel: 2006, Film.

Tietz, Julie- Human Sexuality Professor. E-mail Interview by Kate E Lykins. 27 02 2011. 28 Feb 2011.

Valenti, Jessica. Full Frontal Feminism. 1st ed. Berkeley: Seal Publishing, 2007. Print.

"You'll see that life isn't like your fairy tales"

WHOOOOO! Happy spring break everyone! For our lovely class we had an option to turn in an additional blog either on Pan's Labyrinth or Children of Men. I didn't quite have enough time to go into depth on a blog (the year's almost over, sooooooooooo many things due) so I decided to type up quotes form the reading that I found interesting.

INTERESTING "QUOTES" and *SUBJECT MATTER

In the article 'Directors without Borders' Lynn Hirshberg comments on our culture's choice of films to produce and compares it to those of the featured directors within her article.

"Most American films are content to examine simple, narcissistic matters of romance or family, these three directors consistently tacke more existential questions of sin and forgiveness."

*The article describes the strong partnership between Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuaro.

*Catholic fairy tale combined with the Spanish Civil War

* The film has a lot of Biblical meaning

"Lately, foreign directors are better making movies about America than Americans,"

-Inarritu

"Hollywood wants to open borders, and the president wants to close them."

-Inarritu

"I try to take all that's beautiful about religion- free will, virtue, nobility- and apply it to life. Ultimately, my films are about characters trying to access some kind of spiritual realm on earth."

-Del Toro

'Two Dystopian Movies... and their Visions of Hope.' Katje Richstatter

"The need to find or create meaning seems to be one commonality of human existence- through storytelling, myth, or religion, we can connect to our core decency, a place untouched by the vagaries of the world."

-Katje R.

Both films

"offer a choice between humanity and civilization."

-Katje R.

"Pan is a fairy tale and a political fable."

-Katje R.

*There are three types of characters: Evil (Captain Vidal), good (Ofelia, mother, allies, rebel army), and innocent (Ofelia's bro).

I took a 'Germanic Mythology and Literature' class where we used the "Collection of Grimms Fairy Tales" translated by Jack Zipes. When scanning the ' Video Review' article I was incredibly excited to see that Zipes had written it. What a fascinating intellectual to analyze a film that tells a tale from such a different culture than that of Grimms.

"Without magic, Ofelia cannot save her mother, and it is questionable to whether she can save herself"

-Zipes

"What good is it to read fairy tales or even view fairy-tale films in times of darkness?"

-Zipes

"Del Toro wants to penetrate the spectacle fo society that glorifies and conceals the pathology and corruption of people in power. He wants to see life as it is."

-Zipes

Zipes says that Pan's Labirynth is a

"fairy-tale film that offers a corrective and more 'realistic' vision of thte world, in contrast to the diversionary and myopic manner in chich many people see reality."

*Ofelia's struggle for reconciliation between the horrors. Arduous tasks.

*She resorts to interpreting the and seeing them as part of a real fairy tale.

*Del toro associates Ofelia with Snow White. Only Ofelia "will not find refuge" Instead she is "menaced and killed" by her step father.

"It is she who appropriates the tale and creates it so that she can deal with forces."

-Zipes

*Ofelia's red dress goes with the red shoes of oz

*Her spirit lives on

Del Toro insists

"on the great significance of looking, perceiving, recognizing and realizing."

"Open our eyes"

*Neither world is safe

*Not a happy ending, but hope

RAISE USEFUL QUESTIONS

• Is America losing it's ability to tell a good story.
• Does America have an identity issue?
• How often are biblical themes emphasized in films?
• Is the president really trying to close borders? Is it effecting Hollywood?
• Are the messages Hollywood chooses shallow?
• What is the effect of making films from books or vice-versa?
• Do films ruin the imagination that comes from reading?

NEW TERMINOLOGY RESEARCH- Lovely Dictionary.com

Diversionary- Something that distracts from business. The act of diverting from a specified course.

Myopic- Unable or unwilling to act prudently; short sided.

Fair Spray

I was very reluctant to accept John Waters as a director because I'm not certain I jive with his films. Indeed, Hairspray does have this campiness to it that makes it easy to reject. However, I found John Waters to be one of the more fascinating filmmakers to read about. He appears to be a very honorable, thoughtful man, which wins him my respect. Be that as it may, I will admit that my immediate prejudice against him took a while to tread through. The more I read about him, the more horrified I became. I was beginning to realize he reminded me a lot of myself, and this seemed difficult to come to terms with.

Nevertheless, because the intent of this blog is to focus on how Hairspray impacted society, I must evade my digression on John Waters.

The bare essentials of Hairspray revolve around a 1960s teen, Tracy Turnblad, and her best friend Penny Pingleton who fulfill their dream to be on the Corny Collins Show. Despite being chastised for her plump figure and weighing in on newfound trends, Tracy wades through her racist culture and befriends blacks in her high school special education course. With her growing fame and increasing passion, Tacey battles for racial integration on the Corny Collins Show.

The story plays out as one might expect, which was why it came as no surprise to learn that it did not do well in the box office. In fact, it was much more successful as a Broadway musical, only to be remade into a movie in 2007.

Waters based the Corny Collins show off the Baltimore native Buddy Dean Show. When interviewed, Buddy claimed:


“The kids said they didn't care if we let black
youngsters on the show. Hell, they were going to school
together. But they said their parents didn't want it.”

This seems to be prevalent problem: people trying to control others. Is it not the duty of a parent to guide, not govern their child? There appears to be a pattern surfacing in almost any major issue that involves things turning rotten when someone places unnecessary authority over another. Thankfully, Tracey Turnblad had enough confidence and rationale to realize that unequal treatment regarding race was unjust. My only thought is that we should encourage others to be free thinkers, not people pleasers.

Words of Interest:

Jettisoned - throw or drop from an aircraft or ship

Vaudeville - a type of entertainment popular chiefly in the U.S. in the early 20th century, featuring a mixture of specialty acts such as burlesque comedy and song and dance.

Coprophagous – eating of feces or dung

Welcome to the 60's

Hairspray tells the story of a “pleasantly plump” young girl named Tracy Turnblad who rebels against the social norm by joining the cast of dancers on her favorite TV show—despite being heavier than the rest of the dancers—and using her celebrity status to advocate integration on television. It is based on the true story of the 1960s television show The Buddy Deane Show and the day it became the first integrated show on television, though the film is actually a parody.

The plot is not the only device Waters uses to get his point across; the entirety of this film is a commentary on the issue of segregation/integration. For example, most of the film is presented in color, except for the instances of the characters watching The Corny Collins Show on television; their television sets are black and white, so we see the images as they are broadcast to the television. According to the Curry article “Hairspray: The Revolutionary Way to Restructure and Hold your History,” the sequences shown in color indicate a fantasy world, “a longing perhaps of Waters himself for a redesigned history.” Essentially, the black and white world that we see on television represents the reality; everything we see is restricted (i.e. whatever the camera in the TV studio is pointed at, that’s what we’re forced to look at), and everything is seen in terms of black and white. The irony comes in when the television is showing Tracy; she is the metaphorical shade of grey and the reason that the people in her world begin viewing the world differently.

Another device Waters employs in Hairspray is the metamorphosis of hairstyles. At the beginning of the film, Tracy sports a hairstyle “in imitation of Jackie Kennedy.” Once she becomes an icon for political and social change, she teases her hair higher and colors it half blonde, half brunette—blatant symbolism in support of integration, especially when her hair color appears black and white on television. At the end of the film, after she is told that she can’t cause change by using her hairstyle, she irons it out into the signature “black” look Waters uses in the film. Curry points out that in addition to the racial symbolism, Waters uses the changing of hairstyles to indicate “the passing away of time and the passing away of issues.”

One other element Waters uses is dance styles. On The Corny Collins Show, the white kids do “white dances,” dances that have very controlled, specific steps that the kids must memorize and practice, as is evident in the scene between beauty queen Amber and her overbearing mother; Velma forces Amber to rehearse her dances while they are having a conversation, and she tells Amber that if she doesn’t practice, she won’t get more close-ups on the show, and they send her to Catholic school. The “black dances” are looser, more relaxed, and allow more freedom of movement, which in turn allows more freedom of expression. The African American dancers dance because they love it; the dancers on The Corny Collins show dance to be famous, to be popular, and to please their parents.

John Waters has very specific tastes when it comes to making his films. Most of his films garner an NC-17 rating, though this does not bother Waters; in an interview with Greg Varner, he says, “People don’t even know what NC-17 means!...There isn’t anything the matter with NC-17.” (He does go on to voice his displeasure with the phrases “slapped with” and “branded with” in reference to getting an NC-17 rating, instead of simply saying “rated with.”) However, Hairspray earned a PG rating, making it his tamest, most family-friendly film. I personally am very impressed by this fact; it shows that Waters is more concerned with the message of his films than with attempting to bate the MPAA by packing his films with things the ratings board will see as inappropriate. It shows that the content of his other films actually means something to him, even if it is questionable and even if it means nothing to everyone else. He is also very aware that his films are satirical. Pauline Kael says in the article “The Current Cinema: God’s Pickpockets” that “the movie makes no claim to realism -- or to absurdism either.” Waters is aware that he is not telling a completely factual story (the film is based on the true story of The Buddy Deane Show, which was canceled after it aired black and white dancers integrated on the air), or even a completely realistic story. Waters said in an interview with Dennis Cooper that his films “are about real people who would never win in real life. They always win in my movies.” Hairspray tells the humorous and entertaining story of “How History Should Have Played Out: Life According to John Waters.”

New Terminology:

Coprophagous: [coprophagia] the eating of feces or dung

Zaftig: (of a woman) having a full, rounded figure; plump

Bouffant: (of a person’s hair) styled so as to puff out in a rounded shape
Miscegenated: [miscegenation] the interbreeding of people considered to be of different racial types

Dadaism: [Dada] an early 20th-century international movement in art, literature, music, and film, repudiating and mocking artistic and social conventions and emphasizing the illogical and absurd

Portends: be a signal of

Erudite: having or showing great knowledge or learning

Tchotchke: a small object that is decorative rather than strictly functional; a trinket

The Power of Television

John Waters’ 1988 film Hairspray is about a heavy-set 1960s Baltimore teen named Tracy Turnblad. Tracy and her best friend Penny are huge fans of the local music and dance show “The Corny Collins Show” in which local teens show of the latest dances. Tracy auditions for an open place on the show and makes it on. Once there, her humdrum life is turned upside down when she begins to date the most popular boy on the show, becomes the spokeswoman and model for the Hefty Hideaway clothing boutique, and turns into the biggest female star on “Corny Collins”. Tracy’s fame and large hairdo get her sent to the special education class at school where she meets many of the school’s black students who are put in the class to hold them back. Among those students is Seaweed, the son of “Corny Collins” once-monthly negro day host Motormouth Maybelle. He invites Tracy, her boyfriend Link, and Penny to his mother’s record store in the Black part of Baltimore where they learn about the rich culture there. Penny starts a romance with Seaweed, much to the chagrin of her punishment-crazy mother who locks her in her room with a psychiatrist. The trio becomes aware of and opposed to the segregation going on in Baltimore and, specifically, on “The Corny Collins Show”. They become active protesters and work to get the show integrated, an idea only the station owner and former beauty queen of the show Amber Von Tussle. Tracy is arrested during a race riot at Amber’s parents’ amusement park and is therefore disqualified as a contestant of the Miss Auto Show contest (Amber is her chief rival). In the end Tracy’s friends rally around her and get her pardoned just in time to take the crown from Amber and see Amber’s parents get arrested for planting a bomb in Velma Von Tussle’s enormous hair.

When Hairspray opened many people were surprised because it was John Waters’ mildest film so far. It’s audience was also much broader because of the film’s PG rating. At the end of the film’s theatrical run it grossed an average amount.

Reading the articles for Hairspray made me think mostly about how much impact the media really has on people. At some level it seems like that is what Hairspray is trying to tell us more than anything. “The Corny Collins Show” around which Hairspray is centered is based on a real Baltimore television show in the 60s called “The Buddy Dean Show”. Both shows served as a kind of public playing field for the racial struggles of the time. Television was the place where people made things happen. In the article “Hairspray: The Revolutionary Way to Restructure and Hold Your History” Waters is quoted as saying of the real life “Buddy Dean Show”, “the NAACP targeted the show for protests… There were threats and bomb scares; integrationists smuggled whites into the all-black shows to dance cheek-to-cheek on camera with blacks.” The article also states that the “Buddy Dean Show” (and “Corny Collins” in the movie) allowed “historic moments in popular culture to supersede and actually change those in our nation’s political culture.” As a huge believer in the powers of television (not all television, I also think a lot of it is crap) it is amazing to see this written. It is not just dancing cheek-to-cheek, but doing so on television in front of the huge audience they knew the show had. And those trying to make the change weren’t the only ones who thought television could further their cause. The scene in which the race riot breaks out at the amusement park happens during an off-set episode of “The Corny Collins Show”. When the riot breaks out there are black protesters running to be in front of the camera for an impromptu mixing of white and black on camera. The station owner is so afraid of the effects of seeing simple integration, the black and white people on screen not even interacting closely, on television that he leaps to cover the lens and turn the camera away so viewers can’t witness the scene. The amazing part is that the schools were already integrated, but perhaps that wasn’t as powerful as an integrated television show because is was not easily seen by huge amounts of the city. After reading about the power television had and seeing how John Waters openly showed that power I was surprised to read that he almost never turns on his own television. Perhaps he likes to be the one making the media rather than taking it in.

Overall, this set of articles and the film Hairspray made me think even more about the influence television can really have on the culture around it. It reinforces my belief that those who say they “don’t believe in watching television” are not looking broadly enough.

The obvious winner of the new terminology battle in this set of readings was “zaftig”. What a wonderful sounding word and with a “z” no less! It makes me want to go play scrabble! The word comes from the Yiddish “zaftik” meaning juicy or succulent. The word refers to someone “having a full rounded figure” or being “pleasingly plum”. A great new word!

John Waters: The Hairspray of the Cult Film

John Waters is one of the most iconic members of the cult film industry, an image he has, as Greg Varner suggests in "John Waters: The Finger on the Pulse" suggest, intentionally cultivated. "Hairspray" is one of his most memorable films, and with a PG rating, one of his most family and general audience friendly. It is the story of a heavy young girl by the name of Tracy Turnblatt, who wishes to be a dancer on The Corny Collins Show. This dream, as it turns out, is shared by the African American kids in town as well, and as Turnblatt gains popularity on the show, she also becomes a primary spokesperson for integration. Fighting again racist studio heads and pampered beauty queens, she wins the hearts of Baltimore and helps bring equality to the show.

The Corny Collins Show, according to Polar Levine in "Hairspray's Revolting History: the Invisible Star of the Show Behind The New Movie", was structured around the real life Buddy Dean Show. The host of the real show, Buddy Dean "was very conscious of his ro

le in the community and apparently was not opposed to integrating the show" (Levine). This is clearly reflected in the film with Corny constantly fighting with the studio executive

about segregation and repeating very similar lines to those rumored to have been spoken by Dean, including "the kids don't care if the black kids dance on the show". Dean realized the power of the show and sought to use it for what he saw as social good.

Past this point in the film, as Pauline Kael wrote in "The Current Cinema: God's Pickpockets", "[the film] makes no claim to realism -- or to absurdism either". "Hairspray" is a John Waters film with all its flamboyant charm, that just happens to be based on real events witnessed by Waters. It is ultimately, a comedy about the social issues of the early 1960s. As Richard Corliss writes in "Buxom Belles in Baltimore: HAIRSPRAY", the film has "no teen realism, just a romp through the pastel homes and matching mother-daughter outfits of a more naive era". Segration seems to be, in Water's eyes, something equivalent to an embracing story someone might try to use against him one day. His best deterrent for this, which was revealed in "John Waters" an interview by Dennis Cooper, "you make fun of it, and you learn to live with it and accept it. That's maturity. If you can make fun of your worst night, you will survive everybody". Hairspray is essentially his way of offering the United States a way of making fun of our embarrassing history so it cannot be held against us.

The film itself, while wildly comedic, uses visual symbols to get many of its points across. According to Renee R. Curry in "Hairspray: the Revolutionary Way to Restructure and Hold Your History" the best visual embodiments come when "Waters deploys dance and hair as revolutionary communication vehicles". The freedom Tracy has in dancing gives her popularity, which ultimately provides the basis for her pardon from the governor, which literally frees her from the reform school. Dance also gives her the opportunity to be herself and speak freely about desegregation. As Curry also points out, Turnblatt's "half-blonde, half brunette do, which on the television screen appears black and white, displays a vivid transitional symbol". Waters' film is very colorful, but it was no mistake that his heroine's hair appeared in the starkly contr

asting colors on black and white television screens. To Baltimore, she became the face of desegregation, because she was white and therefore allowed to be on television. Despite the fact that there were crowds of African Americans protesting at Corny Collins Show Events, they were kept off-screen and therefore not provided as visual symbols of the movement to the viewers.

Since the 1988 film, "Hairspray" has been turned into a Broadway Musical and the into another film, this time a musical rendition. Waters' other film, "Cry Baby" has enjoyed similar flattery by being turned into a Broadway Musical as well. Waters

reflected his success in "John Waters" an interview by Gary Indiana, by saying "I learned a long time ago that people like my work because I praise things that others don't like." With his films often times being overly sexual in weird or obscure fashions, and many being overly theatrical, this assessment must have some shred of truth.

Vocabulary: "Coprophagous"

In "Buxom Belles in Baltimore: HAIRSPRAY" Richard Corliss wrote "Waters has made eleven of his pictures, from the coprophagous comedy "Pink Flamingos" to the all-stinking "Polyester" (filmed in Odorama), in his home town.

"Coprophagous" is defined by dictionary.com as "feeding on dung".

After reading about "Pink Flamingos", I understand this as a literal reference to the actions of one of the characters, who eats dog poop.