Reality and Subjectivity

Digital Films as Cyborg Texts in a Post-Modern World

Purpose• To examine the potential of

digital film as a historical marker of society in the 21st century.

• To consider possible inroads and obstacles cyborgism face.

• On a macro level, it’s a basic test on how cyborgism is in action, and how it is received so far.

Cyborg Theory

• The cyborg, as Donna Haraway describes it, is a “cybernetic organism, a hybrid of machine and organism, a creature of social reality as well as a creature of fiction” (1991:151). In its most literal sense, the cyborg is a combination of the organic and machine, creating a symbiotic relationship between two seemingly irreconcilable things.

Cyborg Theory/Post-Modernism

Cyborgism• Committed to partiality,

irony, liminality, etc.• Embodies irony and

contradiction.• Is a combination of ‘fiction’

and ‘reality’.• One key theme is that the

cyborg resists the binary by inhabiting both ‘machine’ and ‘organic’.

Post Modernism• Rejects boundaries between

high and low forms of art.• Rejects rigid distinctions.• Emphasizes parody, irony,

playfulness.• Favors ambiguity,

fragmentation, and simultaneity.

• Emphasizes destructured, decentered subjects

Points of Consideration

• While it displays hybridity, it also highlights dependency.

• Cyborg theory is a contradictory idea. It attempts to break free of boundaries, yet it is limited by its own boundaries.

• Example: Fact/Fiction are both separate, and inseparable at the same time.

What is a ‘digital’ film?• It is shot in digital format, with a

digital backdrop.• The technology began with Star

Wars: Episode 1• Subsequently adopted by several

young directors as it was cheap and convenient.

• Early fully digital films include Sin City, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Immortel, Casshern.

Why Digital Film?• Film can be used as a historical

marker. Films pander to the times.

• Digital technology is extremely effective in breaking down boundaries

• CGI has often been used to create the ‘unreal’. Digital films, employs digital technology in an extreme way.

Digital Film Today

• Digital films are advanced means of fusing reality and fiction and presenting it as a whole.

• Digital films are good examples of cyborg expression – visually and thematically.

Digital Film/Cyborgism• This research is an attempt to see where these

films ‘pander’ to in today’s world.• How effective has digital film been in

promoting cyborg ideas.• It specifically deals with the relationship

between ‘reality’ and ‘fiction’.

Three Case Studies

Mirrormask• Mirrormask deals with a girl whose adventure

in her own dream has a direct impact on how events in the real world will transpire.

• Somewhat like The Wizard of Oz, Mirrormask utilizes imageries and designs that explores the relationship between reality and fiction.

Mirrormask• The key plot includes an exchange of positions

between the protagonist and antagonist. It is a clear picture of mixing reality and fiction.

• That exchange, however, was not approved, and was subsequently reversed in a violent manner. In the end, the boundaries of reality and fiction is re-established.

Sin City

• A comic book translation into film. It is made up of four separate storylines that intertwine with each other.

• It is set in a crime ridden city. Old Town, in particular, is the focus of this case study.

Sin City – Old Town Prostitutes

• The prostitutes of old town does not fully conform to traditional stereotypes.

Old Town Prostitutes

• “The sex industry relies on the assumption that the female associated with female traits have less value, represent the flesh, and can be reduced to commodities.” Brock 1996:234

Old Town Prostitutes

• In Sin City, the prostitutes are violators and resistive of the ‘official’ authorities who seek to control them.

• These prostitutes can be considered as cyborgs due to their ironic nature.

The Prostitutes’ Paradox

• Becky, a younger prostitute, betrayed the gang because the old stereotypes reasserted itself.

• Her reason for her betrayal is, “Sure there is money. Sure you could’ve moved my mom into Old Town and let her know that her own goddamn daughter is a whore.”

Beowulf• The term ‘animation’ was

contested due to the film’s motion capture technology.

• The motion capture technology used brought about a more heated debate: Angelina Jolie.

• The big question people asked: Is Angelina Jolie naked in a film that was only PG-13?

Beowulf – Grendel’s Mama• Jolie, while filming, was in a blue

suit (not naked).• In post-production, Grendel was

made (naked).• Beowulf tests the boundaries of

film censorship in Western cinema with gore and nudity in a genre traditionally associated with ‘children’.

• The reception was not so great.

Possible Significance

• Are we really living in a ‘cyborgian’ era? Are we really ushering into what some people believe to be a post-modern age?

• Perhaps progress is made, but we need to take into account the reception of the general populace.

• So far, this is based on the observation of these digital films and its production values.

Future

• Further results through more extensive audience research?

• This field is changing rapidly, so are the definitions. It’s very difficult to nail the ‘latest’ trend.

• Will these cyborg themes continue to be explored or will this genre be shelved and phased out?