The Nature of Cinema: Feminism, Film, and the Nature/Culture Dualism
Description
In this paper, I analyze representations of nature in popular film, using the feminist / deconstructionist concept of a dualism to structure my critique. Using Val Plumwood’s analysis of the logical structure of dualism and the 5 ‘features of a dualism’ that she identifies, I critique 5 popular movies – Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Brave, Grizzly Man, and Planet Earth – by locating within each of them one of the 5 features and explaining how the movie functions to reinforce the Nature/Culture dualism . By showing how the Nature/Culture dualism shapes and is shaped by popular cinema, I show how “Nature” is a social construct, created as part of this very dualism, and reified through popular culture. I conclude with the introduction of a number of ‘subversive’ pieces of visual art that undermine and actively deconstruct the Nature/Culture dualism and show to the viewer a more honest presentation of the non-human world.
Date Created
The date the item was original created (prior to any relationship with the ASU Digital Repositories.)
2015-05
Agent
- Author (aut): Barton, Christopher Joseph
- Thesis director: Broglio, Ron
- Committee member: Minteer, Ben
- Contributor (ctb): Barrett, The Honors College
- Contributor (ctb): School of Sustainability
- Contributor (ctb): School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences
- Contributor (ctb): School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning