Homage or parody Essays

Homage or parody Essays Homage or parody Essay Homage or parody Essay As DePalmas career in film spans from the 60s to the present day, it would be impossible to refer to his entire body of work in detail, therefore this essay will focus particularly upon two of his notable works from the 1970s, Phantom of the Paradise (DePalma, 1974) and Carrie (DePalma, 1976), with reference to other films where appropriate, and will focus upon themes of identity, particularly regarding gender identity and a comparison regarding the levels De Palma presents identity on from the personal to the mass identity of the music industry. The common themes that feature in the majority of his films centre upon the exploitation of a protagonist who is presented as vulnerable in one way or another (Mateuse, 1977). In Phantom of the Paradise, Winslow is grossly mistreated by music mogul Swan, who takes his music for his own uses and then casts Winslow aside. Like Winslow in Phantom of the Paradise, Carrie is seen as victimized, by both her popular and pretty classmates and her religious fanatic mother. At the end of both films, the protagonists find retribution, and destroy the worlds that have corrupted them although along with this, they destroy themselves. DePalma often depicts the horror genre as a carnal affair (Lewis, 2008), as his films often carry ideas of sexuality, and particularly sexual identity. The way women are presented is often in a highly sexualised manner. This is very true in Phantom of the Paradise, the girls auditioning are overlooked for their talent and ability, and instead we see them parading their sexuality. The audition room is actually a large round bed area, with scantily-clad women writhing around touching each other. Rather than seeming manipulated and exploited, the women seem to be happy with their position. Later on, they are dressed in bikinis sitting on a car for the show rehearsal, when the car explodes. As discussed by Lewis (2008), DePalma often shows brutal violence being dealt towards women such as the dream scene of brutal rape and murder that opens his 1980 film Dressed to Kill. The mixture of the sexuality of the women and the horrific nature of their deaths result in what seems to be an underlying message that those who become aware of their sexual identity are likely to meet with a disturbing end. The same happens with Swan, another sexualised being, who takes advantage of these womens sexuality he is killed in a scene where he marries Phoenix. The name Phoenix is also an interesting point with regards to identity Strauss (1997, pp. 17-21) discusses how a persons name often relates to the way they are identified or identify themselves. A phoenix will die, and then rise out of the ashes Phoenix herself fails to audition the first time round, representative of a death in her journey toward becoming a singer. However, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, she returns and reignites her dream and in the end, is successful. Name and identity is also relevant in Carrie; when the principal repeatedly calls her by the wrong name Cassie she becomes angered and breaks the ashtray on his desk. If he were to address her correctly, he would therefore be acknowledging her as the person she is. Instead, he is rejecting the knowledge of her name, and according to Strauss theory of name and identity, therefore rejecting the person that she is. Returning to the discussion of Phantom of the Paradise, Phoenix plays an important role in the film, and her own identity is challenged and changed throughout the film narrative. When Winslow first meets her at the auditions, she is repulsed by what she is asked to do, and insists all she wants to do is sing. However, when she first sings in front of an audience, we see a change in her, particularly through the line Ill do anything you want, just give me that crowd again (DePalma, Phantom of the Paradise, 1974), and then follows to behave seductively towards Swan. When given the limelight, she is becoming more powerful, and through this, sexualised, and power through sexuality is very much a theme in both films. As with Carrie, she has been given this power with Carrie, her telekinesis, with Phoenix it is acknowledgement of her voice, and this power is changing who she is as a person. Her morals are also affected early on in the film she refused to fall for Swans sexual exploitation, however we eventually see her kissing Swan, in a way that insinuates they are having a sexual relationship. A major theme in both films is these characters discovering themselves through their female identity. Throughout its history, American Hollywood cinema has relied on and reinforced the natural characteristics of women (Bathrick, 1977), dealing with the changing identity of the female and the fear this often creates in the male psyche. In the opening scenes of Carrie, DePalma creates what is perhaps an uncomfortable juxtaposition regarding Carries transformation from girl to woman. The first time we see her is in school gym clothes as an awkward, gawky schoolgirl, and then naked in the shower, with explicit close-ups of her washing her breasts and thighs. The use of these two scenes in quick succession connotes Carries position, being stuck in the stage between childhood and adulthood. The film essentially combines the horror genre with themes of female rite of passage (Citron, 1977). Indeed, the film itself could well be used as a metaphor for this stage, the self-discovery a female experiences when transcending into adolescence. Carries telekinetic powers emerge in the narrative structure of the film when we witness her experience menstruation for the first time. Her mother believes menstruation is a sign of sin, so she is unprepared for her adolescence, but this moment marks a change in Carrie. To begin with, it confuses her, and this is visually represented in the scene where she looks into the mirror and she distorts then breaks it with her telekinesis a physical, outer rending of the turmoil she feels internally about her identity, and who she is becoming. As her telekinetic power grows stronger, this coincides with her personal development she stands up to her mother and goes to the prom against her wishes. She experiments with makeup, wears lipstick, which is often symbolic of female sexuality in film, and wears a tight dress to the dance (Citron, 1977).