tag:theconversation.com,2011:/es/topics/oscars-2022-118338/articlesOscars 2022 – The Conversation2022-04-11T19:57:02Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1803042022-04-11T19:57:02Z2022-04-11T19:57:02ZFrom CODA to Hawkeye, the surge of sign languages on screen is a sign of better things to come for the Deaf community<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456723/original/file-20220406-23-vy55yc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1278%2C718&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">IMDB</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Troy Kotsur was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/mar/28/troy-kotsur-wins-best-supporting-actor-oscar-for-coda">awarded Best Supporting Actor</a> at the recent Academy Awards, he dedicated his win to the <a href="https://www.project-easier.eu/news/2021/08/11/deaf-or-deaf/">Deaf community</a>. CODA went on to win Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, making it a major step forward for the Academy’s recognition of marginalised storytelling.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10366460/">CODA</a>, an acronym for Child Of Deaf Adults, follows the story of teenager Ruby Rossi. She dreams of being a singer, but is trapped by her Deaf family’s dependence on her as their interpreter. Torn between her familial burdens and her longing to fit into hearing culture, Ruby struggles to convince her family to support her own goals.</p>
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<h2>American sign language in pop-culture</h2>
<p>CODA is one of many recent films and TV productions to incorporate sign languages. There’s been a noticeable wave of signing on screen since 2020: Sound of Metal, Eternals, A Quiet Place 2, Hawkeye, and Only Murders In The Building have all featured Deaf actors using <a href="https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/american-sign-language#:%7E:text=American%20Sign%20Language%20(ASL)%20is,of%20the%20hands%20and%20face.">American Sign Language (ASL)</a>. </p>
<p>Lauren Ridloff’s acclaimed <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/15/movies/lauren-ridloff-eternals-deaf-hero.html#:%7E:text=She%20plays%20Makkari%2C%20the%20first,5.">supporting role in Eternals</a> features her as Makkari, a Deaf superhero who can sense speaking vibrations and read lips, but communicates to others using (somewhat anachronistic) American Sign Language.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456727/original/file-20220407-13565-hqbf8v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456727/original/file-20220407-13565-hqbf8v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456727/original/file-20220407-13565-hqbf8v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456727/original/file-20220407-13565-hqbf8v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456727/original/file-20220407-13565-hqbf8v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456727/original/file-20220407-13565-hqbf8v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456727/original/file-20220407-13565-hqbf8v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456727/original/file-20220407-13565-hqbf8v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Lauren Ridloff – the first deaf actor to play a Marvel superhero – revealed that completely new hand movements were invented so that she could identify specific characters when filming certain scenes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Disney+</span></span>
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<p>Signing has also appeared in sci-fi: Dune, Godzilla vs Kong, and The Book of Boba Fett all showcase futuristic uses of non-verbal communication. </p>
<p>In Dune, sign language is a practical method of secret communication. King Kong is taught ASL to communicate with humans much like the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/gorillas-koko-sign-language-culture-animals">real-life gorilla Koko </a>.</p>
<p>Troy Kotsur also <a href="https://www.world-today-news.com/oscar-winner-troy-kotsur-created-the-sign-language-used-by-the-tusken-in-the-mandalorian/">developed a fictional sign language</a> for the alien Tuskens in The Mandalorian, and the spin-off Book of Boba Fett expands on Tusken signing.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456728/original/file-20220407-10870-d0of7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456728/original/file-20220407-10870-d0of7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456728/original/file-20220407-10870-d0of7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456728/original/file-20220407-10870-d0of7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456728/original/file-20220407-10870-d0of7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456728/original/file-20220407-10870-d0of7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456728/original/file-20220407-10870-d0of7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456728/original/file-20220407-10870-d0of7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Deaf actor Troy Kotsur was brought on as a consultant to help develop ‘Tusken Sign Language’ for The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Disney+</span></span>
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<h2>Positive representation</h2>
<p>These are positive steps for representation in Hollywood, especially since many of these productions have hired Deaf performers and consultants. This wave could lead to normalising deafness, create more Deaf jobs, and attract more hearing people to learn how to sign. </p>
<p>Some Deaf critics have drawn attention to problematic stereotypes in CODA: the helplessness of the family is exaggerated to <a href="https://jennafischtrombea.com/2021/08/13/coda-review/">show the burden</a> they put on hearing people. </p>
<p>At their core, these productions generally centre a hearing point of view. CODA sympathises primarily with a hearing protagonist, and its key emotional moments happen in speech and song. </p>
<p>There are similar problems with the other films: in A Quiet Place and its sequel, the ASL is often out of shot and poorly communicated. In Eternals, super-powered lip-reading removes any responsibility for the hearing characters to communicate in visually accessible ways.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456767/original/file-20220407-24-oqr4vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456767/original/file-20220407-24-oqr4vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456767/original/file-20220407-24-oqr4vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456767/original/file-20220407-24-oqr4vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456767/original/file-20220407-24-oqr4vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456767/original/file-20220407-24-oqr4vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456767/original/file-20220407-24-oqr4vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456767/original/file-20220407-24-oqr4vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A Quiet Place takes place 95% in silence, and director and star John Krasinski said that the cast learned sign language for every line in the script.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paramount</span></span>
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<h2>Captions and accessibility</h2>
<p>What makes CODA groundbreaking as a film for deaf people is not the narrative itself, but the accessibility. CODA is one of the first major features where the captions are “burned in” or hard-coded on every screen.</p>
<p>When only the signing is captioned, like in Eternals, the assumption is that the audience can understand everything except ASL. Even then, ASL is not a universal language: Deaf British and Australian audiences will be left in the dark. Many deaf people are not raised with sign languages because they have hearing parents, and rely entirely on captions.</p>
<p>Unless speech is captioned equally with signing, the film is packaging a deaf experience for a hearing audience. Captions are a concrete way films can support deaf audiences and ensure they are not just about deaf people but for deaf people.</p>
<p>Without hard-coded captions, the onus is placed on deaf viewers to seek out closed (optional or hidden) caption versions of the films that supposedly represent them. Closed caption technology is <a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/nyle-dimarco-opens-up-about-leaving-black-panther-because-hes-deaf">notoriously bad in cinemas</a>: the devices are poorly-maintained and difficult to use, because they are designed to obscure the visibility to preserve the hearing audience’s experience.</p>
<p>Recently there have been more <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-20/deaf-community-calls-for-open-captions-subtitles-in-cinemas/11222346">calls for open-captioned cinema sessions</a>, where subtitles appear at the bottom of the big screen, but these are still few and far between. Hearing audiences are growing more accustomed to reading captions: as <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/ct-ent-subtitles-parasite-0109-20200107-dchcnhgj7nhl5fp4qlcnqgv6uy-story.html">Bong Joon-Ho said</a> of his own Best Picture winner Parasite: “Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films”.</p>
<p>Captions are perfectly normal outside the English-speaking world, where most cinemas will show Hollywood movies with captions. The booming popularity of streaming services has normalised captions on our TV screens, especially as we gain easy access to more international productions. Even the quality of transcription and translation has fallen under scrutiny, as we saw with the different caption track <a href="https://theconversation.com/squid-game-and-the-untranslatable-the-debate-around-subtitles-explained-169931">options in Squid Game</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/squid-game-and-the-untranslatable-the-debate-around-subtitles-explained-169931">Squid Game and the 'untranslatable': the debate around subtitles explained</a>
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<p>No matter how well Deaf people are represented on the screen, a lack of captioning creates an unequal language barrier for deaf viewers. Until the films and shows themselves are accessible, storytelling continues to favour and centre hearing people’s experience. </p>
<p>While CODA has some issues, it’s <a href="https://www.today.com/health/deaf-community-responds-movie-coda-starring-marlee-matlin-t230260?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma">explicitly accessible to a deaf audience</a>.</p>
<p>Unless the films themselves are screened equally, the communities onscreen will never be equal. CODA is not only a major win for Troy Kotsur and his fellow Deaf performers Marlee Matlin and Daniel Durant. It is a win for everyone who has struggled to feel included in screen media, on the surface and in the medium itself.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180304/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Naja Later does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Oscar winning film CODA has shone a light on what accessibility and representation for the deaf community means on film and TV.Naja Later, Academic Tutor in Media and Communications, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1805352022-04-08T16:54:03Z2022-04-08T16:54:03ZWill Smith’s slap shows ‘honor culture’ is alive and well<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456916/original/file-20220407-24-ytwi5k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C8%2C2754%2C1810&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A culture of honor is more likely to develop in areas where law enforcement is inconsistent or nonexistent.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/american-singer-and-actor-elvis-presley-with-dolores-del-news-photo/87140571?adppopup=true">20th Century Fox/Hulton Archive/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>After witnessing the “<a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2022/03/30/the_slap_heard_around_the_world_147403.html">slap heard around the world</a>” during the 2022 Oscars, I wasn’t surprised when the internet split into two camps: #TeamWill and #TeamChris. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/H-Colleen-Sinclair">As a social psychologist who studies aggression</a>, I also wasn’t surprised to see support for Will Smith – who slapped comedian Chris Rock after Rock joked about Smith’s wife’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-alopecia-its-no-laughing-matter-for-millions-of-black-american-women-180213">alopecia</a> – involve similar justifications: namely that the actor was “<a href="https://twitter.com/SpicyDisaster8/status/1508529134250729479">doing what needed to be done</a>” to protect his wife, and that doing so made him “<a href="https://twitter.com/Arivhanzhii/status/1508492296370675718">a real man</a>.” </p>
<p>These defenses contain elements of what social scientists call a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apj.2015.03.001">culture of honor</a>,” which is prevalent in certain regions, ethnic groups and subcultures around the world.</p>
<h2>How cultures of honor flourish</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/richard-e-nisbett/culture-of-honor/9780813346151/">Cultures of honor</a> require men to aggressively defend their reputations against insults or threats, and this imperative extends to protecting their spouses, children and property. To not lash out at slights makes one less of a man. </p>
<p>This concept can be confused with “<a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/toxic-masculinity#what-it-is">toxic masculinity</a>” – which is a brand of anti-feminist hypermasculinity that promotes independence, emotional blunting and aggression to establish dominance over men and women. In fact, <a href="https://commons.und.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4291&context=theses">recent research finds</a> the two concepts are distinct, with a culture of honor <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/men0000314">more closely tied</a> to benevolent attitudes toward women and notions of chivalry. However, these two concepts can overlap, <a href="https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195396607/obo-9780195396607-0160.xml">particularly in more traditional cultures</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.11.001">Researchers argue</a> that cultures of honor flourished in communities where law enforcement was inconsistent or nonexistent – such as the 19th-century American frontier and <a href="https://docs.iza.org/dp14738.pdf">herding communities</a> that lived in Africa and Latin America. This work has also been used to understand violence <a href="https://www.hoplofobia.info/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/2018-African-American-Crime-Rates.pdf">in certain</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767911424542">inner-city communities</a> where the police are less trusted.</p>
<p>In these places, a man’s reputation becomes his first line of defense. If it becomes known that slights against him or his family won’t go unpunished, it makes transgressors less likely to push their luck.</p>
<h2>When some see violence as acceptable</h2>
<p>Research on this topic can be traced <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Violence-and-U.S.-regional-culture.-Nisbett/7cfca08c6aa2b80d3685e4f12a11f366dbee1d7c">to the work of social psychologists Richard Nisbett and Dov Cohen</a>, who sought to explain why homicide rates were significantly higher in the U.S. South and West than in the rest of the country.</p>
<p>Comparing crime statistics, Nisbett was able to show that the difference in homicide rates was due to the South and West having a higher rate of homicides tied to arguments. The country’s different regions were similarly intolerant of violence, more generally, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02732170500174877">on questionnaires</a>. However, respondents in the South were more likely to say violence was justified when a man – or his family – was insulted.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Field-Experiments-Examining-the-Culture-of-Honor%3A-Cohen-Nisbett/bcd0296a8f83221ae8e526c467fa670a19f58a0a">In subsequent studies</a>, Cohen and Nisbett randomly sent one of two job applications to businesses throughout the U.S. </p>
<p>Accompanying each application was a cover letter in which the applicant sought to explain a felony conviction, chalking it up to a misspent youth. In half of the letters, that felony conviction was a car theft. In the other half, it was manslaughter spurred by an insult. When the employer was from states where a culture of honor is more predominant, the researchers found that the hypothetical murderer actually received more responses – and with a far more understanding tone – than the car thief.</p>
<p>In the same study, Cohen and Nisbett recruited college journalists from around the country and randomly assigned them to write up a story about either an insult-related murder or a felony-related murder. Researchers found that the journalists cast the insult-related murder in a more favorable light when the journalist was writing for a paper in a state with a culture of honor – places like Texas, Alabama and Montana.</p>
<p>In other experiments, researchers have been able to show that after being insulted, people who adhere to an honor ideology register higher levels of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.70.5.945">testosterone and cortisol</a> – two hormones tied to aggression and stress. They were also less willing to forgive a transgressor and <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/2695863">had a tougher time calming down</a> after being slighted. Finally, in questionnaires they were more likely to exhibit anger and shame when <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930701822272">recalling a recent insult</a>.</p>
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<img alt="Man in tuxedo slaps another man in a tuxedo on stage." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456917/original/file-20220407-25-nypdth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456917/original/file-20220407-25-nypdth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456917/original/file-20220407-25-nypdth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456917/original/file-20220407-25-nypdth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456917/original/file-20220407-25-nypdth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456917/original/file-20220407-25-nypdth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456917/original/file-20220407-25-nypdth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">People who adhere to an honor ideology are more likely to justify violence as a response to insults directed at themselves or family members.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/actor-will-smith-slaps-us-actor-chris-rock-onstage-during-news-photo/1239559145?adppopup=true">Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>No remorse</h2>
<p>In the real world, places that adhere to the honor belief system <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02456.x">are more likely to have school shootings</a>. In these same states, convicted murderers were <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Honor-on-Death-Row-Eaton/192d07afc85fe0a5faec8bacaa5327e6d643e563">less likely to express remorse</a> ahead of their executions. It’s important, however, to exercise caution around making definitive conclusions <a href="https://theconversation.com/have-we-become-too-paranoid-about-mass-shootings-125364">about statistically rare events</a> like school shootings and executions.</p>
<p>After Will Smith accepted his Best Actor Oscar for his role in “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9620288/">King Richard</a>,” he praised Richard Williams for doing everything he could to protect his family. To many viewers, Smith was summoning virtues like honor and chivalry to justify his actions earlier in the night.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1511152991595810816"}"></div></p>
<p>Off the Oscars stage, you can also see a culture of honor being used to explain the Ukrainians’ <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/03/courage-honor-ukraine/623875/">dogged defense of their country</a> against a more powerful Russian invader, with Ukrainians praised for honorably defending home and hearth.</p>
<p>Certainly, cultural differences aren’t the only factor influencing the way people responded to the slap. For instance, you’d expect fellow comedians <a href="https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/pictures/comedians-defend-chris-rock-after-oscars-slap-david-spade-more/">to defend Chris Rock</a> out of <a href="https://www.simplypsychology.org/social-identity-theory.html">solidarity</a>. And <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2022/03/31/will-smith-chris-rock-slap-oscars-burden-of-black-men/7207917001/">racist reactions</a> were bound to emerge.</p>
<p>But while many people were quick to declare that “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/mar/28/celebrities-react-will-smith-hitting-chris-rock-the-oscars">violence is never the answer</a>,” for others violence can, in fact, be the answer – and that’s due, in part, to the fact that honor culture is alive and well.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180535/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>H. Colleen Sinclair does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While you’ll often hear people say that violence is never the answer, in some communities violence is viewed as a perfectly reasonable response to personal slights.H. Colleen Sinclair, Associate Professor of Social Psychology, Mississippi State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1806312022-04-05T15:37:45Z2022-04-05T15:37:45ZJada Pinkett Smith and Black women’s hair: History of disrespect leads to the CROWN Act<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456139/original/file-20220404-10072-qie35j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5105%2C3805&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Black women have been fighting for decades for the right to wear their natural hair. Here Jada Pinkett Smith arrives at the premiere of 'The Matrix Resurrections' on Dec. 18, 2021, in San Francisco. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP/Noah Berger)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/jada-pinkett-smith-and-black-women-s-hair--history-of-disrespect-leads-to-the-crown-act" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The fallout from “the slap” at this year’s Oscars continues. Last week, Will Smith <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/will-smith-resigns-from-the-academy-slapped-chris-rock-at-oscars/">resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences</a>, after the academy issued a statement <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/will-smith-chris-rock-slap-oscars-academy-formal-review/">condemning</a> Smith’s actions.</p>
<p>There have been innumerable media stories about “the slap,” including <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-smiths-oscar-slap-reveals-fault-lines-as-he-defends-jada-pinkett-smith-against-chris-rock-podcast-180280">an episode of <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em></a>. “The joke,” however, has received less attention. <a href="https://www.capitalfm.com/news/chris-rock-will-smith-jada-pinkett-slap-oscars-gi-jane-joke/">“Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2 can’t wait to see you</a>,” is what Rock said to Jada Pinkett Smith and the Oscar night audience before Smith got up and slapped him.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119173/"><em>G.I. Jane</em></a> is a 1997 fictional drama starring Demi Moore about the first woman to undergo training in the United States Navy Seals. Moore’s “feminine” character, Jane O'Neil, is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/review97/fgijane.htm">chosen</a> by a female politician attempting to make a point in her battle against the <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/gender/2021/04/22/the-hidden-masculinization-and-militarization-of-the-canadian-citizenship-guide/">inherent sexism in the military</a>. To “keep hanging,” O'Neil “divests herself of any trace of femininity” and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU_mJDOB7ZM">shaves her head</a>. </p>
<p>Although a shaven head for a woman should not signify anything but a <a href="https://www.etalk.ca/celebrity/celebrities-who-shaved-their-heads-and-looked-absolutely-amazing.html">style choice</a>, Pinkett Smith’s shaven head is also due to alopecia. In 2021, she <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a93q1We4E0">shared a video on Instagram</a> explaining <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hair-loss/symptoms-causes/syc-20372926">the disorder</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/tv/CYB7dMppvjk/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Regardless of the reasons for Pinkett Smith’s hairstyle, Rock’s joke was yet <a href="https://screencrush.com/g-i-jane-oscars-joke/">another jab at a Black woman’s hair</a>. We Black women have learned to love our hair, despite a wider culture that has, historically, not accepted its diversity. </p>
<p>In fact, Black women have been fighting the court system for 40 years to get protection from hair discrimination.</p>
<h2>Alopecia disproportionately affects Black women</h2>
<p>In my 2019 book, <a href="https://www.wlupress.wlu.ca/Books/B/Beauty-in-a-Box2"><em>Beauty in a Box</em></a> I examined the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamadermatol.2017.5163">dermatological research on hair loss</a>. Two U.S. studies, from 2009 and 2017, found that <a href="https://dermnetnz.org/topics/central-centrifugal-cicatricial-alopecia">central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia</a> (CCCA) is often underdiagnosed; some estimates report that 17 per cent of Black women have this condition.</p>
<p>Some of the reasons why Black women are more adversely affected by CCCA are due to tight braiding hairstyles, long-term use of hair weaves, lace-front wigs and chemical relaxers. </p>
<p>While Rock might not have known of Pinkett Smith’s alopecia, in his 2009 documentary <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1213585/"><em>Good Hair</em></a> he spoke to Black women about their hair, especially about <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCEX34-1o6M">chemical relaxers</a>.</p>
<p><em>Good Hair</em> was a successful film for Rock, but that does not mean he grew from the project. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/will-smiths-oscar-slap-reveals-fault-lines-as-he-defends-jada-pinkett-smith-against-chris-rock-podcast-180280">Will Smith's Oscar slap reveals fault lines as he defends Jada Pinkett Smith against Chris Rock: Podcast</a>
</strong>
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<h2>Black hair discrimination and the CROWN Act</h2>
<p><em>Glamour</em>’s <a href="https://www.glamour.com/story/the-crown-act-september-2020-cover-story">September 2020 cover story</a> was dedicated to six Black women who endured discrimination at work because of their hair. The feature explained how curly, “kinky” or big hair carries meaning for Black women. </p>
<p>For example, a <a href="https://www.ellecanada.com/beauty/hair/how-to-style-a-messy-topknot-so-it-looks-chic-not-just-out-of-bed">messy topknot is considered chic</a> on a white woman, while a Black woman with natural hair such as large Afro or locs would be considered unkempt and has <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2513893/Florida-girl-threatened-expulsion-afro-hair.html">led to workplace reprimand</a>.</p>
<p>On March 18, 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/03/18/1087661765/house-votes-crown-act-discrimination-hair-style">CROWN Act</a>, banning hair discrimination at private places of work, federal programs and public accommodations. CROWN stands for <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2116">Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5edc69fd622c36173f56651f/t/5edeaa2fe5ddef345e087361/1591650865168/Dove_research_brochure2020_FINAL3.pdf">A 2019 Dove study</a> found that Black women were 80 per cent more likely to feel pressure to change their hairstyles to fit in at the office. Black women were also 83 per cent more likely to report being judged on her looks than other women.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3VPvBmkIA-g?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Subjects of Desire’ by Jennifer Holeness delves into issues of race, power and beauty.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The CROWN Act is not yet an official law. Despite <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/598757-house-passes-crown-act-banning-race-based-hair-discrimination/">President Joe Biden expressing strong support for the bill</a>, there may not be enough votes to pass it. </p>
<h2>Rogers vs. American Airlines</h2>
<p>In 1981, American Airlines fired ticket agent Renee Rogers for wearing cornrows. She <a href="https://scholar.google.ca/scholar_case?case=6092364812619612919&q=Rogers+v.+American+Airlines&hl=en&as_sdt=2006&as_vis=1">filed a discrimination suit</a> challenging the airline’s policy prohibiting employees from wearing an all-braided hairstyle, claiming that such a policy violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and discriminated against her as a woman, and also as a Black person. </p>
<p>Legal scholar <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/1372731">Paulette Cladwell</a> explained how and why the U.S. Federal District Court of New York rejected Rogers’s claim that the style evoked her African heritage. </p>
<p>The court said her hairstyle was a result of having seen the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078721/">1979 film <em>10</em></a>, starring <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au0Pp_9oQbo">Bo Derek who makes an appearance wearing long braids</a> with beads at the ends. It became known as the “<a href="https://law.fiu.edu/2019/10/11/the-unnatural-treatment-of-natural-hair-courts-failure-to-recognize-hairstyle-discrimination-as-race-discrimination-the-need-for-state-legislature-action/">Bo Derek defence</a>.” <em>Rogers vs. American Airlines</em> was a landmark case because it set a precedent that sanctioned the firing of Black women on the basis of their hair.</p>
<p>In 2016, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against a lawsuit filed by the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/4/18/17242788/chastity-jones-dreadlock-job-discrimination">Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against Catastrophe Management Solutions (CMS) for firing Chastity Jones, a Black woman</a>, because she wore her hair in locs. The lawsuit shared much in common with <em>Rogers vs. American Airlines</em>. Lawyers for Jones also argued that her termination was in violation of the Civil Rights Act. </p>
<p>The court of appeals ruled that <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/u-s-court-rules-dreadlock-ban-during-hiring-process-legal-n652211">CMS’s “race-neutral grooming policy” was not discriminatory</a> because while hairstyles are “culturally associated with race” they are “not immutable physical characteristics.” The court ruled that a hairstyle might be closely associated with one’s culture but because it is changeable, it is not protectable under the law and an employer is within its rights to use it as a reason to deny employment.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown smiles." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456215/original/file-20220404-12538-fk7qau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456215/original/file-20220404-12538-fk7qau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456215/original/file-20220404-12538-fk7qau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456215/original/file-20220404-12538-fk7qau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456215/original/file-20220404-12538-fk7qau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456215/original/file-20220404-12538-fk7qau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456215/original/file-20220404-12538-fk7qau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson smiles in Washington on March 31, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Hair has also come up in discussions on <a href="https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/a39520244/judge-ketanji-brown-jacksons-locs/">Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings</a> because the legal profession has often discouraged natural hairdos. In 2007, an editor from <em>Glamour</em> in a “do’s and don'ts” fashion event at a New York law firm <a href="https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/almID/1188161099761/?slreturn=20220304144452">called locs “truly dreadful.” </a></p>
<h2>Why Black hair jokes aren’t funny</h2>
<p>When Black women are in legal and cultural battles for the right to wear their hair as they choose, jokes about our hair just aren’t funny. The <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2019/02/06/685506578/is-beauty-in-the-eyes-of-the-colonizer">straight hair standard of beauty has been called toxic</a> not only to Black women but women in general for the ways it valorizes white, western beauty ideals.</p>
<p>One may argue that public figures should be open to criticism. For example, United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson often shows up with his hair in disarray <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/how-boris-johnsons-hair-defined-britain/">which gets poked fun at by media</a>. The difference is that there is no threat to his livelihood. </p>
<p>Until Black women can wear their hair how they want without risk of ridicule, reprimand or termination, a joke targeting Black hair is no laughing matter.</p>
<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/7fc4af1d-0547-4ca1-9455-74fa87cd7a74?dark=true"></iframe><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180631/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cheryl Thompson receives funding from SSHRC Insight Development Grant.</span></em></p>Until Black women can wear their hair how they want without risk of ridicule, reprimand or termination, a joke targeting Black hair is no laughing matter.Cheryl Thompson, Assistant Professor, Performance, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1802802022-03-30T18:35:10Z2022-03-30T18:35:10ZWill Smith’s Oscar slap reveals fault lines as he defends Jada Pinkett Smith against Chris Rock: Podcast<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455034/original/file-20220329-17-hgmem0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=40%2C20%2C4500%2C2883&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Will Smith won the best actor Oscar for his performance in 'King Richard.' </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/7fc4af1d-0547-4ca1-9455-74fa87cd7a74?dark=true"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-572" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/572/661898416fdc21fc4fdef6a5379efd7cac19d9d5/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>It felt like these Oscars were the first ones that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/movies/oscarssowhite-history.html">weren’t actually so white</a>. The whole event felt different. With attempts to display <a href="https://variety.com/2022/awards/news/hollywood-diversity-chloe-zhao-ava-duvernay-1235153061/">a more inclusive Hollywood</a>, the showcase seemed to go beyond its usual tokenism.</p>
<p>There was <a href="https://www.essence.com/awards-events/red-carpet/oscars/memorable-moments-94th-annual-academy-awards-2022/">gospel music during the In Memoriam segment</a>, <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/questlove-on-the-summer-of-soul-an-awesome-look-at-beautiful-people-having-fun/">Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson won an Oscar for his beautiful documentary <em>Summer of Soul</em></a> and he gave a moving speech to accept the honour. The best picture <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/mar/28/coda-wins-best-picture-oscar#:%7E:text=Family%20drama%20Coda%20has%20won,to%20win%20the%20top%20prize">was directed by a woman.</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/27/movies/oscars-hosts-monologue.html">Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall and Amy Schumer hosted</a> with verve and sass. Masks were off. The entire program opened with <a href="https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/33611843/oscars-2022-venus-serena-williams-introduce-beyonce-compton-tennis-court-performance-king-richard-song">queens Serena and Venus Williams and they introduced Queen Beyoncé</a>, who <a href="https://youtu.be/4aeDlZOD-B0">stepped out in glorious chartreuse</a>. It felt like a genuine celebration. </p>
<p>And then there was the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/28/oscars-slap-will-smith-chris-rock-defending-black-women/?utm_campaign=wp_follow_karen_attiah&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl-karenattiah">Will Smith-Chris Rock fiasco</a> taking attention away from all this. In what became one of the most infamous moments in the history of the Oscars, Smith got out of his seat to slap Rock for a bad joke aimed at Jada Pinkett Smith. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/jada-pinkett-smith-and-black-womens-hair-history-of-disrespect-leads-to-the-crown-act-180631">Jada Pinkett Smith and Black women's hair: History of disrespect leads to the CROWN Act</a>
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<p>These flashpoints are always about other things – they are evidence of a layered story. In this case, it’s a story that’s divided people. Is it a story about toxic masculinity? It is a story of intergenerational trauma? Is it about a Black man <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/29/opinion/culture/will-smith-oscars-roxane-gay.html">standing up for Black women</a>? </p>
<p><a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/">In this special episode of <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em></a>, we discuss this moment as a cultural flash point. We chat about how <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/a-slap-at-oscars-heard-around-the-world/articleshow/90501314.cms">“the slap heard around the world”</a> is evidence of a <a href="https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2022/03/10920053/chris-rock-will-smith-jada-slap-oscars">layered story</a> of racism, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/28/oscars-slap-will-smith-chris-rock-defending-black-women/?utm_campaign=wp_follow_karen_attiah&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl-karenattiah">sexism</a>, power and performance. Will Smith’s violent behaviour towards Chris Rock <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/columnists/will-smith-chris-rock-smack-oscars-20220328.html">raises questions</a> about toxic masculinity and also reveals the fault lines of a man who is perhaps still wrestling with his traumatic past.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CbqmaY1p7Pz/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Even though we’re not ready to start rolling out our regular season, which we plan to do in May, we couldn’t wait to talk about this cultural moment, so we produced this special episode. </p>
<p>Our guest is Cheryl Thompson, assistant professor in performance at the Creative School, Ryerson University, where she looks at race and representation. Thompson is the author of <em><a href="https://www.wlupress.wlu.ca/Books/B/Beauty-in-a-Box2">Beauty in a Box</a></em> about the politics of Black women and beauty, as well as <em><a href="https://chbooks.com/Books/U/Uncle">Uncle: Race, Nostalgia and Loyalty</a></em>. She’s also the director of the <a href="https://www.ryerson.ca/the-catalyst/residents/offices/media-representation-and-archives-lab/">Media Representation and Archives Lab</a> at Ryerson. </p>
<p>Thompson was the guest of <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-in-a-word-how-to-confront-150-years-of-racial-stereotypes-dont-call-me-resilient-ep-1-153790">our very first episode</a> of <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em>, where we had a fascinating conversation about the n-word. If you have not heard that one, please check it out. </p>
<p>In the meantime, here is our <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/will-smiths-oscar-slap-reveals-fault-lines-as-he-defends/id1549798876?i=1000555742477">conversation on “the slap</a>.”</p>
<p>For an unedited transcript go <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/episodes/will-smiths-oscar-slap-reveals-fault-lines-as-he-defends-jada-pinkett-against-chris-rock/transcript">here.</a></p>
<h2>Listen and follow</h2>
<p>You can listen or follow <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em> on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9qZFg0Ql9DOA">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/37tK4zmjWvq2Sh6jLIpzp7">Spotify</a> or <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/">wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts</a>. <a href="mailto:theculturedesk@theconversation.com">We’d love to hear from you</a>, including any ideas for future episodes. Join The Conversation on <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheConversationCanada">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">Instagram</a> and use #DontCallMeResilient.</p>
<p><em>Don’t Call Me Resilient is a production of The Conversation Canada. This podcast was produced with a grant for Journalism Innovation from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The series is produced and hosted by Vinita Srivastava. Our producer for this episode is Nahid Buie. Our other producers are: Haley Lewis, Vaishnavi Dandekar, Folarin Odunayo and Latifa Abdin. Reza Dahya is our sound producer. Our consulting producer is Jennifer Moroz. Lisa Varano is our audience development editor and Anowa Quarcoo helps with outreach. Scott White is the CEO of The Conversation Canada. Zaki Ibrahim wrote and performed the music we use on the pod. The track is called ‘Something in the Water.’</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180280/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
In this special edition of ‘Don’t Call Me Resilient,’ we chat about how “the slap heard around the world” is part of a layered story of racism, sexism, power and performance.Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1802222022-03-30T18:15:10Z2022-03-30T18:15:10ZDespite its Oscar win, CODA is still a film that depicts deafness as a burden<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455065/original/file-20220329-13-x0v2uk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C22%2C4913%2C2491&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Academy Award winning films about disability tend to focus on the needs, feelings and perspectives of a non-disabled person.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Apple TV+)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/despite-its-oscar-win--coda-is-still-a-film-that-depicts-deafness-as-a-burden" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Thirty-five years ago, the film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090830/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0"><em>Children of a Lesser God</em></a> was released. The <a href="https://thehotpinkpen.com/2020/10/20/children-of-a-lesser-god-blazed-a-trail-for-representation-but-doesnt-hold-up-today/">disability representation was flawed</a>, showing a hearing audience that being deaf was tragic, but could be overcome through the charity of a hearing person. The film <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/children_of_a_lesser_god">received strong reviews</a> and <a href="https://www.etonline.com/marlee-matlin-reflects-on-historic-oscar-win-35-years-after-children-of-a-lesser-god-exclusive">won a number of awards</a>.</p>
<p>Despite the glaring flaws in the film, it opened the doors for more disability representation. Perhaps more important than that, it showed filmmakers that the academy <a href="https://www.mamamia.com.au/disability-oscar/">loves a story about disability</a>.</p>
<p>This year is no different. With <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10366460/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1"><em>CODA’s</em></a> <a href="https://variety.com/2022/film/news/apple-best-picture-oscar-coda-1235213717/">win for best picture</a>, the academy continues to make no secret of its affinity for movies about disability. </p>
<p><em>CODA</em>, like any film about disability, has the potential <a href="https://tupress.temple.edu/book/3607">to advance how our society</a> talks about and <a href="http://people.tamu.edu/%7Edscott/340/U7%20Readings/6%20-%201985%20Longmore%20Screening%20Stereotypes.pdf">frames disability</a> through humanizing disabled characters and helping the audience understand the nature and experience of disability.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the film focuses on the feelings and actions of the non-disabled protagonist, cementing itself as a movie for hearing audiences. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0pmfrE1YL4I?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘CODA’ official trailer.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The academy and disability</h2>
<p>Films focused on <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/episode-379-populism-in-italy-s-elections-greenland-s-ice-melt-the-shape-of-water-ode-to-cds-and-more-1.4555633/what-the-shape-of-water-gets-wrong-about-disability-1.4555657">disabled characters</a>, despite their infrequency, consistently earn <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/feb/28/the-kings-speech-oscars-picture">best picture nominations</a>.</p>
<p>In the past 20 years alone, we’ve seen best picture awards go to <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5580390/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0"><em>The Shape of Water</em></a> in 2018, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1504320/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0"><em>The King’s Speech</em></a> in 2011 and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405159/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0"><em>Million Dollar Baby</em></a> in 2005.</p>
<p>However, it would seem that for the academy to accept a disabled story, the disabled people must either be:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>a real, successful figure (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2980516/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0"><em>The Theory of Everything</em></a>);</p></li>
<li><p>inspirational for the non-disabled audience (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097937/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0"><em>My Left Foot</em></a>);</p></li>
<li><p>or explicitly portrayed as a burden for society or their family to righteously overcome (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2674426/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0"><em>Me Before You</em></a>).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Three 2019 films, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4364194/"><em>The Peanut Butter Falcon</em></a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0385887/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0"><em>Motherless Brooklyn</em></a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4169146/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_2"><em>Give Me Liberty</em></a>, all highlight issues of disability <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/movies/2020/02/08/spirit-awards-willem-dafoe-give-me-liberty-win-indies-oscars/4660429002">without falling into the stereotypical</a> representations the academy loves to reward. None of these films received Oscar nominations, <a href="https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/motherless-brooklyn">despite</a> being <a href="https://variety.com/2019/film/news/the-peanut-butter-falcon-for-sama-win-top-awards-at-nantucket-film-festival-1203251399/">recognized with other awards</a>. </p>
<h2>Deaf community critiques</h2>
<p>While film critics and audiences alike have <a href="https://mashable.com/article/coda-review-oscars">shouted their praise</a> for this year’s best picture win, <em>CODA</em>, they seem to be ignoring the voices of the Deaf community. </p>
<p>Some <a href="https://jennafischtrombea.com/2021/08/13/coda-review/">deaf viewers</a>, like American deaf activist and writer Jenna Fischtrom Beacom, say that, at its core, the film is yet another instance of praising non-disabled creators for their contribution to telling stories about disability.</p>
<p>Despite its <a href="https://www.today.com/health/deaf-community-responds-movie-coda-starring-marlee-matlin-t230260">strides for real deaf representation</a> — three of the leads are deaf actors — <em>CODA</em> still perpetuates the idea that for a story about disability to be noteworthy, it must put the needs and feelings of a non-disabled person at the centre. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Four people seen in a row applauding." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455064/original/file-20220329-19-10z33bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455064/original/file-20220329-19-10z33bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455064/original/file-20220329-19-10z33bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455064/original/file-20220329-19-10z33bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455064/original/file-20220329-19-10z33bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455064/original/file-20220329-19-10z33bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455064/original/file-20220329-19-10z33bp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘CODA’ sees Ruby, a daughter, played by Emilia Jones, beginning to navigate life on her own terms.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Apple TV+)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Coming of age</h2>
<p><a href="https://variety.com/2021/film/features/coda-director-sian-heder-1235029643/">Written and directed by Sian Heder,</a> <em>CODA</em> focuses on Ruby (Emilia Jones), a 17-year-old high-school senior whose parents, Jackie (Marlee Matlin) and Frank (Troy Kotsur), are deaf, as is her older brother, Leo (Daniel Durant). </p>
<p>Ruby is a hearing person but fluent in American Sign Language, and her life revolves around the family business. She goes out on the boat each morning with Leo and their father, and, back on shore, negotiates the sale of their catch to a wholesaler who, they’re convinced, takes advantage of them as deaf people (and of Ruby as a child). </p>
<p>This family drama and comedy covers Ruby’s coming-of-age. She learns to navigate life on her terms and seek out experiences that speak to her own soul, even as she recognizes that her independent activities and her extended absence may threaten her family’s livelihood.</p>
<h2>Deaf representation</h2>
<p><em>CODA</em> is not without success. It’s refreshing to see disabled roles being filled by disabled actors. Matlin deserves praise for standing her ground and <a href="https://www.kveller.com/jewish-mom-marlee-matlin-makes-history-again-at-the-oscars/">insisting on deaf co-stars</a>. </p>
<p>Their performances are wonderful, and <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2022/03/troy-kotsur-wins-best-supporting-actor-oscar-coda-1234709364/">Kotsur more than deserved his best supporting actor</a> win. It’s fantastic to finally have more deaf representation, and for it to get so much attention from the academy. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1508255251958218755"}"></div></p>
<p>Yet while this film is a massive improvement on the harm perpetuated by <em>Children of a Lesser God</em>, the ways deafness is presented as a burden to the hearing community perpetuates harmful assumptions about disability. </p>
<p>The family’s inability to understand Ruby’s desires is characterized as a natural result of their deafness. The film naturalizes false stereotypes: that being <a href="https://www.musicalvibrations.com/music-and-d-deaf-people/">deaf means that you can’t enjoy music</a> or understand anyone else’s enjoyment. </p>
<p>The film reinforces ableism further to try and explain the family dynamic in a scene where Ruby is asked by her mother, after removing her headphones at the family dinner table: “If I was blind, would you want to paint?” The film relies on known stereotypes of disability to create a hostile family environment that Ruby will understandably want to escape. </p>
<p>The focus on hearing perspectives, for a movie that is about deafness, takes away from the touching story the film is trying to tell. </p>
<h2>Deaf adult competency</h2>
<p>When Ruby’s departure is imminent, we see the family finally learn to engage with the hearing community. Given that Ruby is 17 in the movie — even if she’s been interpreting since she was able to speak and sign — she could not have been her family’s interpreter for longer than 12 years. Frank has been in this town, with this job, his whole life, so what did he do before Ruby could interpret for him? </p>
<p>The dependence on their hearing daughter is not only unbelievable, but it’s impossible. Even within the movie they are shown as being able to function without her when forced to do so. Repeatedly, deaf competence is minimized for plot purposes. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/disability/ada">Americans with Disabilities Act was introduced in 1990</a>. Among other implications for deaf people, it meant that hospitals or courts had to ensure people who are deaf have access to interpreters. While it’s true that this act only provides bare minimum requirements for compliance and often <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewpulrang/2021/07/31/31-years-later-31-things-about-the-americans-with-disabilities-act/?sh=52cbf70163d6">fails the disabled community</a>, the fact that the film seems to simply forego this requirement depoliticizes this issue for hearing audiences.</p>
<h2>Making sense of the world</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/reception-theory">People make sense of the world through film</a>. It’s tempting to say it’s just fiction, it’s just one family, what does it matter? </p>
<p>But all representation matters, because “<a href="https://jennafischtrombea.com/2021/08/13/coda-review/">hearing people are so much more likely to encounter fictional deaf people than real ones</a>.” What we see on screen and what we read on the page create an entire picture through which we make meaning. The more successful representation is, the more it will contribute to a hearing person’s conception of deafness and the Deaf community. </p>
<p><em>CODA</em>’s win has the potential to open doors for even more talented disabled writers, directors, actors, editors and cinematographers to tell their own stories, in their own ways, to an even wider audience. If the academy truly cares about representation, this won’t be the last time we see a disabled story win the Oscar for best picture.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180222/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Billie Anderson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s refreshing to see disabled actors in disabled roles, but can’t the academy acknowledge films that highlight disability without falling into stereotypical representations?Billie Anderson, PhD student, Media Studies, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1777222022-03-24T20:24:37Z2022-03-24T20:24:37ZOscars 2022: Disney’s ‘Encanto’ shows healing from intergenerational trauma<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453421/original/file-20220321-21-1oluzk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C75%2C1296%2C537&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Protagonist Mirabel is able to help heal her family because she doesn't have to live through the trauma of displacement like her grandmother did.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(YouTube/DisneyMusicVEVO)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Disney’s <em>Encanto</em> depicts a multigenerational story about a grandmother and her family endowed with magic gifts, who <a href="https://www.rescue.org/article/five-ways-disneys-encanto-celebrates-refugees">were forced to flee their village for a safer place in Colombia</a>. The film has received critical acclaim and won <a href="https://www.nbcdfw.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/encanto-wins-best-animated-feature-oscar/2925540/">the Oscar for best animated feature at the March 27 Academy Awards</a>.</p>
<p>But commentators have also made <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/nov/15/encanto-review-disney-lin-manuel-miranda-blandly-frictionless-fairy-tale">scathing criticisms</a> too, especially in relation to the <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/culture/movies/i-didn-t-enjoy-encanto-but-then-i-didn-t-like-frozen-either-20211206-p59f62.html">lack of a villain</a> or worse, the <a href="https://www.cbr.com/encanto-worst-things-abuela-did-family-ranked/">vilification of the matriarch character, Abuela</a>. </p>
<p>From my perspective as a scholar who researches displacement and migration, what stands out in <em>Encanto</em> is how each generation of the Madrigals <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118381953.ch44">experienced trauma and how it shapes their lives</a> and choices. As an <a href="https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-reforging-a-forgotten-history.html">Assyrian (Indigenous to Iraq)</a> with experiences of displacement and migration, it seems to me these negative reviews missed key aspects of the film. </p>
<h2>Reverberations of trauma and displacement</h2>
<p>Viewers get to know specific members of the Madrigal family through their solo numbers such as Lousia’s “Surface Pressure” or Isabela’s “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBeZSuHI4Qc">What Else Can I Do?</a>” </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tQwVKr8rCYw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Surface Pressure,’ from Encanto.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet as we put these characterizations together, it becomes clear that the family <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10522158.2019.1546810">as a whole has its own dynamic: a dysfunctional one</a>, as each member silently struggles with their gifts to the point of exhaustion. It seems like each family member is silently struggling with mental health issues as well.</p>
<p>But isn’t this the story of almost every migrant family? The idea that we are so grateful for “making it” to our new homes that we should do everything in our power to build the best life possible, regardless of how we are doing? </p>
<p>Migration means leaving everything and everyone you know behind. That kind of sacrifice demands a constant striving for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000006292256">perfection to make it worthwhile — a constant striving that can be toxic and harmful</a>.</p>
<h2>Plenty of villains</h2>
<p>This is why <a href="https://moviecrypt.com/2022/01/01/review-encanto-mountain-grown-myth/">critiques of</a> this <a href="https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/encanto-movie-review-2021">movie not having a “bad guy”</a> miss the point. Anyone watching the movie who has experienced displacement through war or violence likely does not need Disney to draw the villain. </p>
<p>For example, Assyrians are haunted by the spectre of <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Assyrian-Genocide-Cultural-and-Political-Legacies/Travis/p/book/9780367348649">genocide</a>, the theft of our land in the making of Iraq, Syria, Iran and Turkey, and the recent Kurdistan Region that turned us into <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/03058298211055218">“minorities” on our ancestral homeland</a> in an ongoing process of dispossession and displacement. </p>
<p>“The villain” lurks in the shadows of our minds: It is colonialism, imperialism and constructed borders meant to keep us out of the same countries that had a hand in the destruction of our homeland, turning us into refugees, and forcing us to migrate away from our families, relatives and friends.</p>
<h2>Contextual readings</h2>
<p>‘Encanto’ tells a story of displacement from a Latinx family perspective — a family whose <a href="https://statenews.com/article/2022/01/representation-in-encanto?ct=content_open&cv=cbox_latest">different skin shades speak to the complex</a> colonial realities of invasion, theft of land and people, and intertwined histories and racialized identities. It is from the perspective of a family whose experiences speak to people across oceans, lands and time. </p>
<p>The reviews condemning Abuela as “toxic” remove her from her context of trauma. A trauma-informed lens isn’t meant to excuse or legitimize toxicity and dysfunction, but to help us understand that people who are in pain often pass down this pain. A trauma-informed lens means <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/10289/11805">focusing on compassion for both victim and perpetrator</a>. It means a framework of culturally specific interventions that acknowledge historical and intergenerational trauma. </p>
<p>From this lens, we can understand Abuela is not a power-hungry villain but a trauma survivor. </p>
<h2>Showing new ways</h2>
<p>Abuela needs help to heal from her trauma <a href="https://www.cbr.com/encanto-worst-things-abuela-did-family-ranked/">and grief to break the cycle</a> of toxicity and dysfunction that is firmly rooted within her historical context. Mirabel, the youngest daughter of Julieta and Augustín Madrigal and <em>Encanto’s</em> protagonist, holds Abuela accountable by explaining how her toxic behaviour has affected her family. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CaimKeDcudo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Trailer for Disney’s ‘Encanto.’</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Mirabel models the power of compassion as she takes Abuela’s hand and thanks her for everything she’s done to ensure their family’s and community’s survival, and leads her back home to show her another way.</p>
<p>Two things can be true: Abuela’s behaviour is toxic, and she has ensured her family’s and community’s survival. Mirabel can hold her accountable and be grateful for her labour and sacrifice. </p>
<p>The Madrigals used their gifts selflessly to build and serve their community. Trauma survivors learn from a small age that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2020.1790283">they should not ask for what they need as individuals</a>. Survival means everyone doing <a href="https://centralrecoverypress.com/product/my-grandmothers-hands-racialized-trauma-and-the-pathway-to-mending-our-hearts-and-bodies-paperback">their part for the collective good</a> because you only survive as a collective — a reminder we can all use in our contemporary context of a global pandemic.</p>
<p>Refugees and immigrants often have toxic family dynamics born out of unjust and violent circumstances because <a href="https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/been-traumatized-here-is-how-ptsd-rewires-the-brain/">trauma rewires our brains</a>. </p>
<h2>Disrupting survival mode</h2>
<p>Mirabel helps her family break this cycle of intergenerational trauma by reminding Abuela <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/lifting-the-veil-trauma/202006/why-survival-mode-isnt-the-best-way-live">survival mode</a> is not meant to be a permanent place, and that life is the true destination. Mirabel begins this unlearning process throughout the movie with her family, including Abuela. The end of the movie shows the <em>casita</em> — the family home — rebuilt on different values to live life, instead of just surviving it. </p>
<p>Mirabel was able do this healing work because she didn’t have to be Abuela. Mirabel’s embrace of Abuela after finally appreciating her experiences and sacrifices models the gift of compassion and signifies the beginning of <a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p083341">doing things differently going forward</a>. This is what <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461517706287">healing looks like</a>.</p>
<p>Maybe it’s time to listen to voices of people who had no trouble naming the villain of the movie, and who could see members of their own families in each character, because they understand the legacy of intergenerational trauma. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10522158.2019.1546810">Breaking the cycle of toxicity and dysfunction</a> is important, but situating these dynamics through a lens of trauma and compassion is the way to break this cycle, and to heal as a family and as communities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177722/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mariam Georgis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Critics who are irritated by a lack of an apparent villain in ‘Encanto’ need to take a closer look at the effects of colonial displacement.Mariam Georgis, SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Political Studies and Mamawipawin: Indigenous Governance and Community Based Research Space, University of ManitobaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1796602022-03-24T19:03:44Z2022-03-24T19:03:44ZFrom Dune to The Power of the Dog: our predictions for the Oscars 2022 best picture<p>There were some extraordinary films released in 2021: Ninja Thyberg’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8550054/">Pleasure</a>, an electric neon romp through the porn world, Ildikó Enyedi’s period epic, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8205028/">The Story of My Wife</a>, Paul Verhoeven’s nun-film, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6823148/">Benedetta</a>. </p>
<p>It should come as no surprise that this is not reflected in the Oscar nominees for Best Picture. </p>
<h2>Dune: Best Picture?</h2>
<p>A pulpy science-fiction narrative, not that far removed from an L. Ron Hubbard work, it seems strange to suggest that <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1160419/">Dune is 2021’s “Best Picture”</a>. It isn’t – but it is my choice for the Oscar, out of a ho-hum bunch of nominees. </p>
<p>Denis Villeneuve’s latest film is certainly the most cinematic of the selection, and it works exceptionally well at a formal level. It’s a striking, hypnotic work – and totally coherent (unlike the previous <a href="https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/dune-2021-vs-dune-1984-the-differences/">Lynch/Smithee version!</a>) – a realisation of Herbert’s world both surreal and appropriately full of dread. </p>
<p>The whole thing is anchored by the excellent production design of Patrice Vermette: desert planet Arakis seems ominously sparse, its weathered concrete monoliths straight from a deranged modernist’s dream. The sound design is also first rate (as is Hans Zimmer’s score, perfect as usual), and the combination of the surreal images and intense sounds creates a wholly immersive cinematic experience. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454032/original/file-20220324-23-1axu9uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454032/original/file-20220324-23-1axu9uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454032/original/file-20220324-23-1axu9uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454032/original/file-20220324-23-1axu9uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454032/original/file-20220324-23-1axu9uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454032/original/file-20220324-23-1axu9uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454032/original/file-20220324-23-1axu9uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454032/original/file-20220324-23-1axu9uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Timothée Chalamet in Dune (2021), a striking, hypnotic and cinematic choice - the top pick among the nominated films.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">IMDB</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Villeneuve effectively converts Herbert’s convoluted narrative of the power machinations of the Atreides, Harkonnen, etc. into a staggeringly clear – and relatively short, these days, for this kind of thing – genre film. </p>
<p>Angsty heartthrob Timothée Chalamet, as main character Paul Atreides, has neither the presence or chops to carry an epic fantasy film like this, and, thankfully, he doesn’t have to – Josh Brolin and Jason Mamoa are suitably brutal, Oscar Isaac brings an air of stately gravity to the role of Duke Leto Atreides, father of Paul (though they look pretty close in age!), and Rebecca Ferguson, as Lady Jessica Atreides, does the mother-witch thing with a humane and slightly off-kilter bent, reminding one of a more benevolent Lady Macbeth. </p>
<p>Villeneuve is a powerhouse director, one of the more interesting working in mainstream film today, and Dune plays well as a trashy fantasy film. That being said, it is only Part I of two, so we’ll see how the second part holds up now most of the compelling characters have been killed. </p>
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<h2>The Power of the Dog: Worst Picture?</h2>
<p>At the opposite end of the list is another genre film, Jane Campion’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10293406/">The Power of the Dog</a>. Made for Netflix, Campion’s Western has received wide acclaim and has been film of the year on multiple lists. It’s hard to see why. </p>
<p>Campion has made some good films in the past – <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107822/">The Piano</a> is a deliciously silly bodice ripper in the clothing of a serious film, and deserved its accolades (naked Harvey Keitel alone would warrant the acclaim!). The Power of the Dog, in contrast, is strained and tiresome, a long epic without an interesting story, meaningful panoramic cinematography (though I watched it on a TV screen, maybe it would have appeared spectacular in the cinema) or anything significant and original to say about its topic of interest: the American West and the Western genre. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454033/original/file-20220324-15-1reogsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454033/original/file-20220324-15-1reogsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454033/original/file-20220324-15-1reogsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454033/original/file-20220324-15-1reogsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454033/original/file-20220324-15-1reogsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454033/original/file-20220324-15-1reogsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454033/original/file-20220324-15-1reogsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454033/original/file-20220324-15-1reogsz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Benedict Cumberbatch in The Power of the Dog (2021).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">IMDB</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Its one point – revealing the <a href="https://offscreen.com/view/homosexuality_western">homoerotic impulses</a> often underpinning the masculine bravado of Western cowboy narratives – has been made numerous times before, with Westerns, American and otherwise, frequently making a similar statement since at least the 1940s, in films that are more dynamic, look better, and don’t suffer from the air of self-importance surrounding this one.</p>
<p>Jesse Plemons is a good actor, but he’s wasted in a fairly thankless part; Kirsten Dunst seems lost, struggling to convince us as a hapless alcoholic woman trapped in a thankless man’s world; and Benedict Cumberbatch, in the lead part, gives a typically commanding but unnuanced performance, playing Phil Burbank with stagy gusto. </p>
<p>While Australian Kody Smit-McPhee is fine as Peter Gordon, the point is that all of the characters are caricatures – unoriginal inversions of genre archetypes – and, in a serious film in which not much happens – that is, in a film that is supposed to be buoyed by emotional authenticity and emotional realism – this is fatal. </p>
<p>That being said, it will not surprise me if this wins the Oscar for Best Picture.</p>
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<h2>And… the rest</h2>
<p>Campion’s film is the weakest of the nominees; there are some others that are quite good. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/comedies-in-serious-clothing-an-introduction-to-the-films-of-paul-thomas-anderson-174608">Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza</a> is a madcap LA teen romp, a 1970’s picaresque nostalgia film featuring stellar newcomers Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman in the lead roles. </p>
<p>It’s long and unwieldy, and would not be to everyone’s taste, but has the advantage of actually capturing an original, albeit fractured and fractious, vision of the world. Unlike some of P.T. Anderson’s other recent films, it is surprisingly good-natured. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454034/original/file-20220324-15-1k2cq12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454034/original/file-20220324-15-1k2cq12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454034/original/file-20220324-15-1k2cq12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=285&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454034/original/file-20220324-15-1k2cq12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=285&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454034/original/file-20220324-15-1k2cq12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=285&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454034/original/file-20220324-15-1k2cq12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454034/original/file-20220324-15-1k2cq12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454034/original/file-20220324-15-1k2cq12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Alana Haim in Licorice Pizza (2021).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">IMDB</span></span>
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</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7740496/">Nightmare Alley</a>, directed by Guillermo del Toro, also offers solid genre fare. It’s a remake of Edmund Goulding’s (considerably better) <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039661/">film-noir of the same name from 1947</a>, and follows the rise and fall of Stanton Carlisle, a mentalist who begins his trade in the circus before becoming a popular nightclub act. Like most of del Toro’s films, it is dripping in period and genre nostalgia, but this adds to, rather than detracts from, the colour, here. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/comedies-in-serious-clothing-an-introduction-to-the-films-of-paul-thomas-anderson-174608">Comedies in serious clothing: an introduction to the films of Paul Thomas Anderson</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<hr>
<p><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11286314/">Don’t Look Up</a> is the global warming equivalent of Barry Levinson’s 1990s satire, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120885/">Wag the Dog</a>, and, like Wag the Dog, it is, at times, a little too clever for its own good.</p>
<p>It comes across as irritatingly pontificating in places, with Jonah Hill’s characterisation as a Presidential son (a la Trump’s family) heavy-handedly hammering home its point. But – like all of Adam Mackay’s films – it’s well made and funny, a media-literate romp satirising (or maybe just demonstrating) life in the social media age. </p>
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<p>The rest of the nominees are watchable if unspectacular films, including the Irish nostalgia film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12789558/">Belfast</a>, the coming of age drama <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10366460/">CODA</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9620288/">King Richard </a>a biopic about the struggle of the Williams family to make it in the tennis world, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14039582/">Drive My Car</a> a beautifully shot version of the eponymous Murakami story, and Spielberg’s latest, an un-engaging remake of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3581652/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1">West Side Story</a>. </p>
<p>Which movie will win? Dune? The Power of the Dog? King Richard? In any case, I can guarantee it won’t be the best picture of 2021.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179660/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ari Mattes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There are not many strong contenders for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards. Our expert picks his winner and names a couple of blockbusters that didn’t make the grade.Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1765272022-03-17T20:52:15Z2022-03-17T20:52:15ZOscars 2022: ‘Best director’ for Jane Campion’s slow-burn approach in ‘The Power of the Dog’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452296/original/file-20220315-15-1bzp673.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C99%2C3489%2C2163&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Benedict Cumberbatch stars in 'The Power of the Dog,' a film that challenges moralizing assumptions about toxic masculinity. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 175px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/why-jane-campion-s-slow-burn-direction-works-so-well-in-the-oscar-nominated--the-power-of-the-dog-" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p><em>This story contains spoilers about “The Power of the Dog.”</em></p>
<p>The novel <em><a href="https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/thomas-savage/the-power-of-the-dog/9780316082709/">The Power of the Dog</a></em>, written by American author Thomas Savage, <a href="https://www.littlebrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Proulx-Afterword-The-Power-of-the-Dog.pdf">garnered strong reviews when published in 1967</a> yet largely disappeared from public view in years following.</p>
<p>The humble literary history of this book — considered by some to be Savage’s best work and even a <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2022-03-16/page-to-screen-the-power-of-the-dog-is-an-ideal-adaptation-of-a-neglected-masterpiece">neglected masterpiece</a> — may suggest the slow-burn approach of New Zealander director Jane Campion. </p>
<p>Campion’s film, based on Savage’s book, was up for <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/awards/oscar-nominations-power-dog-leads-pack-12-nominations-rcna13359">12 awards</a> at the March 27 Academy Awards, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/mar/28/jane-campion-wins-best-director-oscar-for-the-power-of-the-dog">and Campion won for best director</a>.</p>
<p>Campion’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/tv/2021/12/25/jane-campion-power-of-the-dog/">first feature film in over a decade</a>, <em>The Power of the Dog</em> has <a href="https://www.nexttv.com/news/jane-campions-power-of-the-dog-leads-netflixs-global-top-10">been widely viewed</a> since its release on Netflix this past fall. </p>
<h2>Powerfully understated</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2022">Campion’s Oscar-nominated screenplay</a> stays close to the source of Savage’s original story, which is set on a Montana ranch in 1925, yet under her direction the film appears understated. </p>
<p>Viewers are left with, as critics have widely noted, details and connections implied rather than rendered explicit. </p>
<p>Dana Stevens and Jeffrey Bloomer, reviewing the film for <em>Slate</em>, discuss the <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2021/12/power-dog-netflix-movie-ending-explained-analyzed.html">annoyance of having to see a movie twice to understand the basic plot</a> among other impressions of the “homoerotic thriller.”</p>
<p>Why has the film enthralled so many viewers and critics?</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Trailer for ‘Power of the Dog.’</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Never wears gloves</h2>
<p>The story features two pairs of main characters: Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee), the son of widowed Rose (Kirsten Dunst), and two middle-aged rancher brothers, the brooding and brilliant cowboy Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch), and the slower, softer George (Jesse Plemons). </p>
<p>Phil resents George’s sudden marriage to Rose. When she, and later Peter, arrive at the ranch, he does what he can to undermine and threaten Rose. </p>
<p>Many reviewers agree <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/01/19/1074045993/benedict-cumberbatch-the-power-of-the-dog#:%7E:text=Rugged%20masculinity%20takes%20a%20dark,her%20son%20for%20being%20effeminate.">that Phil is a figure of “toxic masculinity.”</a> He rides and swaggers hard, never wears gloves and avoids baths and haircuts. He can be a menacing bully who hates sentimentality and softness. He <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/jane-campions-gothic-vision-of-rural-queerness-in-the-power-of-the-dog">mocks Peter’s feminine interests</a>.</p>
<p>Yet he’s not all bad: he charms his ranch hands and has a soft spot for the dead cowboy, Bronco Henry. He holds Bronco Henry up to George as their mutual mentor, but the film progressively reveals his hidden homoerotic memories and feelings — feelings he eventually transfers to Peter.</p>
<h2>Coaxing audience involvement</h2>
<p>In our gender and sexuality savvy times, many films have examined <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388795/">homoerotic repression</a>, so Campion is not particularly innovative here. Where the film innovates is in establishing gaps to stimulate imaginative participation. </p>
<p>In cultural theorist and communication scholar Marshall McLuhan’s terms, film is typically a <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/understanding-media">“hot medium” that provides a coherent narrative and visual details to deliver pre-packaged meaning</a>. This film deliberately abandons that approach. </p>
<p>Instead, it comes closer to what he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olqSU31g2z4">called a “cool medium,”</a> leaving spaces that coax audience involvement. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man is seen lighting a paper flower on fire." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452322/original/file-20220315-15-zcn14k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452322/original/file-20220315-15-zcn14k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452322/original/file-20220315-15-zcn14k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452322/original/file-20220315-15-zcn14k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452322/original/file-20220315-15-zcn14k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452322/original/file-20220315-15-zcn14k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452322/original/file-20220315-15-zcn14k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hot or cold? Phil’s first meeting with Peter involves setting on fire a paper flower Peter made by hand.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Netflix/YouTube)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Securing his mother’s happiness</h2>
<p>Reviews raise questions about plot and characters, some going so far as to call the film a “<a href="https://filmyhype.com/the-power-of-the-dog-ending-explained-who-killed-phil-why-rose-sells-the-cowhide">whodunnit</a>.”</p>
<p>A central mystery of the film revolves around Peter and his role in the film’s denouement. Viewers first gain tentative glimpses of Peter performing acts of violence: killing rabbits, but as a dedicated student learning anatomy for an exam. Later, he’s seen scaling a hide from a decaying cow carcass.</p>
<p>Only in subtle clues might viewers catch that it’s anthrax-ridden. Peter uses gloved hands to poison a gift intended for him: a rope Phil is braiding. </p>
<p>When viewers see Phil stagger off in a death stupor, he’s holding the rope and calling for Peter, suggesting he knows he’s been bested by the boy. </p>
<p>In an <a href="https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199599103.001.0001/acprof-9780199599103">anti-Hamlet turn, Peter has committed murder most foul</a> to secure his mother’s happiness. He avenges his father by coldly taking steps to protect her new relationship. </p>
<p>Brandon Taylor, writing for <em>The New Yorker</em> asks why Phil doesn’t kill Peter after discovering the boy found his cache of homoerotic magazines, since in Phil’s world, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/jane-campions-gothic-vision-of-rural-queerness-in-the-power-of-the-dog">this discovery could be lethal</a>. Viewers may be left to wonder: Is Phil truly interested in Peter, or will he use Peter as ammunition to hurt Rose?</p>
<h2>Reassembling the old West</h2>
<p>Perhaps to signal to viewers she is presenting a place not resembling the old West so much as reassembling it, <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2021/12/power-dog-netflix-movie-ending-explained-analyzed.html">Campion used her native New Zealand to stand in for rural Montana</a>.</p>
<p>This West is mysterious enough to provoke sometime-<a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10566319/Sam-Elliott-stars-Yellowstone-prequel-goes-tirade-Jane-Campions-Power-Dog.html">cowboy actor Sam Elliott to demand, “Where’s the Western in this Western?”</a> and far blunter criticism.</p>
<p>Murder mystery aside, many of the film’s narrative gaps have left viewers astounded trying to describe the plot, as if trading in facts. Some, for instance, maintain it’s clear that <a href="https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/power-dog-ending-%20-netflix">Rose spirals into alcoholism upon seeing Peter and Phil grow closer</a>. </p>
<p>Yet while their bonding contributes to her anxiety, she began drinking before that friendship started. An unanswered question here is how long before, and perhaps even whether she’ll stop drinking after Phil’s gone. </p>
<p>And <a href="https://aframe.oscars.org/news/post/house-of-torment-the-power-of-the-dogs-dp-and-editor-break-down-a-pivotal">why exactly has the magnetic Phil gotten so deeply</a> under her skin?</p>
<h2>Troubled moral code</h2>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452328/original/file-20220315-27-1e6621b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman seen in a dress." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452328/original/file-20220315-27-1e6621b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452328/original/file-20220315-27-1e6621b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452328/original/file-20220315-27-1e6621b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452328/original/file-20220315-27-1e6621b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452328/original/file-20220315-27-1e6621b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452328/original/file-20220315-27-1e6621b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452328/original/file-20220315-27-1e6621b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Rose, played by Kirsten Dunst, seen here at the film’s October 2021 London premiere, finds herself in a tangled situation where the ethics of care is fraught.</span>
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<p>Campion leaves clues throughout that Peter is the one to watch beginning with his opening voiceover: “When my father died, all I ever wanted to do was protect my mother. And what kind of man would I be if I didn’t protect my mother?” </p>
<p>Phil seems to want a world of men without women. Yet this is not Hemingway’s world where heroes succeed by exercising rigid self control as moral code. Instead, the Psalmic incantation (from the Biblical <em>Book of Psalms</em>, Psalm 22:20) that shows up at the end alludes to taking care in the face of temptation, violence, animal instinct or evil: “<a href="https://thecinemaholic.com/what-is-the-meaning-of-the-power-of-the-dog-title/">Deliver my soul from the sword/ My darling from the power of the dog</a>.” </p>
<p>“Taking care” and protecting others in this film, something feminists have explored as an “<a href="https://ethicsofcare.org/carol-gilligan/#:%7E:text=A%20feminist%20ethic%20of%20care,special%20obligations%20or%20interpersonal%20relationships">ethics of care</a>,” is fraught in this film rather than simple. </p>
<p><a href="https://decider.com/2021/12/03/power-of-the-dog-meaning-homosexuality-masculinity/">Typed as toxic, and an outsider to heteronormative marital stability, Phil is also vulnerable</a> and lonely with his secret. Peter, meanwhile, shows himself capable of literally doling out toxicity to remove harms.</p>
<p>When Rose and George embrace in the moonlight, it’s also unclear to what extent domestic heterosexual bliss has been secured.</p>
<h2>Moral action against a big sky</h2>
<p>By presenting moral action as situational and hard to determine, the movie forces viewers to imagine possible explanations. It also overflows with atmospheric touches to move viewers’ senses and make us feel. The score, by Radiohead’s <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2021-12-01/jonny-greenwood-scores-spencer-power-of-dog">Johnny Greenwood, gives us western twang with eerie edge</a>. </p>
<p>Visually, there are many shots of skies and hills. Campion delivers <a href="https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/review/2021/11/17/review-the-power-of-the-dog-is-a-sublime-gothic-western.html">a gothic neo-western</a>, a surrealistic treatment. </p>
<p>Another McLuhanism comes to mind: “<a href="http://gingkopress.com/shop/the-medium-is-the-massage-softcover/">the medium is the message</a>.” The film is a textbook example of McLuhan’s gnomic pronouncement. </p>
<p>Crafted to make demands on viewers, this film requires re-screening rather than mindless fast consumption. At a moment when more than ever we need to be able to think for ourselves, the film and Campion deserve credit for taking us to school.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176527/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jaqueline McLeod Rogers does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Narrative gaps and atmospheric touches in Jane Campion’s masterful neo-western draw viewers in to piece together connections.Jaqueline McLeod Rogers, Professor, Rhetoric, Writing and Communications, University of WinnipegLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.