This week in lecture we discussed the ideas of gothic, quirky, suburbia, and crime. Gothic is a mix of irony, black humor, and real trauma. Gothic can also be looked at as uncanny, or that which should have remained hidden or secret but has to come to light. Quirky can be looked at as comedies which were the mainstay of Australian film in the 1990’s. The most intriguing of topics that we talked about was suburbia. Suburbia can be described in many ways. In lecture we talked about suburbia as a bizarre, mysterious, and even threatening place. In tutorial and in the reading we further discussed suburbia in great detail.
It wasn’t until the 1990’s that suburbia became truly evident in films. What was the reason for this? I believe there could be a few different answers. Simpson’s article states that, “With the growth in the number of prominent female directors, producers and script-writers in Australia over the last decade, we are seeing more emphasis being placed on locating films within traditional, domestic domains.” So with women gaining more power when it comes to movies, their thoughts and ideas are being seen more often. I also think suburbia came into play more frequently in the 90’s because movies about the bush couldn’t keep going on forever. They were very popular in the years previous to this but as times change, so do people’s interests.
Simpson’s article also discusses many different ideas about suburbia and how it is used in different movies. She states that, “Suburbia has often been characterized by intellectuals in Australia, America and Britain as an interstitial space or a borderland place which reflects the ‘contradictory aesthetic and more value of resident torn between rural and urban life.” In tutorial we discussed our own thoughts about suburbia as well. When I think of suburbia I think of a place set between the city and rural area that is almost in its own little bubble. It’s almost unreal and unknowing to the rest of society. When I think of a show that is set in a suburbia setting I think of Pleasantville or Desperate Housewives, which are American TV shows.
The movie that we watched this week was called Lantana. This has been one of the most enjoyable movies for me that we have watched thus far. I easily followed it and it kept me very entertained. I also noticed some of the ideas of suburbia throughout the movie. The movie’s setting is definitely a suburbia type town. I specifically thought of the scene in which the women’s shoe was thrown into the bush. The bush which seemed to represent such peacefulness and innocence with its blooming flowers actually turns up to be a crime scene where the shoe of the missing women was found.
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