Plenary Sessions

Copycats, effects and screen violence

Wednesday 19 October 10.45am-12.00pm

Dr. Karen Boyle

Lecturer in Film and Television Studies, University of Glasgow

It has become common practice when faced with apparently inexplicable acts of inter-personal violence that commentators turn to the question of possible media influence. Most infamously, in the UK context, the judge at the trial of the ten-year-old murderers of James Bulger did it, suggesting that "exposure to violent videos'' (and, in particular, the horror film Child's Play 3) might provide a partial explanation for their crime. Six years later, faced with the horror of the Columbine High School massacre, the press paraded a variety of suspects including films (The Basketball Diaries and The Matrix), internet sites and the nihilistic lyrics of musician Marilyn Manson. More recently, the Scottish press did it, turning to Marilyn Manson again in an attempt to explain the murder of Jodi Jones by her 14-year-old boyfriend, Luke Mitchell. In all of these cases, the nature of the evidence linking crime and representation was tenuous at best: why, then, do such explanations appear with such predictable regularity? What is at stake in the (news) media blaming the (entertainment) media for these horrific acts of violence – acts predominately committed by boys and young men? These questions will be examined in this session as we work through both popular and academic 'effects' stories. We will consider how the "media violence" story is constructed using examples drawn from the British press to explore the following questions:

• what kinds of violence and perpetrators are most commonly linked to media representations?
• what kinds of media representations are of concern?
• what models of media influence are employed in these stories and what is their relationship to the academic literature on media "effects"?
• what is the nature of the "evidence" linking violence on and off screen?
• what is our relationship to these "dangerous" texts and viewers?

Causal explanations – in scientific effects research as well as in the popular press – simplify both human behaviour and media texts in the interests of maintaining a false distinction between "dangerous" and "normal" texts and viewers. Press coverage thus polarises and over-simplifies the debate: we can either accept the effects paradigm or are forced into a position of arguing that the media has no influence, a patently absurd position. This session will conclude with a discussion of alternative ways of thinking through the various inter-relationships between media representations and real-world violence.

Film Stars: Hollywood and Beyond

Thursday 20 October 11.45am-1.00pm

Andrew Willis

Senior Lecturer in Media and Performance

The idea of a star once referred almost exclusively to the actors and actresses who appeared on the silver screen and represented a lifestyle of wealth and glamour. Today 'stars' may be drawn from the ranks of soap opera performers, football teams or the contestants on the latest reality TV show. However, for all this divergence across different fields, stars remain a vital part of the contemporary Hollywood film industry and for many cinemagoers are still the major reason they purchase a ticket for the latest release at their local multiplex. Our attempts to understand the various ways in which cinema operates must therefore incorporate some consideration of film stardom.

The study of stars has been well established within Film Studies since the publication of Richard Dyer's seminal book Stars in 1979. The main drive of much of this work has been to consider the relation of the performer to both the film industry that they are a part of and the wider society in which their image circulates. For the most part the work undertaken in this area has focused on a number of Hollywood figures who have worked in the context of the American film industry. Film stardom, of course, exists beyond Hollywood, even if not totally outside its considerable influence. In this talk I will discuss the idea of film stardom in a variety of contexts, acknowledging that contemporary film stardom involves a high level of cultural exchange across the globe.

In particular, I will consider the work of Hong Kong performer Jackie Chan, unquestionably one of the most recognisable global film stars, arguing that his image and career demand critical approaches that take into account the shifting contexts of his work and the historical changes in the consumption of his films. Initially considered as a Bruce Lee 'clone', Chan became a major star in Hong Kong and the East and a cult figure in the West, before breaking into US production with his co-starring role in Rush Hour. Since that breakthrough Chan has made a number of vehicles that have seen his star persona shift significantly away from its Hong Kong manifestation in an attempt to appeal to a wider global audience. This presentation will therfore consider Chan's changing star image and illustrate the most significant recent shifts through examples from his Hong Kong career and a number of his most recent works including The Tuxedo and Around the World in 80 Days. I will also use these examples to explore the ways in which our attempts to understand Jackie Chan as an international movie star must also intersect with wider debates in film studies regarding ways of understanding performance and representations of gender and race.