Dammit! I Knew This Was Going To Happen

These three readings were so informative and engaging. The Psychoanalytic analysis developed theories from Freud and Lacan, which included how one's desires and pleasures are developed and  how subconsciously/consciously his/her desires are applied to media studies.  The "Lack" was a term I had not heard of before, but explains why I watch certain movies and not others. There are things in my reality that I need to fill the gap with and apparently I do not get enough horror or excitement (why I watch a lot of thrillers and horror movies). 

The Feminist analysis split from the Psychoanalytic and focused on stereotypes, patriarchy, and binaries. This chapter brought my attention to the different spheres that we are involved and how we can (through feminist analysis) break down social binaries in our lives and in the media. This chapter also highlighted that it was not all about females, but about males too. How either sex can be seen in different ways such as objectification and stereotyping.

The Queer analysis, much like the Feminist, reveals how to look at media and society from all different angles. Again, blurring the line of social binaries, this analysis encourages us to not look just at gender or sex as one way or the other but from many different ways. The theory goes on to focus on how the western culture idealizes power and that the ones with power are typically from the patriarch. 

I enjoyed reading these three chapters; they really gave me an understanding of how to critically look at all types of media.  Last night, I watched Paranormal Activity 4 and was astounded by the fact that I wasn't scared throughout the entire movie. I kept applying what I had just learned to the film and it took all desire and pleasure away from watching it. I thought afterwards, dammit, I was told this would happen and it happened.  
   
“pleasure in watching comes from the moments in the film when the process of filling the lack is prolonged or stunted, such as the introduction of the antagonist or other obstacles that keep the protagonist from reaching his/her goal” (166). 

I knew my goal going into the movie was to analyze what was going on, so I guess that I got what I wanted in the end, I still felt a little let down. It was a horrible movie and very predictable.