http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/film Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Sun, 26 Apr 2026 20:25:10 -0400 Sun, 26 Apr 2026 20:25:10 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1883/the-fleeting-nature-of-techno-horror-kairos-failure-to-appeal-to-gen-z By Wooju Chong - Techno-horror is a sub-genre of horror defined by the use of science or technology as the source of horror, and often, this genre is used to critique modern technology. However, due to the intertwined nature between techno-horror and contemporary technology, when that technology becomes obsolete, so does the horror presented in the film. In this paper, first, I will separate the relative concepts of “horrifying,” where a film’s horror exists solely in the world of the narrative, and “terrifying,” where a film’s horror can extend beyond the film and into the... Wed, 03 Mar 2021 04:35 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1883/the-fleeting-nature-of-techno-horror-kairos-failure-to-appeal-to-gen-z http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1879/sensationalism-of-trauma-in-american-film-and-literature By Clare M. Nee - The Virgin Suicides written by Jeffrey Eugenides, as well as Sofia Coppola’s film adaptation, utilize the literary and cinematic tropes of suicide to explore female suicides as romantic notions and assertions of agency within the teenage world of five sisters. In a world in which suicide and mental illness are rapidly on the rise, one might ask: is it ethical to use suicide merely as a plot device to explore a narrative other than its own? The novel and film adaptation use suicide as a vehicle to exploit and sexualize the adolescent female body through a voyeuristic, collective male narrative... Fri, 19 Feb 2021 11:43 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1879/sensationalism-of-trauma-in-american-film-and-literature http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1877/inglorious-basterds-a-satirical-criticism-of-wwii-cinema-and-the-myth-of-the-american-war-hero By Nadine Hussein - This article explores the way in which Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds challenges the myth of the American hero and criticizes the glorification of war cinema by satirizing the viewer directly. The particular focus is on the subtly with which Tarantino creates a network of parallels and analogical relations which dissolve the distinction between hero and villain. This article also argues that Tarantino effectively manipulates the audience into confronting the self-aggrandization of the American collective memory of WWII and exposes the ease at which the viewer is propagandized. Tarantino... Tue, 16 Feb 2021 04:53 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1877/inglorious-basterds-a-satirical-criticism-of-wwii-cinema-and-the-myth-of-the-american-war-hero http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1848/examining-the-complex-subjective-filmography-of-oliver-stone-a-comparison-and-critique-of-jfk-to-nixon-and-platoon-to-heaven-and-earth By Mang Lu - Oliver Stone's filmography has levied an unprecedented effect on the popular understanding of American history, especially of the turmoil surrounding the Vietnam War and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. His style has been described as highly subjective, fantastical, impassioned, insensitive, and unabashedly masculine. It is rather undisputed, however, that his features are not without cultural, racial, or religious shortsightedness. Stone's narrative style is particularly strong when working within a certain set of circumstances with respect to story and historical substance. Western, male... Tue, 08 Dec 2020 12:20 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1848/examining-the-complex-subjective-filmography-of-oliver-stone-a-comparison-and-critique-of-jfk-to-nixon-and-platoon-to-heaven-and-earth http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1819/stage-as-moment-cinema-as-memory-the-diverging-aesthetics-of-two-mediums By Abigail Tulenko - This paper argues that film is a medium defined by its relationship to memory. Building upon aesthetician György Lukács's temporal theory of cinema, I contrast film's inherent relationship to memory with the “eternal present” of the stage. Audiences viewing a film have a continual awareness that what they watch on screen was filmed in the past and edited together retrospectively. Cinema replicates the selective encoding process of our memories on-screen when a director and editor piece together the shots and scenes that compose a completed film. Often there is a large amount... Tue, 20 Oct 2020 12:26 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1819/stage-as-moment-cinema-as-memory-the-diverging-aesthetics-of-two-mediums http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1814/recycled-tropes-and-the-persistence-of-islamophobia-in-american-films By Meagen Tajalle - In this essay, I provide a content analysis of commercially and critically successful films that perpetuate popularized Islamophobia, which is often masked as irreconcilable religious and cultural difference although it has in fact been consistently manufactured and weaponized throughout history in order to further Western empirical interests. Recycled tropes and stereotypes in cinematic depictions can be traced back to historical orientalism and political Islamophobia, both of which were instrumental in garnering support for the War on Terror. Specifically, I examine the racial, religious, and... Sat, 10 Oct 2020 08:43 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1814/recycled-tropes-and-the-persistence-of-islamophobia-in-american-films http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1789/negotiating-the-concept-of-national-allegory-homosexuality-departure-and-homecoming-in-pedro-almodandoacute;vars-pain-and-glory-and-midi-zs-nina-wu By Qingyang Zhou - Often regarded as the glorious palace showcasing contemporary world cinema (“Press Conference”), the Cannes Film Festival epitomizes the roles of an accreditor, an archaeologist, and a political activist. It jumpstarts the careers of emerging auteurs from around the globe, casts light on obscure cinematic traditions, and engenders debates on controversial social issues in specific nations and regions. Encounters with the foreign constitute an integral part of the festival experience for the majority of the audience. As a result, filmmakers from less renowned national industries (i.... Sun, 06 Sep 2020 07:54 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1789/negotiating-the-concept-of-national-allegory-homosexuality-departure-and-homecoming-in-pedro-almodandoacute;vars-pain-and-glory-and-midi-zs-nina-wu http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1788/toxic-royalty-feminism-and-the-rhetoric-of-beauty-in-disney-princess-films By Stephanie X. Hu - At Disneyland’s Magic Kingdom, light cascades across the night sky before spiraling down through the stars. The castle that towers within the dark shines bright amongst the fireworks’ sparkling ceruleans and violets. Once the night show rises to a crescendo of color and song, the snaps of cameras coalesce with the symphony as spectators strive to capture the moment in time. Such a scene stands as a cherished childhood dream, cemented at the heart of the contemporary American identity. Since the birth of Walt Disney’s animation studio, countless children have become spellbound... Thu, 23 Jul 2020 02:11 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1788/toxic-royalty-feminism-and-the-rhetoric-of-beauty-in-disney-princess-films http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1782/gender-dynamics-in-the-sheik-as-novel-and-as-film-adaptation By Sophie Hammond - The 1921 Hollywood film The Sheik tells the story of Lady Diana Mayo, a spirited English peeress who, on a trip to the French Sahara, is kidnapped by and eventually falls in love with the Arab sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan. The film made Rudolph Valentino an international heartthrob, showered Paramount Pictures in money, and nearly singlehandedly founded the genre of “oriental romance” Hollywood films. The film’s power over the public imagination relied on American fantasies of the Orient as a place of billowing sands, luxurious silks, and heated, primal romance (Teo 110). But The Sheik... Fri, 28 Feb 2020 08:28 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1782/gender-dynamics-in-the-sheik-as-novel-and-as-film-adaptation http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1771/hyperreality-and-the-consumption-of-the-subject-as-object-in-black-mirror By Megan Kirkwood - Jean Baudrillard’s essay ‘The Precession of Simulacra’ from Simulacra and Simulation (1981) is a key postmodern text to understanding the contemporary technological Western world. ‘The Precession of Simulacra’ explores Baudrillard’s central concepts of simulacra, simulation and hyperreality. Baudrillard argues that we now live in a world of signs, that ‘just about everything is a matter of signification, […] obviously connected with an explosive growth in media, but related also to changes in the conduct of everyday life’.[1] In ‘The... Wed, 09 Oct 2019 08:45 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1771/hyperreality-and-the-consumption-of-the-subject-as-object-in-black-mirror http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1701/the-feminine-threat-reconsidering-the-damsel-in-distress-in-early-disney-films By Hugo Ljungback - “Disney perpetuated a male myth through his fairy-tale films,” argues Jack Zipes (1995, p. 37). He writes that Walt Disney framed “women’s lives through a male discourse” in his films (p. 36), and that he reinforced “nineteenth-century patriarchal notions” and “benevolent attitudes toward women” (p. 37). This paper looks at Walt Disney Pictures films released in the 30-year period between 1937 and 1967, from the company’s first feature-length film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, to The Jungle Book, the last film Walt Disney himself... Mon, 06 Nov 2017 09:52 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1701/the-feminine-threat-reconsidering-the-damsel-in-distress-in-early-disney-films http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1506/preserving-cantonese-television-and-film-in-guangdong-language-as-cultural-heritage-in-south-chinas-bidialectal-landscape By Rona Y. Ji - The sheer number of distinct dialects present within the country has long complicated Chinese language standardization and language policy. Furthermore, China’s history with colonial powers throughout the past three centuries has led to a distinct divide between language standardization in Northern China and Southern China. Despite the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to promote Mandarin as the primary language of the People’s Republic of China, Cantonese has been one of several dialects that has experienced special allowances from the Chinese government due to the colonial... Mon, 12 Dec 2016 06:20 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1506/preserving-cantonese-television-and-film-in-guangdong-language-as-cultural-heritage-in-south-chinas-bidialectal-landscape http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1468/new-media-adaptations-of-classic-literature-from-pride-and-prejudice-to-the-lizzie-bennet-diaries By Noelle M. Kozak - Pride and Prejudice, the work of nineteenth century novelist Jane Austen, has been celebrated for over two-hundred years since its first publication. It has been adapted, reinvented and re-imagined over and over again to the delight of both loyal readers and interested newcomers. One such adaptation is the new media sensation, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Developed as a web show, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries successfully honors important themes found in Pride and Prejudice, namely its strong female characters, to tell a story that remains true to Austen's roots while engaging a new generation of viewers... Wed, 26 Oct 2016 10:14 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1468/new-media-adaptations-of-classic-literature-from-pride-and-prejudice-to-the-lizzie-bennet-diaries http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1461/interpreting-political-unrest-in-hong-kong-through-the-midnight-after-2014 By Justin Wong Jun-sheng - Hong Kong is standing at a crucial social and political juncture in its history. A former British colony, it has retained its unique legal system, electoral system, and political democracy. These systems have worked together to create a society in which residents are entitled to their rights with a strong and equal rule of law that governs the society. The 1st of July 1997 marked the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the PRC (HKSAR). Many fear that as time progresses, the PRC... Mon, 17 Oct 2016 08:43 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1461/interpreting-political-unrest-in-hong-kong-through-the-midnight-after-2014 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1443/the-colonial-subject-seeing-the-unseen-and-the-construction-of-subjectivity-in-apocalypse-now-and-la-noire-de By Eric N. Hahn - The complex and multifaceted nature of cinema is further complicated by the unmistakable tension between the quasi-objective potential inherent in the medium—the camera merely operating as an observer—versus the unrestricted camera which functions as a metaphysical transport to the psychological and even physical experience of a distinct body. Upon close examination, it can be said that both of these modes of address are unique to cinema and arguing for the significance of one over the other is a fool’s errand. As such, this paper does not address this arguably problematic dichotomy... Fri, 09 Sep 2016 09:04 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1443/the-colonial-subject-seeing-the-unseen-and-the-construction-of-subjectivity-in-apocalypse-now-and-la-noire-de http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1442/a-contemporary-analysis-of-action-films-with-female-leads By Myranda A. Dapolito - A doorbell rings. Off screen, we hear a sing-songy “Coming!” A woman dressed in a cerulean track suit rushes to the door, expecting to find her daughter home from school. Instead, she finds another woman, blonde and leather jacket-clad. With one startling punch, the blonde woman simultaneously initiates a fight and inserts herself into the home. The two women proceed to destroy the living room of the house: shoving each other into framed pictures, propelling into tables, throwing shelves of painted china, becoming more and more bloodied by the second. The fight reaches a standstill... Wed, 07 Sep 2016 08:26 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1442/a-contemporary-analysis-of-action-films-with-female-leads http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1423/the-danish-girl-2015-and-the-deconstruction-of-gender-identity By Annalena Lorenz - Before, however, Lili’s “ailment” was merely referred to as insanity, schizophrenia, homosexuality or indeed perversion, a condition which needed to be cured by imposing the most extreme measures, such as radiotherapy. The pathologization persists, albeit under a different name (Gender Identity Disorder) and with less immoral remedies being prescribed. In other words, gender identity still is, and is likely to remain for yet some time to come, a prevailing issue in today’s discourse, while scholars and activists alike persist in their endeavour to change society’s... Tue, 14 Jun 2016 11:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1423/the-danish-girl-2015-and-the-deconstruction-of-gender-identity http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1474/exaggerations-and-stereotypes-of-schizophrenia-in-contemporary-films By Nikita DeMare - Due to filmmakers focusing on violence, traumatic events, and hallucinations when depicting characters with schizophrenia, critics have scrutinized the representation of mental disorders in contemporary films for years. This study compared previous research on schizophrenia with the fictional representation of the disease in contemporary films. Through content analysis, this study examined 10 films featuring a schizophrenic protagonist, tallying moments of violence and charting if they fell into four common stereotypes. Results showed a high frequency of violent behavior in films depicting schizophrenic... Tue, 31 May 2016 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1474/exaggerations-and-stereotypes-of-schizophrenia-in-contemporary-films http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1360/color-theory-and-social-structure-in-the-films-of-wes-anderson By Vaughn A. Vreeland - Since the turn of the 20th century, cinema has been embedded cross-culturally as a social lens through which societal norms and values are portrayed. Cinema's effectiveness hinges on many factors that can make a particular story powerful. Unique screenplays, popular actors, state-of-the-art cameras, lighting and sound design all play large roles in the value of a production. Blockbuster films do well at the box office for their promotional appeal, yet le septième art, the seventh art as cinema is commonly known, is deeply rooted in artistic interpretation. Aesthetic input is arguably the... Wed, 18 Nov 2015 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1360/color-theory-and-social-structure-in-the-films-of-wes-anderson http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1361/do-african-american-female-stereotypes-still-exist-in-television-a-descriptive-character-analysis-of-olivia-pope By Kendall King. - Pope was chosen for this study because she is leading the "progressive shift in the representation of Black female characters in mainstream television" (Mask, 2015, p. 8). Unlike most African-American women seen today on television, the character played by Washington is both dark-skinned and beautiful, while also romantically and sexually desirable (Everett, 2015, p. 37). Pope differs from other strong African-American television characters, such as Claire Huxtable on The Cosby Show, who portrayed another prominent African-American television character, and was a lawyer, a mother, and was equated... Wed, 18 Nov 2015 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1361/do-african-american-female-stereotypes-still-exist-in-television-a-descriptive-character-analysis-of-olivia-pope http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1130/an-examination-of-native-americans-in-film-and-rise-of-native-filmmakers By Julia Boyd - This paper explored the role of Native Americans in the Hollywood film industry and their actions to establish authentic representations of their population and culture in the media. Using academic literature, film analyses, and contemporary film reviews and articles, the author created a synthesis of the history of Native Americans in film. The author concluded that by becoming producers, directors, and writers of their own stories, American Indians have regained control of their images and been able to combat stereotypes and the exclusion of Native Americans in the creative process. Positive... Sat, 30 May 2015 11:59 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1130/an-examination-of-native-americans-in-film-and-rise-of-native-filmmakers http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1011/living-with-evil-crime-and-sexuality-in-bonnie-and-clyde-and-chinatown By Joel S. Kempson - Through the late 1960s the French New Wave became a pronounced and significant factor in the creation and development of Hollywood films. Such movements had gained popularity through an ability to engage with a younger audience by means of a more youthful focus, by taking advantage of a counterculture brought about by the disillusionment with hierarchy exemplified by protests against the Vietnam War, political assassinations, experimentation with drugs, gay liberation and a rise in sexual freedom. Partly in an attempt to take advantage of this, but also encouraged by favourable taxation on filmmaking... Sat, 14 Mar 2015 04:03 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1011/living-with-evil-crime-and-sexuality-in-bonnie-and-clyde-and-chinatown http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/933/man-as-image-clark-gable-james-dean-and-the-audience-that-looked-at-them By Anna J. Varadi - In her seminal essay "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" Laura Mulvey (1975) connects psychoanalytic concepts of scopophilic desire1 and Jaques Lacan's theory of the Mirror Stage2 (1966), to the cinema spectator's gaze. Mulvey limits her argument to the "active/male" gaze looking at a "passive/female" figure (p. 11), however, several critics note that "her remarks [can] apply … to images of men" (Neale, 1983, p. 4; Hansen, 1986; Koch, 1985). Following this line of thought, I use Mulvey's  ideas, particularly her linking of the Mirror Stage with processes of identification, to discuss... Thu, 30 Oct 2014 01:47 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/933/man-as-image-clark-gable-james-dean-and-the-audience-that-looked-at-them http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/915/holly-golightly-and-the-endless-pursuit-of-self-actualization-in-breakfast-at-tiffanys By Zachary B. Wunrow - By one interpretation, Blake Edwards’ comedy Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) conveys the disillusionment experienced when the prize of the Cracker Jack box – and correspondingly the film itself – cannot be equated with surprise. When an astute Tiffany’s salesman is presented with a ring from a Cracker Jack box, he remarks that the continued existence of such prizes “gives one a feeling of solidarity, almost of continuity with the past, that sort of thing.” In Tiffany’s, the prize does not represent the thrillingly unknown, but instead the comfortably... Sat, 20 Sep 2014 12:37 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/915/holly-golightly-and-the-endless-pursuit-of-self-actualization-in-breakfast-at-tiffanys http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/968/film-production-design-case-study-of-the-great-gatsby By Kelsey Egan - The author examined the significance of production design in film. This paper reviewed scholarly articles on the evolution of production design and applied her findings to analysis of Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 rendition of The Great Gatsby. This study revealed that accurate and creative production design is essential to success in film. Analysis of The Great Gatsby showed that production design reflected an Art Deco style, the period of 1920s, and the representation of characters in the film. Without the intricate and well-planned production design, the themes of the F. Scott Fitzgerald’... Thu, 29 May 2014 06:36 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/968/film-production-design-case-study-of-the-great-gatsby http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/869/hegemonic-masculinity-in-boys-dont-cry-1999 By Renee S. Grozelle - The need for individuals to categorize themselves and others based on gender has guided the way individuals interact with one another throughout history. The construction of gender, particularly when it comes to young males, has led to the amplification of negative characteristics associated with hegemonic masculinity. These negative characteristics have often been associated with an increase in the violence and aggression used in homophobic hate crimes committed by men. In order to highlight the negative impacts that hegemonic masculinity has on constructions of gender and sexuality, the film... Tue, 18 Mar 2014 11:14 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/869/hegemonic-masculinity-in-boys-dont-cry-1999 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/855/one-world-one-ocean-one-mission By Tracy L. Anderson - MacGillivray Freeman Films was founded over forty years ago by Greg MacGillivray and the late Jim Freeman. In 2011, the company launched “the world’s largest ocean media campaign, a 10-year global initiative called One World One Ocean” (MacGillivray Freeman Films, 2010, Our History, para. 10), an awareness and change campaign focusing on saving the world’s oceans. The mission of One World One Ocean (OWOO) is to use “the power of film, television, new media and education initiatives… to change the way people see and value the ocean — and motivate action... Mon, 13 Jan 2014 10:47 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/855/one-world-one-ocean-one-mission http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1700/a-case-study-on-film-authorship-exploring-the-theoretical-and-practical-sides-in-film-production By David Tregde - Film authorship has been a topic of debate in film theory since the Cahiers du Cinema critics first birthed auteur theory. Andrew Sarris used this theory to categorize directors based on their level of artistic authorship, solidifying the idea that a director is the sole author of a film. In The Schreiber Theory, David Kipen argues that a writer is responsible for creating the world of the movie and should be considered the author of a film. However, collaborative theories, such as those proposed by Paul Sellors, provide a more practical framework for studying film authorship. Rarely are any film... Mon, 09 Dec 2013 10:34 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1700/a-case-study-on-film-authorship-exploring-the-theoretical-and-practical-sides-in-film-production http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/813/nada-es-sencilla-un-anand#225;lisis-de-cinco-peliculas-almodovareand#241;as By Jen Gulas - A pesar de la variación en material sujeto, las películas largometrajes del Pedro Almodóvar contienen elementos que contribuyen similares al fórmula del éxito que lo ha sostenido Almodóvar como al cineasta estreno, el creador del altamente aclamado reciente trabajos La Mala Educación y Volver, confían pesadamente en desarrollar producciones multigéneras, junto con el exhibir el negocio inacabado de un carácter, para resultar un producto brillante. Por ejemplo, Carne trémula demuestra a vencedor del protagonista, que acaba... Fri, 22 Nov 2013 02:35 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/813/nada-es-sencilla-un-anand#225;lisis-de-cinco-peliculas-almodovareand#241;as http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/740/power-and-presence-in-fritz-langs-m-1931 By Zachary B. Wunrow - In the penultimate scene of Fritz Lang’s M (1931), mentally-disturbed child murderer Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre) falls to his knees before a kangaroo court and cries out, “I have to roam the streets endlessly, always sensing that someone’s following me. It’s me! I’m shadowing myself!”  Beckert’s monologue conveys that a disparity exists between his shadow and his self, and it becomes apparent that his self cannot exist without his shadow.  For most of the film, the Beckert on screen is a “shadow,” a monster; only at the end is the... Tue, 11 Jun 2013 09:33 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/740/power-and-presence-in-fritz-langs-m-1931