http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/film-studies 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 Wed, 29 Apr 2026 21:21:02 -0400 Wed, 29 Apr 2026 21:21:02 -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/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/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/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/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/200/raising-titanic-the-world-of-communication-and-the-creation-of-one-of-the-worlds-most-succesful-films By Ryan A. Piccirillo - In an interview with Playboy, Cameron admits he made the film because he “wanted to dive to the shipwreck, not because [he] particularly wanted to make the movie” (Playboy). Inspired by deep-sea IMAX productions and a fascination with shipwrecks, Cameron was determined to include actual footage of the Titanic wreck as a framing device in his film. He negotiated with a Russian research organization, the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, to sponsor his deep-sea expedition. Arguing that it “might be of some scientific benefit, [he] won official approval to charter the Keldysh,&rdquo... Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:15 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/200/raising-titanic-the-world-of-communication-and-the-creation-of-one-of-the-worlds-most-succesful-films http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/88/an-analysis-of-billy-wilders-double-indemnity By Katherine Blakeney - But what about Phyllis herself? Is she really an object or a human being, and to what extent does she attempt to “castrate” the male characters in the film? In her dealings with Walter she is always cool and collected. She has no conscience, no scruples, and hardly any feelings other than greed and frustration. Even her final admission that she is in love with him can be interpreted as a last attempt to save her own life rather than a glimmer of humanity. Presumably, if Walter is touched by her admission and lowers his gun, she can still turn on him and kill him. After all, she did... Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:04 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/88/an-analysis-of-billy-wilders-double-indemnity