Matching Items (3)
Filtering by
- All Subjects: Film Studies
- Creators: Miller, April
Description
Batman is one of the most iconic characters in the history of popular culture. Ever since his creation in 1939, the character and his stories have gone through several changes. In my thesis, I explore and analyze the character within the nearly 20-year period in which he went through the most significant changes (1968-1986). Overall, these changes can be summarized as a shift from a lighthearted superhero consistently placed in campy situations to a dark and brooding vigilante who brutally dispatches his enemies. While analyzing the different versions of this character in this period of time, I reference the conclusions of two scholars: Travis Langley and Chuck Tate. Langley wrote a general psychological analysis of Batman by considering the essential characteristics of the character found in all forms of media. Tate concluded that Batman only uses hostile aggression for the sake of deriving pleasure form the pain he causes to criminals. After analyzing the comics as my primary sources, I have concluded that the general findings of Tate and Langley actually ignore the subtle details of changes in the humanity and self-awareness of the character through time. The lighthearted version of Batman in the late 60's is actually a self-obsessed narcissist, but as time passes, the darker mood of the character can be attributed to an increased acknowledgment of the destructive nature of his unique lifestyle. As the character grows more accepting of himself and his own reasons for continuing this lifestyle, his motivations become less self-centered. Overall, the central change of the character throughout time can be traced back to the status of his inner conflict between normal, human desires and the pure desire for constant vengeance.
ContributorsRivera-Passapera, Hiram Alfonso (Author) / Martin, Thomas (Thesis director) / Miller, April (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This thesis traces the queer legacy of the Frankenstein myth from James Whale’s filmic adaptations, Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, to Mexico’s first adaptation of the myth, El Monstruo Resucitado (1953). Chano Urueta’s El Monstruo Resucitado adapted the Frankenstein legend not from Mary Shelley’s source text but from Whale’s films, which themselves are infused with the queer sensibilities of a homosexual director. This new Mexican Frankenstein myth created a Monster that both reflects the culture of the Hollywood context from which it is adapted and responds to its own unique Mexican backdrop. Discussed only superficially in monster studies scholarship, El Monstruo Resucitado has rarely been examined for its contributions to Mexican horror cinema or queer horror studies as a whole. This thesis explores El Monstruo Resucitado's utility as a queer parable by working through José Esteban Muñoz’s theory of Disidentifications, positioning the film as a cultural object valuable to queer identity formation for minoritarian audiences in Mexico. By doing so, this thesis aims to broaden the conversation surrounding the role of the monster in culture and highlight Mexican monster horror like El Monstruo Resucitado as significant to the global tradition of the monster movie.
ContributorsPlata, Maxwell (Author) / Van Engen, Dagmar (Thesis director) / Miller, April (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Music, Dance and Theatre (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
An analysis of the relationship between haunted house films and economic anxieties of different cultures and time periods.
ContributorsRobertson, Travis (Author) / Miller, April (Thesis director) / Mack, Robert (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Comm (Contributor) / The Sidney Poitier New American Film School (Contributor)
Created2022-05