Transgression and Subjectivity

Ursula Adams
Trangression and Subjectivity
A Critical Look at Independent Video/Cinema and the Mainstream

In my panel presentation, I will define the terms "Transgression" and "Subjectivity" once as explained in our class readings, and again through my perspective of these terms in regards to independent video and cinema and its relationship with the mainstream.  I would like to explore the arc of exchange and evolution of aesthetics and cultural/social/political implications between the "independent" and "mainstream".  I see this pendulum swing as a crossing over and breaking boundaries.  I will then comment on how subjectivity plays an important role in making video/cinema a tool or a weapon depending on who has the camera, who is represented, and who is watching.

I am going to concentrate on the phenomenon of independent cinema's recent popularity, and Hollywood's attempt to capitalize on it.  I will then track how video has become a tool for social/political awareness using the Zapatista struggle in Chiapas, Mexico as an example.  I will show clips from:

1) the "Zapatista" video documentary made by US students;

2) the Rage Against the Machine documentary on this revolution; and 3) the Chiapas Media Project (if I can find it).  We will compare the transgression and subjectivity of all three examples both aesthetically and politically, and its affects on their cause as well as on the media in general.

I would like to tie in elements already covered by my panel colleagues. I
want to show clips from And-1 basketball videos and Surf videos to show how a
subculture represents itself through the media, and how the mainstream adopts
or manipulates their aesthetic and/or representation.

I hope that my presentation will go last and offer a nice summing up of the
topic of Transgression and Subjectivity when dealing with the Independent vs.
the Mainstream in regards to film/video.  This ever-evolving relationship is
what propels the media into the 21st century, and captures (acurately or
inacurately) our cultural/social/political realities.

Accumulated sources to date:
- IFC Rant Magazine Articles
- Sight & Sound Magazine Articles
- Rage Against the Machine DVD
- And-1 basketball videos
- Momentum (surf video)
- The Green Iguana (surf video)
- Zapatista video

Return to Start Page