CARY EDWARDS

Exploring Identity Crisis and the Symbolic Order in Straw Dogs (Sam Peckinpah, 1970)

23rd August 201723rd August 2017 caryComment

Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs (1971) has often been considered a difficult and controversial text. Central to this is the depiction of gender, specifically concerning the role of Amy (played by Susan George) and the double[…]

Superman V Objectivism

22nd August 201725th August 2017 caryComment

This article was previously published on Bright Lights Film Journal. Since original publication the excellent Wonder Woman (Patty Jenkins) was released, embodying the opposite of Rand’s ideas. It has now made more money than Batman v Superman despite costing[…]

Watch it Again! Joe (John G. Avildsen, 1970)

22nd August 201723rd August 2017 caryComment

This article was first published by Bright Lights Film Journal. During Donald Trump’s campaign for the White House, more than a few commentators noticed some similarities to George Wallace, and especially Wallace’s 1968 campaign for[…]

Thoughts on Straw Dogs (Sam Peckinpah, 1970)

21st August 201722nd August 2017 caryComment

On its release Pauline Kael described Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs (1971) as; the first American film that is a fascist work of art[i] and Richard Schickel called it “unrelenting evil”[ii]. A collection of thirteen British film critics[…]

Classroom Posters

21st August 201730th August 2017 caryTeaching Resources

Click below for 4 free posters for your Film & Media Studies classroom:

Watch it Again! Joe – on Bright Lights Film Journal

22nd April 201722nd April 2017 caryLink

Watch It Again! Joe (John G. Avildsen, 1970)

Now on Bright Lights!

4th March 20174th March 2017 caryComment

Superman v Objectivism: Forget Lex Luthor and Brainiac; Could Ayn Rand Be Superman’s Biggest Enemy?

Fascist-Super Cops? The Legacy of The French Connection & Dirty Harry

2nd March 201723rd August 2017 caryComment

One of them is a loner who gets thrown every dirty job in town. His solution: shoot his .44 Magnum and damn the consequences. The other is a blue-collar roughneck, a porkpie-hat wearing boot fetishist[…]

Experiencing Film Violence

24th February 201723rd August 2017 caryComment

From its early days cinema has showcased violence. Whether it was boxing matches or recreations of historical events violence has been infused into the very nature of the medium. If we believe the old story[…]

“The father becomes the son, and the son becomes the father”: Superheroes and their Fathers

24th February 201725th August 2017 caryComment

It has occurred to me that within the confines of the Superhero sub-genre that so dominates modern Hollywood output that there is a single relationship that underpins the Superheroes’ actions and their relationships to order[…]