Film and Media Studies | Open Access Articles

This Is The Way: Christian Asceticism Alive In The Star Wars Universe, David Allen Osb

Obsculta

This article is a creative reflection on how the Desert Fathers, especially St. Antony, could be compared in a pastoral way to the Jedi Masters found in the Star Wars Film and Television Canon.

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Soothers, Everett Wall

LMU Theses and Dissertations

When a meticulous chef, who can't eat anything without throwing it up, discovers the cure for his ailment in a recalled antacid from the 1970s, he solicits the help of his in-house taster to hunt down more of the tablets and in the process discovers that she was the cure all along.

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There Will Be A Tomorrow, Cameron Webb

LMU Theses and Dissertations

After her young daughter is killed in the aftermath of an apocalypse, a mother travels back in time to save her by stopping the apocalypse from ever happening.

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Transcendence: Exploring The Connections Between Transgender/Gender Non-Conforming Identities And Experiences Of Nature Through Art, Mc Jackson

Undergraduate Theses

“Transcendence: Exploring the connections between transgender/gender non-conforming identities and experiences of nature through art” is the written portion of a creative thesis revolving around an immersive art installation and short film. Transcendence, the installation, was created to promote connection by exploring the overlap between transgender and gender non-conforming (GNC) experiences and experiences of nature. Part of this installation is a short film of interviews conducted with transgender and GNC individuals about nature, their gender experiences, and the transcendent nature of the two. The written thesis analyzes existing literature on nature as a restorative, therapeutic, spiritual setting, offers insight into …

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A New Era, Bridget Dietz

Whittier Scholars Program

This piece of art is a short film about a girl who returns to her old high school to become an assistant football coach due to struggling to find her identity outside of sports. Over the last several years, we have seen many women play very significant roles in football, which is primarily a male dominated sport. This film demonstrates an accurate depiction of the challenges women may face when they work in a position that is superior in a male dominated field. Additionally, the film also displays the struggles that athletes often face when they retire from a sport, …

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Cause Branding Lizzo And The Body Positivity Movement, Natalie Pesqueira

Whittier Scholars Program

Known for her songs about self love and acceptance, Lizzo has become a body positive icon and a role model for so many people with larger bodies since her rise to fame. This paper is an analysis of Lizzo’s place in the current body positive moment as a fat, Black woman and the ways in which she has been forced to participate in fat activism and fat resistance due to her identity. This paper will also analyze the ways in which Lizzo’s shapewear brand Yitty is branded– is it positive inclusion or is it a case of cause branding?

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Review Of Tolkien (Movie), Kutter Callaway

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of Tolkien, by David Gleeson and Stephen Beresford, directed by Dome Karukoski, starring Nicholas Hoult and Lily Collins. Century City, California: Fox Searchlight, 2019.

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Review Of The Most Reluctant Convert: The Untold Story Of C. S. Lewis (Movie), James A. Motter

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of The Most Reluctant Convert: The Untold Story of C. S. Lewis, by Max MacLean, directed by Norman Stone, starring Max MacLean and Nicholas Ralph. New York City, NY: Fellowship for Performing Arts, 2021, 1 hr., 13 min.

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The “Invisible” Impact In The Arts: A Multiple-Case Comparative Study Depicting The Challenge Of Impact Reporting For Arts Impact Organizations, Heidi Rolf

Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

This Honors Thesis researches the complex interrogative following the arts impact industry and the impact reporting methods available to the organizations within this industry. The research is achieved through a multiple-case study on six different arts impact organizations and additional web-based analysis. The case studies provide the structure for the ultimate discussion on available impact reporting methods for arts impact organizations and the level of importance, difficulty, and constraints associated with this form of reporting. This study presents detail on the growth and position of the current arts impact industry as well as that of the creative economy as a …

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“Everything And Nothing”: Exhibiting Irishness At The Chicago World Fair Of 1893, Jessica Bocinski

English (MA) Theses

This project employs a cultural studies approach to investigate the overlapping productions of Irish identity at the Irish Villages of the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. Conceptualized and designed by two British philanthropists and businesswomen, the Irish Villages presented an Irishness shaped by Ireland’s long history of colonial rule. For Irish Americans living in the United States during the late nineteenth century, the Irish Villages offered a particularly well-suited opportunity to present an identity that would facilitate their acceptance into American society. Rather than challenging or negating the colonial representations of Irishness that existed at places like the Chicago World’s …

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Shakespearean Constellations, Sarah Bradshaw

University Scholar Projects

Sarah Bradshaw’s thesis argues that Shakespeare's legacy is a fundamentally collaborative product. Rather than viewing Shakespeare’s legacy as the product of a single individual, what "Shakespeare" has come to mean over the past 400 years is altered by those who read, depict, and adapt these texts. Bradshaw presents Shakespeare, Romantic critics, and film adaptors as artists collaborating with their pasts and presents to adapt texts into new environments. By adopting Walter Benjamin’s metaphor of the constellation, Bradshaw theorizes Shakespeare’s legacy as a larger image in which each source, reading, and adaptation operates as a discrete object of study that together …

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Libby In Limbo, Moriah Claire Hall

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Libby in Limbo is a scripted narrative podcast that follows Libby as she moves back to her small hometown, gets a job as a librarian, and learns to navigate life in a small, tight-knit community. This podcast serves two main purposes: to create entertainment media about a library that does not promote harmful stereotypes about libraries and to create awareness and accessibility of scripted podcasts.

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Using Visual Effects As A Means Of Establishing Or Reinforcing Scale In 3d Visual Works, Eric Dinicolantonio

All Theses

In 3D animation, visual effects help to establish and reinforce the scale of different characters and objects that are otherwise unclear. In the Fall of 2022, I taught a class about visual effects to several students. At the time, I had difficulty explaining the importance of properly scaling your 3D effects in order to add realism. With physically based effects, we must respect the laws of physics to create a visually realistic and understandable visual effect. Going through several of my previous projects, I found that I had made mistakes with scaling several of my effects. With this paper, I …

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Into The Spider-Verse: Cultural Identity In Spider-Man Media, Anika Gonzalez

Whittier Scholars Program

Superheroes have become a popular genre that is becoming more successful at creating box office records. As the superhero genre becomes more popular, more superheroes have been created as symbols that reflect the increase of cultural identity representation in contemporary media. Spider-Man is a superhero that also reflects these cultural identities by offering more diverse and relatable variants of the Spider-Man character that allow him to normalize and address their presence in media. This paper aims to analyze the different cultural identities that Spider-Man media can connect to and how this connection can lead to a greater understanding of cultural …

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The Well-Tempered Android: Philosophical Posthumanism In Science Fiction Cinema., Cody Gault

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines philosophical posthumanism as a means for critical analysis of the interaction between humans and nonhuman androids in select science fiction cinematic universes. The interaction is analyzed through several facets, notably the interactions between humans and nonhuman androids, particularly as interactions between the human and nonhuman are often sites of violence. Chapter one is an introduction. Chapter two describes the development of philosophical posthumanism from humanism, also including an analysis of philosophical posthumanism, and how it can be used as a critical lens. Chapter three begins an analysis of science fiction cinema by examining the Blade Runner films …

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The Landscape Does Not Care It Is A Landscape: A Utopian Pessimist Journey In Kentucky., Shachaf Polakow

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

These thesis and exhibition, invite the viewers to travel through different places in Central and Eastern Kentucky. The region’s landscape, like many other American landscapes, is often known to the public through the settler colonial lens—a lens that ignores Indigenous peoples’ history in the region. The work in the exhibition is a response to landscape art's history and its complicity with American settler colonialism- art that was recruited to create a new identity for the settlers and for the country from the beginning of the American Colonial Project. Landscape art was a crucial part of this effort, presenting the land …

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Nightmares And Hand Grenades: Dreams As A Storytelling Tool, Olivia Felber

All Theses

Dreams and nightmares feature prominently in art, story, and religious practice and tradition throughout history. In this paper I will discuss their prominence throughout these facets in daily life, and the various ways that we, as humans, have tried to elucidate meaning from them. I will study the nature and definition of dreams and nightmares through a scientific, cultural, and historical approach. I will also discuss folklore and the interpretation of nightmarish imagery in the context of an otherworldly adventure through a nightmare. These topics and themes will be shown, explained, and discussed through the methodology of my project- a …

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The Audrey Hepburn Image: Stardom, Gendered Authorship, And Creative Agency, Livi Edmonson

Film and Media Studies (MA) Theses

Female stardom was an essential component to the star system and film industry in Hollywood’s Golden Age. During the postwar era, one of the most influential female stars was Academy award winning actress, Audrey Hepburn. Hepburn’s emergence in the industry, as well as her branding as a “postwar Cinderella,” was representative of the emerging intersection between fashion and film. The association of Hepburn’s stardom with the two mediums --- especially to that of haute couture --- was solidified through her association with French couturier and close friend, Hubert de Givenchy. However, Hepburn’s agency becomes subverted in scholarship and popular culture …

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How Donald Trump And The 2016 Presidential Election Eclipsed Frank Underwood’S Election In ‘House Of Cards’, Charna Flam

Film and Media Studies (MA) Theses

In 2016, the U.S. faced a seismic change in national politics and the evolution of the entertainment industry. As the rise of streaming services had finally hit its stride, Netflix, the industry disruptor, had released a steady stream of critically acclaimed series, most notably beginning with the platform’s first original program, House of Cards. The series’ main character, Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) would become a fixture within the television landscape at the time, as both political dramas and anti-hero series were at all-time high, but what the writers of House of Cards did not expect was how their plotlines would …

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“Block Island Stories”: Preserving And Showcasing Block Island’S Rigorous History Through Virtual Adaptation, Alexander Pretorius

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

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What Are You Crying For?: Renegotiating White Masculine Hegemony Through Melodramatic Excess In The 1990s Films Of Tom Hanks, Bryce Thompson

Film and Media Studies (MA) Theses

This thesis studies the emergence of a renegotiated masculinity in the 1990s predicated on the expression and containment of anxieties around White masculinity and an appropriation of the melodramatic mode. By establishing a historical and theoretical foundation from which to understand and analyze this unique cultural moment, this thesis demonstrates how such a renegotiation acted in tandem with a larger reactionary project. This foundation includes a critical review of the “crisis of masculinity” of the 1990s defined in Sally Robinson’s (2000) work; an engagement with the nature, reproduction, and self-preservation of hegemony, as explored through traditional theorists like Raymond Williams …

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“Let’S Do The Time Warp, Again!” The Rocky Horror Picture Show As Hysterical Theatre, Frances Wendorf

Film and Media Studies (MA) Theses

In studying not only the distinct aesthetics and themes of the film but also the experience of the cult midnight movie screenings, this thesis re-positions The Rocky Horror Picture show as a radical descendent of the theatrical legacy of Jean- Martin Charcot’s lectures on hysteria. His “theatre of hysteria” is a retroactive terminology for the physician’s highlytheatricalized lecture series at the Salpêtrière hospital in Paris in the 1880s on the diagnosis of hysteria, during which the bodies of hysterical patients were rendered an objectified public spectacle under the guise of medical observation. The thesis explores intersections between queer and hysterical …

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The Rape-Revenge Genre In The Digital Age Of Heightened Visibility: The Rise Of Female Storytellers And Fourth-Wave Feminism, Marynell Dethero

Film and Media Studies (MA) Theses

The rape-revenge cinema genre has continued to evolve since its initial emergence in the 1970s. Many of the most popular films belonging to the genre produced in the 1970s, like Meir Zarchi’s I Spit on Your Grave (1978) or Wes Craven’s directorial debut The Last House on the Left (1972), have been criticized heavily by film critics and scholars for their exploitative tropes. However, I argue that regardless of the production value of the films, the rape-revenge genre is inherently feminist because sexual violence is and always has been an inherent issue to the feminist movement and because the genre …

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Balancing Multiple Worlds: The Multiverse And The Fractured Asian American Experience In Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022), Austin Kang

Film and Media Studies (MA) Theses

This thesis examines the ways in which the 2022 film Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) employs the philosophical ideas concomitant with the multiverse hypothesis in order to narrate an emotionally poignant, yet somewhat typical story about a multi-generational Asian American family. This thesis argues that the film uses its characters as vehicles to not only illustrate the multilayered nature of Asian American realities through the allegory of “auto verse-jumping” across the multiverse, but also to philosophically contemplate and respond to the existence of the multiverse via its presentation of conceptual parallels. The film employs the hypothetical existence of the …

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The Disintegration Of Marriage In Ryusuke Hamaguchi’S Happy Hour (2015), Afra Nariman

Film and Media Studies (MA) Theses

By using Happy Hour as a case study, this thesis argues Ryusuke Hamaguchi's approach to the Japanese home drama genre presents a changing perspective on the institution of marriage in contemporary Japanese society, reflecting shifts in gender roles and the growing trend of singlehood amongst Japanese youth. This perspective contrasts with the values portrayed in Ozu's films, which emphasize the vitality of marriage and the necessity of forming a family for happiness. The thesis analyzes the thematic and narrative elements of Happy Hour, focusing on the portrayal of marriage as a source of alienation and loneliness. It also discusses the …

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Desire For Transformation: The Actualization Of Self-Identity Through Change In The Films Raw And Titane, Owen Bradford

Film and Media Studies (MA) Theses

The aim of this thesis is to illustrate a distinction between the films of The New French Extreme and Ducournau’s Raw and Titane, in their handling of gender and identity, primarily in regard to how these films handle transformation and self-identification. Ducournau explores themes of cannibalism, the linking of desire and violence, and transformation in order to disrupt hegemonic conceptions of sex and gender binaries. the disruptions to these binaries are initially perceived as monstrous, due to the implementation of genre conventions, they play on perception of the monstrous feminine, to reveal cultural perceptions that these transgressions are dangerous, …

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Pedagogy, Sexual Violence, And Contemporary Extremist Films: Baise-Moi (2000), Irréversible (2002), And Promising Young Woman (2020), Olivia Harris

All Theses

Baise-moi (dir. Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi, 2000), Irréversible (dir. Gaspar Noé, 2002), and Promising Young Woman (dir. Emerald Fennell, 2020) embody characteristics of the extreme. Working from James Quandt’s formative writing in 2004, I define extremism as the purposeful inclusion of transgressive themes and situations. However, each of the selected films portrays the extreme under different production styles, aesthetics, and modes of storytelling. My connections to early exploitation film (a precursor to extremist cinema) demonstrate the genre’s important history of teaching and educating. Similar to the original intent of classical exploitation films, which taught spectators about taboo topics …

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“I Found It Again. My Home.”: The Role Of Art In The Mediation Of Trauma And Loss In Station Eleven, Emily Zhong

All Theses

This project examines the role of the fictional graphic novel – “Station Eleven” – at the center of HBO’s Station Eleven as a form of trauma mediation. The graphic novel serves as a central, physical object in the show through which the characters Miranda, Kirsten, and Tyler process trauma, find comfort, and connect with others. I trace the creation process of “Station Eleven,” from Miranda’s original doodles as a child to the surviving physical copies in the hands of Kirsten and Tyler, exploring how each character engages with the artwork. Situating my analysis within a theoretical framework of contemporary trauma …

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Lars Gustaf Sellstedt: Art In Buffalo And The Buffalo Fine Art Academy, Shannon N. Gilmartin

History Theses

This Master’s Thesis Project researches the life of a forgotten Buffalo artist, Lars Gustaf Sellstedt. He was born in Sundsvall, Sweden and started his life as a sailor when he became a cabin boy as an early teenager. For most of his young life until his mid-twenties, Sellstedt was a sailor traveling to all corners of the world. He started his journey as an artist while in between sailing jobs. Over many decades he portraits locally and abroad mainly in the Caribbean Islands. Sellstedt was one of the few artists in 19th century Buffalo, sharing the profession with William J. …

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Depiction Of American Litigation In Movies, Bryson Reeves

Honors Theses

The legal profession is a crucial institution of American society that impacts the lives of millions of Americans each day. Films act as an agent of socialization that can shape the public’s expectations of the legal field and its lawyers. Therefore, this study focuses on the levels of accuracy, impact, and quality of the representations that are found in films portraying the legal profession. It does so through two methods. More specifically, practicing attorneys reviewed film clips and completed a survey indicating their perceptions of the accuracy and impact of film representations. Second, a content analysis was performed to determine …

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Full-Text Articles in Film and Media Studies

This Is The Way: Christian Asceticism Alive In The Star Wars Universe, David Allen Osb

Obsculta

Soothers, Everett Wall

LMU Theses and Dissertations

There Will Be A Tomorrow, Cameron Webb

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Transcendence: Exploring The Connections Between Transgender/Gender Non-Conforming Identities And Experiences Of Nature Through Art, Mc Jackson

Undergraduate Theses

A New Era, Bridget Dietz

Whittier Scholars Program

Cause Branding Lizzo And The Body Positivity Movement, Natalie Pesqueira

Whittier Scholars Program

Review Of Tolkien (Movie), Kutter Callaway

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review Of The Most Reluctant Convert: The Untold Story Of C. S. Lewis (Movie), James A. Motter

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

The “Invisible” Impact In The Arts: A Multiple-Case Comparative Study Depicting The Challenge Of Impact Reporting For Arts Impact Organizations, Heidi Rolf

Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

“Everything And Nothing”: Exhibiting Irishness At The Chicago World Fair Of 1893, Jessica Bocinski

English (MA) Theses

Shakespearean Constellations, Sarah Bradshaw

University Scholar Projects

Libby In Limbo, Moriah Claire Hall

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Using Visual Effects As A Means Of Establishing Or Reinforcing Scale In 3d Visual Works, Eric Dinicolantonio

All Theses

Into The Spider-Verse: Cultural Identity In Spider-Man Media, Anika Gonzalez

Whittier Scholars Program

The Well-Tempered Android: Philosophical Posthumanism In Science Fiction Cinema., Cody Gault

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Landscape Does Not Care It Is A Landscape: A Utopian Pessimist Journey In Kentucky., Shachaf Polakow

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nightmares And Hand Grenades: Dreams As A Storytelling Tool, Olivia Felber

All Theses

The Audrey Hepburn Image: Stardom, Gendered Authorship, And Creative Agency, Livi Edmonson

Film and Media Studies (MA) Theses

How Donald Trump And The 2016 Presidential Election Eclipsed Frank Underwood’S Election In ‘House Of Cards’, Charna Flam

Film and Media Studies (MA) Theses

“Block Island Stories”: Preserving And Showcasing Block Island’S Rigorous History Through Virtual Adaptation, Alexander Pretorius

Senior Honors Projects

What Are You Crying For?: Renegotiating White Masculine Hegemony Through Melodramatic Excess In The 1990s Films Of Tom Hanks, Bryce Thompson

Film and Media Studies (MA) Theses

“Let’S Do The Time Warp, Again!” The Rocky Horror Picture Show As Hysterical Theatre, Frances Wendorf

Film and Media Studies (MA) Theses

The Rape-Revenge Genre In The Digital Age Of Heightened Visibility: The Rise Of Female Storytellers And Fourth-Wave Feminism, Marynell Dethero

Film and Media Studies (MA) Theses

Balancing Multiple Worlds: The Multiverse And The Fractured Asian American Experience In Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022), Austin Kang

Film and Media Studies (MA) Theses

The Disintegration Of Marriage In Ryusuke Hamaguchi’S Happy Hour (2015), Afra Nariman

Film and Media Studies (MA) Theses

Desire For Transformation: The Actualization Of Self-Identity Through Change In The Films Raw And Titane, Owen Bradford

Film and Media Studies (MA) Theses

Pedagogy, Sexual Violence, And Contemporary Extremist Films: Baise-Moi (2000), Irréversible (2002), And Promising Young Woman (2020), Olivia Harris

All Theses

“I Found It Again. My Home.”: The Role Of Art In The Mediation Of Trauma And Loss In Station Eleven, Emily Zhong

All Theses

Lars Gustaf Sellstedt: Art In Buffalo And The Buffalo Fine Art Academy, Shannon N. Gilmartin

History Theses

Depiction Of American Litigation In Movies, Bryson Reeves

Honors Theses