Selected topics in the study of film.

Every subculture has at its center some kind of “text” or set of texts – whether it be a K-pop band’s oeuvre, a holy scripture, a political figure’s – or practice: skateboarding, crocheting, fishing, etc. (sometimes both at once, as in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.) Drawing on subcultural theories and conceptions of taste, this course attempts to understand what a “subculture” is, why human beings produce subcultures, how subcultures interact with larger categories of human identity, and how participating in a subculture shapes the way in which its members understand the world and develop particular types of value. In addition, we will examine how particular subcultures have been represented on film and how some films have become “cult” objects, giving rise to (or at least participating in) new subcultures and practices. Rather than being a comprehensive exploration of cinema and subcultures, the course will emphasize how cinema both reflects and helps constitute subcultural experiences and identities. At stake will be whether the concept of “subculture” has something to offer us in terms of how human beings produce subgroups, affiliations, and affinities.

Repeat Rules

Requirements class fulfills