Windowing Off Criminal Minds

In Zizek’s discusses in his chapter, The Hitckcockian Blot, about a “fantasy window” (92). He explains it by saying, “In short, the meaning of what the hero perceives beyond the window depends on his actual situation this side if the window he has just to “look through the window” to see on display a multitude of imaginary solutions to his actual impasse” (92-93).  What this basically means is the person sees a situation as if through an imaginary window able to look in on what is to happen or what is happening. This is really shown in Hitchcock’s film Psycho. For Norman Bates, when he is peering into the peephole through the wall to see the female character undressing. This of course is due to a sexual desire he has for the female character. When he looks through this peephole he has made, the audience sees through his eyes as if the audience themselves are looking into the motel room as the woman is undressing for her shower.

An episode of Criminal Minds actually mirrors Pyscho in several ways. First the main character is very similar to Norman Bates, the killer, Rhett Walden, in the episode has some mother issues that help to cause the death of others. Also, Rhett has kept his mummified mother around, both acting as if their mothers were very much alive. Along with some very uncanny resemblances the movie and the episode shows the Hitchcockian fantasy window. Below is a clip I have chosen which shows the perspective of the fantasy window of both Rhett and the police who are ready to arrest him.

In the beginning when we see Rhett talking to his mother we see him looking into a mirror fixing his tie and getting ready to face the outside word. While he continues to talk, he moves away from the mirror but the camera stays and frames this sort of weird intimate talk he has with his mother before they move outside. Rhett and his mother seemed to be windowed off, before leaving the confines of their home.

From the clip, we see two different things. First we see a black and white version of the scene but instead of being arrested, Rhett and his mother walk into the midst of paparazzi signing autographs. The camera in the beginning is aimed up and behind Rhett and his mother as if someone is watching this scene from behind them. This shows the given “imaginary solution” through the window.

The second version is in color and shows a very different scene. The police, along with us, see Rhett carrying a mummified body down the front stairs. The police are not really sure how to react to this scene they see coming towards them but drop their guns a little and the camera singles in on several different parts of the mummified woman. The scene in itself is horrifying, but the most horrifying is the way Rhett seems to be stuck behind his imaginary window, only seeing his dead mother alive while paparazzi capturing this moment, as if him and his mother were famous movie stars. But when the camera returns to the reality the police have windowed we see the paparazzi are nothing more but gun men to shoot Rhett down if he tries to attack. Towards the end of the given scene, Rhett is framed off while his eyes are closed laughing like a madman. Having his eyes closed could mean he is not ready to give up his imaginary scene of walking down the red carpet. The framing off of just his head shows a little of the insanity of Rhett grinning and laughing like a madman, which is like many horror movies, with the sadistic menacing laugh from the killer.

Whiteness Can Be Blue

Karen Coats discusses in her chapter, Blinded by the White, about the rules of race and how it is portrayed to children. Coats explains, “But as a master signifier, Whiteness acts as a nodal point of desire—not that we desire, as Seshadri-Crooks points out, to be Caucasian, but that we desire the ideal of Whiteness in its place as master signifier, its place of wholeness, the absence of difference and qualities” (124). Coats explain how the children see the definition of whiteness as the ideal person; the perfect height, weight, traits, hair color, eye color, etc. Whiteness is considered to be the master signifier because it is the idealist look of what a person should be outside of the outwards physical appearance. Whiteness as the master signifier is desired because it is seen as being privileged and people, including children, try to live up to the ideal prospect of whiteness.

One of the main examples Coats uses to express her idea is the story, Tangerine, by Edward Bloor. Coats uses this example to show how whiteness is portrayed in a children’s book. The upper middle class all live in a housing development made up of white upper middle class suburban families while the other classes are made up of different races. Of course, the white class is seen as better off and idealistic. Children reading this story can see the prospects of this whiteness as being ideal and the conscience of the child reading the story may want to strive for the same achievements of the perfect suburban family-life. While this is a positive look on the whiteness appeal of the book, the other races are seen as secondary signifiers. These are the races that seem to follow or surround the master signifier. For instance, all the other races described within the book, both African American and Hispanic cultures, are actually surrounding the housing development of the white culture. The other races are given strong stereotypes like how the Hispanic characters are considered to be emotionally violent, who were always suspended from school, did manual labor, and drove a pickup truck, while the African American character was poor and great at sports. Compared to the whiteness, these stereotypes, or secondary signifiers, are not really something to idealize.

The movie Avatar it seems as though the whiteness is considered to the Na’vi people not the white people who have gone to Pandora uninvited. It is interesting to see whiteness not pertaining to a white culture but those of blue humanoids. In the movie, Jake Sully, the main character, is able to walk in the shoes of both the white culture and as an avatar in the Na’vi culture. For the purpose of Coats, Sully is seen to be the child. He is able to see both the master signifier and the secondary signifier (master signifier is represented as the Na’vi and the secondary signifier is represented as the United States army). As the movie continues, Sully strives to live the idealistic life of the Na’vi people. He goes so far as to turn his back to the secondary signifier and considers himself as one of the master signifiers. Sully is so apt to becoming the ideal whiteness he manages to change completely by switching his race.

The Unhomely in the Homey

Freud speaks extensively about the homely becoming unhomely or uncanny which is seen a lot in the Buffy episode “Angel.” It is seen not only within the episode by by the audience but the word “home” is greatly used in unhomely manner. Buffy, to begin with, is already uncanny because it is a world where people coexist with vampires and other supernatural beings and this seems to be a normal factor for Buffy and the Scooby gang. Of course as the show progresses over the seasons, more and more people come to the realization of the supernatural living around them and Sunnydale, not only the home for the people in town, becomes unhomely by the new realization.

The main focus is not the entire series but the episode “Angel.” The most homey thing in the entire episode is Buffy’s house which is a normal cozy home but due to the continuous setting of the episode is set in almost all darkness. This gives the house a feeling of being unhomely. Darkness is normally seen as being frightening and many children find the darkness to hide the boogey man and other scary monsters. In Buffy’s room when she comes back from school after leaving Angel in her room all day, when they are reunited she calls to Angel in her dark bedroom and he slowly walks out of the shadows to her. This scene shows not only the representation of the “monster” hiding in the shadows but with no real illuminating light in the room, it makes the bedroom seem unhomely. Another scene that shows this is when Darla attacks Buffy’s mom in the Summer’s dark kitchen. What once seemed like cozy and a nice homey place becomes  uncanny and a place that was once considered safe has now become unsafe, uncanny, and potentially dangerous.

Darla in the previous scene, where she attacks Buffy’s mother, she turns to Angel, while tempting him with Buffy’s mother’s blood, she turns to Angel and welcomes him home (in her vampire face). Unlike the traditional home that Freud refers to, Darla welcomes home to his vampire lifestyle by using temptation to trigger his inner instincts. The use of the world “home” and the way it was projected to Angel, while they were both in their most primal stage (their vampire state of mind) making the world seem unhomely to its audience. What is normally seen as a greeting seems like an ultimatum to Angel.

In the episode the audience is introduced to the Master, an old dangerous vampire, and the anointed one, a small innocent child which represents pure evil. The Master mentions how the anointed one, Darla, and himself are “one big happy family.” This is rather uncanny because when someone thinks family they think a safe, happy home involving love. This is almost the complete opposite. For one thing, the anointed one is represented through what seems an innocent child and his family is considered to be two rather old vampires. The only setting that even represents a “home” is the Master thought of as the “father” figure, Darla, the “mother” figure, and the evil child. In all retrospect this is a family, but their “home” is an underground dark cave in the ground.

Dove for Men and Women

The first advertisement is aimed towards male viewers. The entire commercial is focused on the male persona by saying a man or boy needs to be able to fight and be good at sports” and continues with holding back  emotions and pretend to know directions when lost. The beginning portion of the video opens with sperm swimming within the uterus to express right off that it is going to be a commercial aimed towards its male viewers. This basically plays off every stereotype about men. I would not say this is a “Man’s Man” commercial, but more playing off the every day life of a male in almost all situations cramped into no more than a full minute time span. How men are suppose to refrain from showing any types of emotion, never asking directions, being good at sports, and being able to fight. It would catch the attention of its male viewers by its ability to play into the every day life without hypermasculating the commercial to its intended viewers.  It also plays off the typical male life and I guess to show that even Dove, notoriously known to be a product for women, can also be strong enough to endure  a man.

The second advertisement is based off the same label but for the female counterpart. This is a body wash aimed to replenish a woman’s skin and to make it silky smooth. Throughout the commercial it shows certain items to feminize the commercial (because a woman showering is not enough) by adding soft flowers and fruit to describe the sent and moisture hidden within Dove body wash. It also proves to be more theatrical, by having dancing fruit and a woman having extremely happy to bathe with such a great body wash. It continuously goes back to the moisture aspect of the body wash by constantly showering water with the flower and fruit and water dripping off the woman’s body. this also gives a sexual aspect of it, by having a woman showering and watching the water drip off her nose and lathering her navel area. It may not have been the intention of the commercial to sexualize its female viewers but it seems to play a role to the commercial. The upbeat tone and the exaggerated expression on the woman’s face when showering shows how enough dancing, happy faces, and bright colors airy colors can grab the attention of female viewers.