English

17/9/2018

Choose one of the following topics. Write your opening forum post on a single, specific detail with a clear, well supported thesis, in 150 words or fewer. Part of this new post is to encourage concision and specificity in your writing, so please do not go over the word limit. The word count includes any quotations you might draw from the text(s). Read all responses prior to yours; make sure that your response adds to the discussion that is already underway.

Identify which topic you answered at the beginning of your response; e.g., (Topic 1). Please have your posts up by Saturday, 22 September.

TOPIC 1: In no more than 150 words, and with reference to the readings for this week, write a response in which you explain why this week you were asked to read an article on early cinema spectacle (Gunning), to read a short story about a depressive observer (Poe), and to view a film about an obsessive amateur sleuth (or sleuths!) (Hitchcock).

TOPIC 2: In no more than 150 words, discuss the significance of Emily Dickinson’s “‘Tis so appalling—it exhilarates,” and use it as a way of understanding the events, themes, or conflicts of Rear Window.

Do not use outside sources (including internet material) for this assignment. Use only the texts required for the course. Remember to indicate italics in your response using all caps, as follows: REAR WINDOW.

IMAGE CREDIT: The image above is a composite of multiple shots from Rear Window by artist Boris Rautenberg. The idea was to give a full sense of the panoramic view of L.B. Jeffries' apartment in the film. You can find this image and one other detail on his website, here.

40 Comments

Meghan Rulli

18/9/2018 08:04:29 am

I think that all 3 readings relate to our fascination of others, and how this has translated into cinema. In Gunning's article, “the cinema of attractions solicits a highly conscious awareness of the film image engaging the viewer’s curiosity.” REAR WINDOW does just that. Jeff and Lisa, and us, the audience, are being presented with something exclusive, and our curiosity enhances. We’re perversely watching something unfold. “The Man of the Crowd” by Poe is similar in the sense that the narrator is essentially a voyeur, following a man in the city and receiving some sort of excitement from doing so. “I was now utterly amazed at his behaviour and firmly resolved that we should not part until I had satisfied myself in some measure respecting him.” (p.4). Jeff in REAR WINDOW and the narrator in “The Man in the Crowd” are the voyeurs in the so-called ‘cinema’, we are the audience, and Gunning’s article explains this.

Meghan Rulli

18/9/2018 08:08:05 am

Response to Topic #1

Julia Prud'Homme

18/9/2018 11:21:34 am

Topic 1
I completely agree with Meghan Rulli, we were asked to read each of these works because they intermingle and share a similar theme: the attraction of watching. In Gunner’s CINEMA OF ATTRACTION, cinema was so popular, because it allowed people to watch and observe other people’s lives, indulge in their curiosity, even if the life they are watching is fictional. In Poe’s MAN OF THE CROWD, the observer states, “I had been amusing myself for the greater part of the afternoon,... now in observing the promiscuous company in the room, and now in peering through the smoky panes into the street.” He is amusing himself by watching people. REAR WINDOW is exactly about that: a man passing his days observing the neighbors. By watching the movie, we are falling into the exact theme of each of these works. We are watching a man watching his neighbors, completely entranced in a life that is not our own, because it is attractive to imagine ourselves anywhere else but where we are.

Kristopher Woofter

14/10/2018 06:25:38 pm

Gunning

Larissa Szaniszlo-Luty

19/9/2018 07:05:38 pm

Topic 2
In the poem “’Tis So Appalling – It Exhilarates,” Emily Dickinson is clearly elaborating upon the topic of the sublime, as Hitchcock does in his film REAR WINDOW. Dickinson highlights the idea that the speaker is confronting death (or its counterpart) and sees this oppressive idea in a rather interesting way. Dickinson wrote, “’Tis so appalling — it exhilarates / So over Horror, it half Captivates—” This gives the reader a sense of the sublime because the idea of death is utterly terrifying but you can’t help but be intrigued by it. This theme in Dickinson’s poem lends itself well to Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW because in it, L. B. Jefferies interests himself with peering into the lives of his neighbors, becoming a “Peeping Tom[s]” even though he knows its immoral (REAR WINDOW). Jefferies is captivated by the lives of others a finds a certain beauty in watching how their lives unfold even though it is inherently perverse, as is the idea of being entranced by death.

Sophie-Leprohon Watters

20/9/2018 12:10:10 pm

Topic 1:
The reason we explored the works of Gunning, Poe, and Hitchcock was to discover that we only observe others as long as we can protect ourselves from their lives. No matter how intense the “sensual or psychological impact” (Gunning, 232), the audience is still behind a screen creating a divide between their lives and the movie. When the narrator in Poe’s The Man of the Crowd deliberately walks away from the window and steps into the crowd, he sees “the diamond and the dagger’’ (Poe, 3). He is faced with attraction (to the man) and the danger from being part of the crowd. In Rear Window, Jeff is caught when his monocular penetrates his protective window and into the murderer’s life. He now faces the danger the murderer will subject him to. We’re only voyers when there is a barrier that will protect us from the lives of others.

Kelly Rosialda

20/9/2018 08:11:12 pm

Topic #2

Emily Dickinson honors confrontation of fear, she prioritizes curiosity over terror. As Larissa mentioned, “Tis so appalling - it exhilarates / So over Horror, it half Captivates -” is a clear representation of the sublime which brings us excitement and desire to discover the unknown.
The same theme recurs in REAR WINDOW through the character of L.B “Jeff” Jefferies, who’s curiosity is driven by obscurity . He perpetually looks out of his window, observing the different occurring events in his neighbors lives, captivated by the perplexity of every window. His curiosity prevails when restricted by the closed windows of Lars Thorwald. The potential danger no longer frightens but wonders, setting “the Fright at liberty-”

Vanessa Amar

20/9/2018 08:39:55 pm

Just as Larissa previously stated, there is the idea of sublimity in both REAR WINDOW and the poem “’Tis so appalling - it exhilarates.” However, it also explores curiosity and the quest for truth. Dickinson suggests the idea that it is better to know the worst than to not know when she says “How easy, Torment, now- / Suspense kept sawing so -”. This extract suggests that torment is easier now that the suspense has gone. Similarly, Jeffries rather that Thorwald killed his wife than not understand his suspicious behaviour. This is why both he and Lisa are visibly disappointed when the detective tells them that their leads turned out to be false and that Ms. Thorwald is safe. For them, it would be worse to not know than it would be for a woman to be dead.

Jenna Howor

20/9/2018 10:10:42 pm

TOPIC 1: As Julia said, these three pieces are linked because they all touch on the perverse interest in observing others. In “The Man of the Crowd”, the narrator “had been amusing myself… now in peering through the smoky panes into the street” (pg.1). Much like Jeff in REAR WINDOW, he spends a lot of time as a sitting observer of others, watching them go about their everyday lives and passing judgement on them. Jeff observes his neighbors and the dynamics of their relationships with the people in their lives by peeping into their back windows. Some may say that the cafe window in “The Man of the Crowd”, as well as the apartment windows in REAR WINDOW are symbols for movie screens each showcasing a different spectacle. Tom Gunning mentions this when he talks about “the cinema of attractions” and how the film image engages the viewer’s curiosity.

Hannah Di Francesco

20/9/2018 10:20:20 pm

Topic 2
The second verse of the Dickinson’s poem: “So over Horror, it half Captivates” relates well to what happened in REAR WINDOW. Jeff was captivated by what he was seeing outside his window, this is noticeable when he stays in his wheelchair all night and tries to stay awake to see what is going on. He knows he should not be watching, but needs to figure out what kind of horror is happening. Jeff is confronted with the horrible possibility of a man that killed his wife, knowing this, he becomes obsessed with finding out the truth. He even brings Lisa and Stella into the situation who also become captivated with the darkness of the story. We can notice how captivated they are when Lisa remarks to Jeff that they are upset that he didn’t kill his wife and how they are frightening ghouls because of this.

Bridget Griffin

21/9/2018 10:44:13 am

(Question 2)
Both works wish to warn us of the dangers of perversity. In Dickinson's "Tis so appalling-- it exhilarates--", the narrator speaks of wanting to know death and the "Truth" of it all, but, unfortunately, "Looking at Death is Dying--". We cannot know Death until we are Dead.
The narcissism of the human condition would have us believe that we have the right to know these things, but as is shown in REAR WINDOW, meddling in other people's businesses from afar the way one might channel flick is asking for trouble.
This is just why the moment when Thorwald enters Jefferies' apartment is so terrifying; it's the realization that there are real human lives behind those windows that he's intruding upon, and that they can in turn intrude upon his. It is not our natural born right to obtain the conclusion to every story, just as much as it's not everyone else's right to obtain the conclusion to our own.

chloe casarotto

21/9/2018 03:05:13 pm

Question 1

Throughout the past week, the readings consisted of a cinema spectacle by Tom Gunning as well as The Man of the Crowd by Edgar Allen Poe which can both be connected Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window. Both readings are able to connect with Hitchcock’s visions because all three works connect with viewing the world and society. Gunning explains to the readers that cinema gives “ a chance to solicit the the attention of the spectator” (Gunning 231) and place them in a world in which they are looking at from the outside, putting them in the position of the outsider, which is also the aim of Poe and Hitchcock. These readings were assigned in order to enlighten the audience on the concept of being on the outside and looking in as well as giving more information of the techniques Hitchcock as well as Poe used and what they wished to give to the audience and reader

Isabeli Pizzani

21/9/2018 04:29:25 pm

I couldn’t agree more with Meghan. We were asked to read these texts and watch Hitchcock’s movie in order to examine this desire we all have to observe others. In “The Man of the Crowd” the narrator has “a craving desire” (page 3) to follow a “wondering observer” as Mr. Wofter said, and the reader, captivated, follows those character through the story. Tom Gunning talks about the actuality film in cinema’s early years. Cinema gained its popularity by allowing people to observe others doing in daily activities. REAR WINDOW is a perfect example of this phenomenon. Jeff is consumed by his neighbours and their lives, as we are consumed by his. We watched this movie and read those text, not only, so we could observe this perverse wish to observe others, but also to realize that we watch movies and read stories like Poe’s in order to mitigate this desire.

Isabeli Pizzani

21/9/2018 04:32:27 pm

This is an answer to the first topic.

Kristopher Woofter

14/10/2018 06:25:06 pm

Woofter

Isabella Martino

21/9/2018 09:06:31 pm

Topic 2:
Like Kelly, I believe Dickinson encourages the confrontation of fear as the feeling of curiosity is too overpowering. Similarly, in REAR WINDOW Jeffries is overtaken by his desire to know what goes on in the lives of his neighbors, that he chooses to disregard the fact that he is becoming a “Peeping Tom”. When Jefffries “[grapples]” his fear of being seen as a pervert and “conquers it”, he “sets [his] Fright at liberty” and spies on his neighbors, feeling elated as he takes in every detail of their lives. The contradiction of sentiments Jeffries experiences evokes the sense of the sublime and can be understood when Dickinson explains: “‘Tis so appalling – it exhilarates”. Jeffries is aware that it is morally sinful to spy on others, but that is what makes him want to do so. He ‘loves to be bad’ in a way which stimulates him and causes him to feel both “gay” and “ghastly” like Dickinson expresses.

Lyna Ikram Bayou

21/9/2018 10:56:07 pm

Topic 1
This week’s readings and REAR WINDOW are linked because they reveal our tendency to watch things that captivate us too much to avert our gaze. Gunning’s cinema of attractions seeks for “a chance to solicit the attention of the spectator” (230), hence the reason why our eyes stay glued to the screen. Poe’s story and REAR WINDOW’s protagonists peer into strangers’ lives through their window, using it as a barrier to hide. Jeff’s nurse even tells him that “the show’s over”, deepening the comparison between the window and a screen. Also, in “The Man of the Crowd”, the narrator is incapable of looking away from the man he’s stalking because “as the night deepened, so deepened to me the interest of the scene” (3). As spectators, we ourselves become curious observers. The “cinema of attraction” transforms the audience into Jeff and the narrator as we follow their story, just as curious to uncover secrets; to know the ending.

Chris Morgan Arseneau

22/9/2018 02:32:55 am

(TOPIC 1)

I strongly agree with Meghan’s statement that REAR WINDOW invokes viewer curiosity. While watching REAR WINDOW, viewers essentially become voyeurs too. Viewers not only see Jeff’s neighbors through his telescope, but also observe Jeff observing his neighbours, becoming voyeurs themselves.

In Poe’s “The Man of the Crowd,” the narrator of the story feels compelled to follow an old man through London. Much like Jeff in the film, the narrator in this story takes on the role of a voyeur as a result of his curiosity and ‘desire to know.’

Tom Gunning’s article connects the cinema of attraction(s) with voyeurism. Viewers were and are fascinated and curious about the lives of others. The cinema of attraction(s) permits and encourages viewers to observe others.

What each of the works for this week have in common is the power of attractions and the indulgence of these attractions.

Maria Fatima Agustin

22/9/2018 04:05:49 am

Topic 1
I believe that these three works were introduced to us to not only enhance our comprehension on the pleasure people gain by observing others, as mentioned by many of my classmates, but to somehow connect that idea to the concept of non-narrative films as well. Tom Gunning explained in his work that the cinema of attraction is based on “showing something” rather than focusing on the narrative (Gunning, 230). Similarly to Poe’s narrator in “The Man of the Crowd” (who was initially observing a throng through a coffee-house’s window until his pursuit of an intriguing man began), Jeff’s, from Rear Window, daily routine was watching his neighbors through his window. Those two characters weren’t focusing on the actual account of their observations, rather on the realism of the moment and the people. However, their attention shifted to one specific thing, transitioning their “cinema of attraction” to a narrative scenario.

Cato Usher

22/9/2018 11:24:10 am

2
As Larissa said, both Dickinson’s “Tis so appalling—it exhilarates” and Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW deal with the intrigue and fascination that come with death. However, there is also a certain security we find in death, which is expressed in both the poem and the film. Dickinson states “To know the worst, leaves no dread more—“, which can be associated with the way Jeff and Lisa, though never admitting it, hope Thorwald did kill his wife because they would rather know the worst than not know at all.

Idia Boncheva

22/9/2018 12:07:39 pm

I liked how Larissa linked the sublimity (death and fascination) to the first lines of Dickinson’s poem: “Tis so appalling — it exhilarates / So over Horror, it half Captivates— “. However, I think that this sublimity can also be applied to Jeff’s perspective of love. He isn’t only interested in the darkness and murder that takes place before him. He is also captivated by the romantic lives or his neighbors. Jeff is conflicted because of his relationship with Stella. He is scared to stay with her, but he is still drawn to the idea of building something with her. As Dickinson expressed it so well in her poem, Jeff is terrified of this one entity (love) but he is still tempted to give in to it.

Patricia Brassard

22/9/2018 01:46:55 pm

“It’s not polite to stare”, we’ve all heard this before, and we all still enjoy people-watching. That’s because we all have a bit of voyeur in us. The innate curiosity of humans paired with the frustrations of life makes for us to be more than simply ‘interested’ in one another. Our viewing experience is strangely powerful for a mono-sensory experience and Gunning encourages this fact by stating a story is merely “a frame upon which to string a demonstration of the magical possibilities of the cinema”. Poe’s “The Man of the Crowd” also suggests humans don’t need much to sacrifice their time to watch someone else. Watching has this obsessive quality that repeats itself in the three works. Especially in REAR WINDOW, as the narrator builds his life on watching others. Life can be so twisted it makes us want to see how other people deal with it.

Julia Bifulco

22/9/2018 01:54:36 pm

Topic One:

Jeff can easily be compared to the narrator in “Man of the Crowd”; he is stuck at home for an extended period of time due to his fractured leg and has nothing better to do than eavesdrop on his neighbours and their private lives. The narrator in Poe’s story similarly has nothing better to do than follow a random man around for over an entire day—both he and Jeff are quite pathetic observers. On the topic of pathetic observers, that is exactly what we as the viewers become, according to Gunning. Meghan is absolutely correct when she brings up the fact that the viewers’ curiosity is engaged; not only do we get to spy on all of the neighbours in REAR WINDOW, but we are able to view the voyeur as well by having Jeff as the main character.

Jade Karakaly

22/9/2018 02:42:05 pm

Question 1
We were asked to read Poe’s The Man of the Crowd, Gunning’s The Cinema of Attraction and to watch Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW because they all shared this idea of how the human is attracted to just watching other people’s boring lives. Indeed, Gunning explains that the cinema is a way for people to watch other people’s live even if it’s the most basic and irrelevant things. For instance, when cinema started to gain in popularity, the first movies were basic actuality films, also called documentaries. In REAR WINDOW, we feel like the protagonist is himself watching other people’s basic lives as if he was himself watching an actuality film at the cinema. The whole movie revolves around what Jeff is seeing through his window. Also, this aspect is seen in Poe’s The Man of the Crowd as we observe a man simply stalking another random man around the streets of London for hours with no real purpose. The fact that we, content consumers, were fascinated by these creations proves that humans are attracted to other people’s lives whether it’s fiction or not.

Taina Dushime

22/9/2018 02:51:20 pm

Q.2
Emily Dickinson’s poem ‘’Tis so appalling – it exhilarates’’ is about the idea of death being so intimidating and overwhelming to us that it becomes magnificent. As some of my classmates previously mentionned, “Tis so appalling — it exhilarates / So over Horror, it half Captivates—” is a perfect example of how something sublime would be defined.

This extract from the poem explains why in REAR WINDOW, Jeff is so obsessed with watching Mr.Thorwald even though he suspects he’s a murderer. Usually, people are afraid of finding out about scandalous events related to killings and killers. However, in this case, Jeff is so shocked he’s the only one, except for Lisa and Stella, who knows the neighbor probably murdered his wife that it fascinates him. Just like in voyeurism, he sees a certain beauty in being the only audience of this dreadful and ongoing crime.

Taina Dushime

22/9/2018 03:00:57 pm

I forgot to delete the space in the middle of my text. It's all in one paragraph, not two.

David Boghen

22/9/2018 02:51:58 pm

(Topic 1)

REAR WINDOW demonstrates our attraction not only to what we see but also to what we don’t see. In Poe’s “The Man of the Crowd”, the voyeur initially follows around the old man because he finds him fascinating to observe, but once he grasps all that he can about his appearance, he still feels the attraction to follow him around because his motives are still unknown. This is similar to how we experience movies, and why Jeff is inclined to follow Thorwald’s every move. As Chris said, we all have a desire for knowledge, and once we are introduced to the characters and the basic plot line, we feel the urge to uncover the truth. Therefore, we are not just attracted to what we see, we are also attracted to finding out what we will see in the future, and this anticipation is another feature of the cinema of attraction.

Victoria Caputo

22/9/2018 03:26:08 pm

Throughout the entirety of REAR WINDOW, we, along with Jeff, perversely and obsessively watch his neighbors. We quickly become enthralled, wrapped up in what seems to be a murder mystery. “Tis so appalling — it exhilarates”. A potential murder happening right in front of you sounds terrifying, yet Jeff never once steps away from the window, too captivated by the horror he believes he is witnessing. As frightened we are of death and danger, we are still drawn to them. We have a morbid fascination and attraction to such “appalling” circumstances, so much so that when Jeff and Lisa realize that perhaps they were wrong about Mr.Thorwald, they are actually disappointed, as Vanessa mentioned. “You and me with long faces — plunged into despair — because we find out that a man didn’t kill his wife. We’re two of the most frightening ghouls I’ve ever known. You’d think we could be a little bit happy that the poor woman is alive and well.” Lisa points this out, and the audience is left to wonder why they felt a similar sense of disappointment at what is essentially good news.

Victoria Caputo

22/9/2018 03:27:23 pm

TOPIC 2

Marilena Mignacca

22/9/2018 03:40:04 pm

I find that the scene from REAR WINDOW where Lisa gets caught by Thorwald really highlights the meaning of Dickinson’s poem ‘Tis so appalling—it exhilarates’ because it’s showcasing the soon to be death but at the same time drawing Jeff and Stella’s attention to the situation and is making them anxious. You can see in the movie when Thorwald is attacking Lisa, Jeff and Stella don’t do anything except watch in fear but are hypnotized by it as well, not taking their eyes off it. Like it says in the poem The Soul stares after it, secure/ To know the worst, leaves no dread more. They’re staring at Thorwald attacking Lisa because they want to know if she will die or not. They’re getting this exhilarating feeling from watching this appalling fight because they don’t know what’s going to happen next.

Marilena Mignacca

22/9/2018 03:40:40 pm

Question 2 ^^^

Kathleen Fabella

22/9/2018 05:29:57 pm

Topic #1
In the two readings and movie "Rear Window" we've touched on this week, their commonality is "the cinema of attraction" as Tom Gunning states, and how we follow what attracts us. But what's interesting is when the author mentions that simply waving at the camera just like Lisa does through the lens or how in “Man of the Crowd”, the stranger continually builds up the suspense helps to establish a contact with the audience and take down the walls of simple narrative cinema. In Rear window, we feel more included as if we were accomplices in the film due to our limited vision of the scenes only through Jeff's lenses and in Man of the Crowd, we only see what the protagonist wants to observe as he follows the stranger. Tom Gunning explains that cinema is more than simply telling a story, but actually sparking feelings inside, different perspectives and actually engaging us in the stories.

Ruhullah Muhtat

22/9/2018 06:56:05 pm

Topic 1 :

Reading Tom Gunning’s text on THE CINEMA OF ATTRACTION was necessary for us to understand where the voyeurism in REAR WINDOW is coming from. Hitchcock’s setting of the view of the window on the neighbourhood is what Méliès called “a nicely arranged tableau”. This view that Jeff has is more attracting the spectators than the narrative itself because it tickles our curiosity and because we are voyeurs just like Jeff. As for Poe’s THE MAN OF THE CROWD, we read it to see how Poe’s works were in advance of his time. The voyeurism in Poe’s writing is present throughout the story since we follow the odd man in the story along with the protagonist to know more about him. The “cinema of attraction” though, only appeared as a concept, decades after Poe’s work.

Wendy Lopez Ponce

22/9/2018 07:25:58 pm

Topic 1
In “The Cinema of Attraction” by Gunning, he expresses that “cinema less as a way of telling stories than as a way of presenting a series of views to an audience”. Just like in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Man of The Crowd” and Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW we are given a specific perspective of the characters observations threw their different actions. All three of these texts allow us to experience the desire to observe and understand the curiosity of following other’s actions. For instance, when Jeff is observing his neighbors he follows and knows each of their routines. Just like Poe’s observer who voluntarily follows a stranger , both follow the lives of the one they have never met without specific purpose but just by simple attraction. It doesn’t only make us reflect on the characters behavior but our own need to observe and follow the story or movie of people we don’t know.

Doha Ani

22/9/2018 08:14:38 pm

Topic 2
The quote Tis so appalling-it exhilarates fits like a glove to the movie REAR WINDOW because as said Victoria during the entire movie we alongside with Jeff intrude quite obsessively and perversely in the life of his neighbours by watching them. So appaling applies to the fact that Jeff precisely knows that what he is doing is bad otherwise he wouldn't hide it, but he wants to see without being seen.why? Because he is followed by a feeling of guilt toward his neighbours, but he can’t refrain himself from doing so because it exhilarates so in order for him to justify his voyeurism he uses the murder of Mrs.Thorwald and brings everyone in his quest. So we end up finding ourselves either watching a voyeur doing his favorite activity, which also makes us voyeurs, or a good citizen unfolding the truth about a murder happening across his window.

Ameera Kabir

22/9/2018 11:18:32 pm

[T.1]

Rear Window examines the particular experience of observing one another, not through interaction, but through a window (or perhaps a screen). The film alludes to cinema as a whole and the act of watching a film; an act that is intrinsically voyeuristic. Is is the lack of interest in ourselves and the abundance of it towards other people that compels us to watch them. The observer in Poe’s “Man of the Crowd” pursues a stranger because he caught his interest. His fascination alone was enough to energize him for an entire night, despite just recovering from an illness. Tom Gunning also mentions how the role of exhbitionism is extremely important in cinema when taking into account the role of the voyeur; performer’s are in need of spectators. All three readings analyze the relationship between voyeur and exhbitionist, viewers and film.

Emily Trankarov

23/9/2018 07:37:29 pm

Topic 2
As my peers have previously written, the similarities between Emily Dickinson's poem “Tis So Appalling - It Exhilarates” and Hitchcock's film REAR WINDOW in regards to the sublime and their fascination with perversion is undeniable. Yet, I can't help but notice that a driving theme and force in both is the undisputed element of suspense. Whatever fascination they might be experiencing, at the root of it lies an unquenchable desire for anticipation. No matter how many times they are told by the detective that the wife is indeed well and alive, Jeffries and Lisa keep insisting on the presence of a crime. Perhaps they do not want that pleasurable buildup to suddenly vanish in such an unfulfilling manner. They want to prolong it for longer by disregarding the detective’s words thus, eventually arriving to a satisfying climax. Dickinson refers to that in her poem with the verses:
“Suspense kept sawing so - [...]
But that will hold - ”
Inferring the attraction to apprehension and suspense, as well it being motivation to pursue seeking whatever it is you are.

Angele Wen

24/9/2018 04:10:24 pm

Topic 1

Reading Gunning's CINEMA OF ATTRACTION makes us realize how cinema has evolved in time. We see how movies were made to attract the public and how the directors captivate our attention with images and special effect. An example in the film would be when Jeff falls off his window. The actor doesn't actually fall from high, the scene was made by the director and his team. In addition to that, instead of keep watching his neighbour from far, they actually come in contact with one another. It relates to Poe's THE MAN OF THE CROWD, where the narrator only observes people and spies on a man, just like Jeff used to do. Jeff is like the narrator, he observes his neighbours and tries to understand their life stories.

Kristopher Woofter

14/10/2018 07:31:41 pm

Hi, everyone. We’re at the point now where we need to step it up. I must admit that the responses to REAR WINDOW were frustrating to read regarding your level of engagement with topics that were designed to encourage your own creativity in putting together specific connections and themes. The expectation is that you will really dig into these films and texts and do more than skim the surface of the texts, summarized plot details, and make superficial connections. The short length should not be seen as a hindrance; instead, it should be a charge for you to go right to the meat of the matter.

My comments here are in the spirit of encouraging you to dig deeper and be more selective and careful in your sensitivity to the texts. As Julian has said, your job is to tell me something I don’t already know. This also means not stating the topics as though they were your own, and not boiling down complex arguments like the sublime or Tom Gunning’s theory of attractions into “basically” this or that.

There are many “ways in” to connecting these readings based on what Gunning is doing in his article, or what Dickinson is theorizing in her poetry. Perhaps starting from there would have helped, as many of you did, but I will offer a few connections starting with the earliest text, by Poe.

Poe’s “The Man of the Crowd” focuses on a man who is recuperating from depression and anxiety, and who feels himself compelled, first, by observing his fellow citizens, and, second, by the mystery posed by one particular man who seems to defy any attempt at understanding. The others fit into categories of urbanity, but this man defies all. This is perhaps similar to L.B. Jeffries’ initial interest in Thorwald, who isn’t quite like the other neighbors, whose lives are running as-usual, but who instead stands out as an oddity. While the mystery in REAR WINDOW is solved, the mysteries that aren’t arise around Jeffries himself, and those connected with him. The characters struggle to construct a narrative around the mysteries that surround them, but ultimately must confront a mystery in themselves. Tom Gunning’s essay suggests that such narratives may not be as important as the spectacle itself, and what it, too, can tell us. He is interested in how the spectacle-over-narrative element of early cinema survives in later cinema. In a way, there is also a timeline here, where Poe describes a sort of proto-cinematic interest of a viewer distanced by a screen (window) from the world beyond, but who feels himself compelled to investigate it as though it were some virtual world. The confusion between the virtual and the real here will be compelling for an audience who later plays video games and enters virtual realities created by technology. While L.B. Jeffries is not so much fascinated by a technological fantasy in his backyard, it is nonetheless a spectacular fantasy that he attempts to make into a narrative. The interaction of viewer and screen or window anchors film, story, and article as investigations of spectatorial desire.

We discussed in class that Dickinson’s poetry is, by and large, not interested in offering clear answers to anything, but instead in exploring the ambiguous feelings we have when confronting the most unfathomable truths of our existence. For Dickinson, mortality, alienation, isolation, and fear are all potential sources of pleasure as much as pain. Dickinson encourages us to sit with the uncomfortable fact that we cannot know all that we want to, and that even our own minds and safest spaces are fraught with terror, inconsistency, and inscrutability. There is no easy connection between what Dickinson tackles in her poetry and Hitchcock or Poe or Gunning, but I will offer one here. Dickinson, if she is interested in anything at all, is interested in how the non-narrative—the ephemeral moment, the “slant of light,” the miniscule sounds and sights of the everyday—are powerful in what they can tell us and make us feel. Our bodies and minds are a universe of mysteries, to compete with the depths of the oceans, or the vastness of space. Dickinson encourages us to focus on the minutest of things—a dust mote can be a universe of its own, a shadow an unfathomable vortex in which we can become lost. Poe’s “Man of the Crowd” is about this vortex, and these ambiguities. And even a work as conventional and near-perfect as REAR WINDOW can touch us with a frisson of ambiguity. (Is REAR WINDOW really a warning against curiosity? Or, like the other texts, is it an evocation of the power of curiosity?) This ambiguity is the case especially in the moments when the film (and Thorwald) stares back at us, or when we contemplate the perversity of L.B. Jeffries’ (and Lisa’s and Stella’s) actions, or when we take the time to really feel the loneliness of Miss Lonelyhearts or the struggl

Kristopher Woofter

14/10/2018 07:35:17 pm

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struggle of the pianist to create his new work. Or, finally, in the end, when we see all these narratives come together in a way that only approaches conclusion, but suggests much more. This is the sublime. And Gunning, too, is interested in how such moments—not stories, not narratives—can hold a world of meaning for viewers.

A couple of pointers as we move forward:

Don’t force the texts to fit your own framework. Take the time to see what they are doing that works in tandem. Start with the texts; let them speak.

Getting the author’s names (and my name) correctly in print is a good start. (Ahem.) While I mostly look in these posts for content, they are published online, and so punctuation, spelling, and proper sentence structure and MLA format do count!

A warning: If your only engagement with a prior post is to say, “I agree with what so-and-so said” or “Like so-and-so said,” please just don’t bother. Holding dialogue with someone means taking their ideas and pushing them further or challenging them. If all you can do is agree, or merely tag onto something someone else said, then just work with your own, original thoughts.

For responses that hit the nail on the head, or at least came close to it, see the posts by Kathleen Fabella, Lyna Ikram Bayou, and Emily Trankarov, which introduce original ideas that go beyond making cursory connections.

I’ve assigned a 6/10 for those responses are barely engaging the complexity of the subject matter—the equivalent (I’m sorry to say) of punching the time clock. A 7.5 indicates slightly more careful consideration of the texts, but that may have some miscomprehension. And an 8.5 suggests you’re working relatively specifically with the concepts we’re working with in class. No responses this time around received a 10.

English

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