REALISM IN CONTEMPORARY U.S. MEDIA

Marc Bousquet, October 15, 2015

BIGNELL: 3 WAYS TO APPROACH “REALISM” By what it’s not—ie, this is “not fiction,” because it represents existing or

historical persons, places and events. By the persuasiveness of its representation of the real—Characters are

relatable, places are recognizable, dialogue is believable, events seem likely. Underlying this persuasiveness are codes and conventions, all of which are specific to particular genres—and particular audiences. Even the most persuasive codes can be transformed in reception by an active audience.

As a site of struggle. Dissatisfaction with the codes and conventions of dominant modes of realism can lead to new codes and competing representations. What counts as realistic representation is always changing and always up for debate.

REALISM VS EMPIRICISM Media can be studied empirically, eg by content analysis that observes and

measures particular elements. Empiricism can be a persuasive representational strategy, eg in naturalistic

representation a la Zola or The Wire But the dominant mode of realism is psychological realism, and

naturalistic/empiricist representation is commonly a reaction to the perceived failings of psychological realism—for instance, claiming that psychological “truths” are not universal and frequently inaccurate, because psychological experience varies enormously by social group.

PSYCHOLOGICAL REALISMSometimes called “bourgeois realism,” frequently associated with literary expression, psychological realism as an intentional creative strategy traces back to late 19th century stories and novels, eg. Bierce’s An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge, in which all of the story takes place in the mind of a Confederate spy while he is dropping from a gallows. The story crams hours of subjective experience into one second of objective time. Psychological realism is a dominant strategy in contemporary film and television, evident in most genres, from comedy through horror and beyond. Artfully crafted psychological appeals anchor the claim to realistic representation in journalism, documentary, lifestyle programming and “reality tv.” Overtly fictional settings (eg Game of Thrones, Hunger Games) may rely heavily on the codes and conventions of psychological realism to maintain plausibility.

STEVE MARTIN’S “FATHER OF THE BRIDE”Psychological realism depends on a series of persuasive tactics involving race, class and gender. It isn’t accidental that the central, experiential lens of this remake is an older, white male (the “father”)—a very particular, privileged social position. But the film nonetheless also wishes to represent that unique, privileged standpoint as universal or nearly so, as ordinary and accessible. Martin aims to create an Everyman point of view that, seemingly, pretty much anyone can identify with. Roger Ebert praised the film for giving a very large audience “a good feeling all the way through,” explaining that it portrayed “everyday life, warmly observed.”

How do the script, direction and Martin’s performance/persona work to establish him as a “regular guy” or an Everyman, just living an “everyday life”?

IS ‘EVERYMAN’ REALLY ORDINARY?Despite the efforts to show the Banks family as ordinary, they aren’t really, are they? Some questions: What’s the value of the Banks family home in San Marino, CA? (Look up a

similar home on Zillow.) What sort of cars do the Banks family drive? What’s George Banks’ job? Can you research the likely earnings of someone in his position?

How would you define an ordinary American’s income? What would an ordinary American’s home look like? Find some evidence online to support your characterization of “ordinary.”

Given the codes and conventions of psychological realism in contemporary American media, how would an actually ordinary American home register with viewers?

“5 INSANE THINGS YOU BELIEVE ABOUT MONEY (THANKS TO MOVIES)” Follow the link below. How do Wong’s observations apply to “Father of the Bride” and

other films or television shows? http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-hollywood-tricked-you-into-hating-poor-people/

Are there films and television shows that, by contrast, try to break these assumptions?

David Wong’s short article covers the class dimension of psychological realism, illustrating how our media collectively fail to grasp the realities of “everyday life” for ordinary people. Originally entitled “5 ways Hollywood tricked you into hating poor people,” the article hints at one of the major questions we need to ask: Who’s the audience for film?

Who is the “we” of the audience? How do the assumptions of psychological realism reflect that particular “we” and vary from others? What persons and experiences are left behind? Can you find evidence for the social stratification of audiences?

THE HIDDEN IDEALISM OF REALISMAs Bignell points out, the various codes and conventions of different claims to realistic representation all bear ideological weight. If film is consumed by a disproportionately wealthy, educated (and privileged) group, it isn’t surprising that the ideological weight of the culture they consume reflects their understanding of the world and how it works. Ideology can work by excluding the experiences of subordinate groups, reinforcing

the views of dominant groups, and by interpellating members of subordinate groups into dominant views (so that persons absorb beliefs or values against their own material interests). There can be serious ideological content in the most unserious genres—think of the sex-role messages embedded in music video. Psychological realism can be understood as a form of psychological warfare!

But there are positive implications as well. What if we looked at the codes and conventions of psychological realism as collective fantasy? Perhaps American film audiences collectively wish that everyone lived like Steve Martin’s character George Banks.

REALISM: PSYCHOLOGICAL (MELO)DRAMA?What’s the one thing you know for sure about narrative value? The lead character experiences a moral challenge and –if victorious– changes as a result. That’s true in Father of the Bride; it’s true of most of the books and movies assigned to you until you graduated high school. Most authorities agree on the usefulness of this litmus test for distinguishing “good” books and films from merely entertaining books and films. “Merely entertaining” stories commonly have a melodramatic structure. A morally

good character faces external challenges in the form of a morally bad character. The plot is resolved when the bad character is defeated. The lead character does not change.

What if we look at the lead character’s moral challenge in realist stories as a form of melodrama? The struggle between moral choices is simply driven inward.

Melodrama was (and is) the leading alternative narrative mode when realism was developed; realism’s rejection of melodrama incorporates some of what it rejected.

SOCIOLOGICAL REALISM: THE TURN TO NATURALISMArtists who are frustrated with the dominance of psychological realism (and the centrality of the wealthy, privileged, white or male subjectivity) sometimes turn to a sociological realism, often called “naturalism.” Psychologial realism focusses on seemingly unique individual experience—

but then claims to find essentially universal psychological truths. By contrast, naturalistic media focus on experiences that they view as

common or typical, but not universal. They focus on the particularity of groups and on the social logic (sociology) of groups’ relationships to each other—including prejudice, struggle, exploitation, domination, indoctrination, etc.

SCIENCE OR STEREOTYPE?Emile Zola “attempted to portray in a series of vividly-colored stereoscopic views the whole complex life of modern society.” –Albert Shaw Naturalistic artists like Zola, Upton Sinclair (The Jungle, King Coal, Oil!) and David Simon (The

Wire, Treme) often aim for an art that does the work of social science. It can be politically powerful. In exposing how society works, a moral imperative emerges. Or not: How would you characterize the message and/or the appeal of Mike Rowe’s “Dirty Jobs”?

In naturalistic narrative, the moral problems are social and political, not issues of individual ethics. The political issues are often left unresolved. Theorists like Bertolt Brecht believed denying the audience catharsis of resolution would inspire them to seek resolution in the world, ie, engage in social change.

In seeking “stereoscopic” (remember the Viewmaster?) views of the “typical,” naturalistic representation risks stereotyping—flattening and simplifying the complexity and diversity of a social group’s experience, beliefs, culture and history. For more see Dave Zirin on reconsidering The Wire after the recent Baltimore riots: http://www.thenation.com/article/game-done-changed-reconsidering-wire-amidst-baltimore-uprising/

HE SAID, SHE SAID: “OBJECTIVITY” IN REPORTINGOne of the most powerful conventions used to give the impression of fairness, balance—even objectivity—is the “he said, she said” trope that still dominates nearly all issue journalism. But do all issues have two sides? Some issues have dozens of widely

differing stakeholder positions. What about being “fair to the truth”? Is allowing someone to lie really fair,

balanced or objective? Are there “two sides” to climate change knowledge? National Public Radio formally rejected “he said, she said,” in a 2012

revision to its ethics handbook. See more: http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/npr_rethinks_its_reporting.php

“He Said, She Said, and the Truth” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/16/public-editor/16pubed.html?_r=0

DOCUMENTING REALITYDocumentary media depend on a series of conventions to substantiate their representations of the real, placing particularly high value on images of events, eyewitness testimony, oral history, and other forms of documentation. Bignell emphasizes the centrality of metonymy in documentary, of a part standing in for a

whole. The claim “I was there” is powerful in this genre, yet a particular standpoint can be of limited value in a complex historical event, or even a source of error—research on memory and eyewitness testimony raises questions about reliability. The persons and documents that survive an event will shape the knowledge available.

Assembling documents to shape a narrative—as in historiography or criminal justice—is always making an argument, implicitly or explicitly.

Melodramatic narrative (of innocent victims and evildoers) and naturalistic representation of social logic) are common ways of using story to make documentary intelligible, particularly to viewers who don’t share the experience represented. As a result, documentaries can risk voyeurism, orientalism, and other forms of “othering” its subjects. What differences and similarities do you see between Mike Rowe’s “Dirty Jobs” and Barbara Ehrenreich’s “Nickel and Dimed”?

THE MANY SCRIPTS OF REALITY MEDIA In what sense are Bravo’s “Housewives” Real? Do you cook better after watching “Top Chef”? What’s the relationship between Donald Trump’s television show and his

political campaigns? What’s your own role in reality media—producing, consuming, distributing,

and valuing content on Facebook, YouTube, Reddit, Yikyak, etc? Are there codes and conventions to this activity?

REALISM IN CONTEMPORARY US MEDIA

Contact: Marc Bousquet, Department of Film and Media, Emory Universitypmbousquet@gmail.com