Film Studies 2018 - Louie Summers

Connor is ultimately portrayed as a sexual predator in this scene, made even more sickening by the use of binary opposition of paternal vs lover. Connors paternal role allows him to exploit Mia, shown in the climatic sex scene between the two. In We Need to Talk about Kevin feminism helps us understand the binary opposition of nature vs nurture, shown through a scene in which Eva is attempting to get Kevin to roll a ball back to her. This portrays Kevin as unusual in this child role, shown through his unresponsive performance which is made even more unusual by how childish this activity is, yet the young Kevin still can't connect with his mother even in the most child like of activities. Eve's performance shows her to be desperately trying to connect with her son through this activity , so its made clear Eve is not at fault for Kevin's unusual behaviour. A  medium long two shot at a side profile shows the futility of Eve attempting to connect with her son in this conventi

Feminism - Voyeurism - Male gaze theory - Laura Mulvey - Scopophilia Class structure - Marxism - Hegemony - Put the key scene nearer the start - Too much retelling of the story - link needed info to analysis - More micro features - Superfluous language - takes away from analysis - Remember to include the ideology and its relevance from the start - Developed key scene analysis

Ideological critical approach + Binary opposition PLAN Fish tank  –  Binary opposition = paternal vs lover, uses the cover of paternity to sexually exploit Mia, a young vulnerable girl from a poor socio economic background Inability to escape dependence on men (dependence vs independence)  –  Her escape is through dance, a small act of rebellion and freedom that tragically only leads to her objectification as her dancing is sexualised showing how even small freedoms are eventually suppressed by the oppressive male We need to talk about Kevin  –  Binary opposition = Nature vs nurture, the nurture aspect as in not all woman are naturally suited to be mothers which can have negative consequences, exaggerated here to dramatic effect with the tragedy that occurs The nature aspect partly removes blame from the mother, Eve as Kevin seems unable to connect with his mother, he is naturally distant  –  The question is connection and blame lays at society's feet as t