Although we have not finished watching the movie Children of Invention yet, I would like to describe how we are constructed as audience by this movie. Furthermore, I am going to connect my Audience-Construction theory and today's part of the movie which is supported by the director's statement of on-line website.
In this movie, any specific narrator does not exist like as the movie Up the Yangtze. Therefore, it would be able to say that the characters do not send any messages to us observably. In spite of the fact, we are leaded into same field of the genre, namely "poverty" and "loneliness". This movie would be composed that we are easy to be received the impression of the both genres because some scenes are composed to emphasize the genre of poverty and loneliness. For instance, it must be clear that their poverty are shown obviously by these scenes which they do not have a steady and secure housing and which two young children eat a convenience food because of hungry. Furthermore, the loneliness of two young children would be shown by the scene that the children are appeared alone with expressionless, for example the brother is playing video game so long time in a toy's store. While we are watching this movie casually, I believe we are leaded into these genres unconsciously.
The director says that "When I wrote the film, I was writing a personal story about the world I grew up in - a subculture of American trying to get-rich-quick in order to get themselves out of a financial hole" on website. That is, most of the audience of this movie would develop their discussion which is based on the character's financial situation and "moral". For instance, some of the audience may argue for and against the mother's behavior that she takes part in "a pyramid scheme" in spite of the fact that she has precious children, even if she does for unwittingly.
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I think that you are absolutely right. The director clearly is trying to convey a sense of poverty, but I also think that he is pointing us towards a sense of humiliation. One of the most obvious examples occurs early on when the family is evicted and an officer is in the background overlooking the move. When asked about the officer, the mother lies to her young child. She then continues to lie in a later scene, telling her child that no one is going to live in their house. There are many examples of this humiliation in the mother: lying about the toy store clerk being mad at the family, her lie to the pyramid scheme lady (she did not have the money but did not want to look weak in front of a successful woman), and her anger with her son after being embarrassed by having to baby sit her daughter at the “party”.
ReplyDelete[I Apologize about the second comment but I have more to add. I forgot a very important detail that needs mentioning. Pretend that paragraph never ended.]
ReplyDeleteFurthermore we are set up for more humiliation as she(the mother) possibly falls into another pyramid scheme.
Despite these many instances of humiliation for the mother, the movie is entitled "Children of Invention", and thus the audience must focus themselves more on the children. The mother’s embarrassments and naiveté in business only serve as tools to build up the mother as a failure in the son’s eyes. Throughout the movie you can see how the son is embarrassed by his poverty. You can see his humiliated face at that same eviction and again when the toy store clerk confronts the mother. I think that this emphasis on the son’s humiliation may be uplifted later in the movie by how the son invents ways to handle this humiliation and poverty.