Interpreting Films

by Janet Staiger

Employing a wide range of examples from Uncle Tom's Cabin and Birth of a Nation to Zelig and Personal Best, Janet Staiger argues that a historical examination of spectators' responses to films can make a valuable contribution to the history, criticism, and philosophy of cultural products. She maintains that as artifacts, films do not contain immanent meanings, that differences among interpretations have historical bases, and that these variations are due to social, political, and economic conditions as well as the viewers' constructed images of themselves. After proposing a theory of reception study, the author demonstrates its application mainly through analyzing the varying responses of audiences to certain films at specific moments in history. Staiger gives special attention to how questions of class, gender, sexual preference, race, and ethnicity enter into film viewers' interpretations. Her analysis reflects recent developments in post-structuralism, cognitive psychology, psychoanalysis, and cultural studies, and includes a discussion of current reader-response models in literary and film studies as well as an alternative approach for thinking about historical readers and spectators.

Genres: Nonfiction

Paperback

First published March 3, 1992

Reviews

[Belinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know this is an important book to read to understand audience studies but I really really hate how Janet Staiger writes. I mean it's obvious that she knows what she's talking about and what she's saying is fundamentally interesting but I always find it a struggle to get through to the good bits. It shouldn't be this hard to read film theory.