The Rorschach Candidate: FINDING MEANING IN BEING THERE

Television might have been subsumed into an entangled array of screens - computers and laptops, smartphones and tablets - but the notion, presented part way through the film, of a public figure preferring to receive their news from television than books or newspapers feels quaint in an era of Facebo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAustralian screen education no. 97; pp. 88 - 93
Main Author Crewe, Dave
Format Magazine Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Melbourne The Australian Teachers of Media Inc 01.01.2020
Subjects
Ashby, Hal (1929-1988)
Comedies
Critics
Economic crisis
Film adaptations
Motion picture criticism
Motion pictures
Politics
Presidents
Sellers, Peter
Social criticism & satire
Success
Television programs
United States > US
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Summary:Television might have been subsumed into an entangled array of screens - computers and laptops, smartphones and tablets - but the notion, presented part way through the film, of a public figure preferring to receive their news from television than books or newspapers feels quaint in an era of Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. First-time viewers might regard Chance as the characters in the film do - as a sophisticate, as a man of culture - due to his distinguished appearance, prosperous surrounds and the orchestral performance playing on his set. How different would we look if someone were to shove a camera in our face as we, say, watched our favourite reality-TV show or scrolled through our social-media feed? When he first wanders out into the world outside his dead employer's house, the neighbourhood is predominantly black, and we see graffiti reading, 'America aint [sic] shit cause the white man's got a god complex'.
ISSN:1449-857X