Readings: Week VI

Kellner, Douglas; "Poltergeist":

Summary:

Douglas often sees Spielberg's career as serving as a celebration idealization, and affirmation of the values of the middle-class, suburban, nuclear family. He notes the beginning of this trend in most - if not all - of Speilberg's work from Jaws onwards. Poltergeist uses the metaphor of supernatural forces at work to present the everyday middle-class fears tied around loss of home and possessions. His New Mother - who can be both domestic and hip and sexy - emerges as the moral center of the film, presenting a new female figure that also reaffirms traditional roles. Ultimately, the family emerges triumphant and intact. Though bringing middle-class fears to the surface, he ultimately soothes them by allowing the middle-class family to overcome them.
However, Douglas makes the distinction that, while Spielberg supports middle-class ideologies, he does not support the economic or political establishment. In many films, Poltergeist being no exception, the businessman, the politician, or the militar is the ultimate villain.

Thoughts:

I buy Douglas' argument that Poltergeist serves as a film which reaffirms middle-class values and addresses middle-class fears of the dark underside of suburbia and the loss of lifestyle. I think he gives Spielberg too much credit, however, for not being critical of many aspects of middle-class life, especially where the family is concerned. Many Spielberg film present an absent or inadequate father figure, an out-of-touch mother, and troubled children. Poltergeist itself contains many scenes of the father figure being removed somewhat from the family, giving priority to other concerns, or failing to serve as a lead.

White, Dennis; "Poetics of Horror"

Thoughts:

Too little content, too much summarazing and example-giving.

Buckland, Warren; "Directed by Spielberg":

Summary:

Buckland examines the previous work of both Hooper and Spielberg, compiling statistical data on the compositional elements of the film (e.g. shot length, type of shot, etc.) to decide, based on similar data gathered from Poltergeist who was really responsible for directing the film. He ultimately concludes that Hooper's influence was obvious enough in the pre-production and production phases to make the film a Hooper, rather than Spielberg, production.

Thoughts:

Meh. I still think that - except for a few scenes - it's pretty much a Spielberg film.