MMS Course Archive - October 2018 to April 2019
Courses are listed starting with the most recent
PEDRO ALMODOVAR'S SPANISH FRANKENSTEIN: THE SKIN I LIVE IN AND MONSTROUS FEMALE CORPOREALITY
Instructor: Anaïs Charbonneau Poitras
Tue., 4 April 2019 (1 week)
This discussion will explore themes of revenge, perverse obsession, sexual dominance and female sexuality within the context of Pedro Almodovar’s film, The Skin I Live In (2011). Almodovar’s successful plastic surgeon, Robert, is posited as the contemporary reincarnation of Victor Frankenstein, who, in an act of revenge, makes Vera his volatile, albeit beautiful, monstrous creation. The punishment and control of Vera through her body comes with constant surveillance, and the imposition of female gender constraints and expectations in the form of clothing, appearance, and behavior. Robert’s and Vera’s twisted relationship is complex. Robert’s revenge itself is monstrous, developing into an obsession whereby Vera embodies his repressed homoerotic fantasy. His severe need for dominance reduces Vera to a sex slave, however, she resists and refuses through self-harming behaviour as a means of regaining agency. The centrality of Vera’s interpretation of her female sexuality is key to Almodovar’s exploration of this “monstrous” body, however, since what comes off at first as a shameful punishment ultimately frees her from Robert’s dominance.
Instructor: Anaïs Charbonneau Poitras
Tue., 4 April 2019 (1 week)
This discussion will explore themes of revenge, perverse obsession, sexual dominance and female sexuality within the context of Pedro Almodovar’s film, The Skin I Live In (2011). Almodovar’s successful plastic surgeon, Robert, is posited as the contemporary reincarnation of Victor Frankenstein, who, in an act of revenge, makes Vera his volatile, albeit beautiful, monstrous creation. The punishment and control of Vera through her body comes with constant surveillance, and the imposition of female gender constraints and expectations in the form of clothing, appearance, and behavior. Robert’s and Vera’s twisted relationship is complex. Robert’s revenge itself is monstrous, developing into an obsession whereby Vera embodies his repressed homoerotic fantasy. His severe need for dominance reduces Vera to a sex slave, however, she resists and refuses through self-harming behaviour as a means of regaining agency. The centrality of Vera’s interpretation of her female sexuality is key to Almodovar’s exploration of this “monstrous” body, however, since what comes off at first as a shameful punishment ultimately frees her from Robert’s dominance.
"MIND SAYING THAT FOR THE CAMERA?: VARIATIONS ON FIRST-PERSON HORROR
Instructor: Mark Barber
Tue., 19 March to Tue., 2 April, 2019 (3 weeks)
First-person horror, also referred to as “found-footage horror, “mock-documentary horror,” or “point-of-view horror,” is a key postmodern cycle of horror films that became popular in the 1980s and 1990s and flourished throughout the 2000s and early 2010s. This course broadly examines the history, aesthetical/technical innovations, and ideological implications of the first-person horror film. The primary concern is two-fold: how do first-person horror films use (and abuse?) documentary codes and conventions to blur the distinction between reality and fiction, and, consequently, how do they manipulate the spectator’s expectations and experiences? This course will consider three films that represent key moments in the style’s history: Cannibal Holocaust (1980), The Blair Witch Project (1999), and Unfriended (2014/15). This three-week course will consider each film within the broader trends of the first-person horror canon, as well as their specific industrial, aesthetic, and ideological contexts, with the aim of understanding the conditions of both their popularity and controversies.
Instructor: Mark Barber
Tue., 19 March to Tue., 2 April, 2019 (3 weeks)
First-person horror, also referred to as “found-footage horror, “mock-documentary horror,” or “point-of-view horror,” is a key postmodern cycle of horror films that became popular in the 1980s and 1990s and flourished throughout the 2000s and early 2010s. This course broadly examines the history, aesthetical/technical innovations, and ideological implications of the first-person horror film. The primary concern is two-fold: how do first-person horror films use (and abuse?) documentary codes and conventions to blur the distinction between reality and fiction, and, consequently, how do they manipulate the spectator’s expectations and experiences? This course will consider three films that represent key moments in the style’s history: Cannibal Holocaust (1980), The Blair Witch Project (1999), and Unfriended (2014/15). This three-week course will consider each film within the broader trends of the first-person horror canon, as well as their specific industrial, aesthetic, and ideological contexts, with the aim of understanding the conditions of both their popularity and controversies.
A YEAR IN HORROR: 1983
Instructors: Mikaela Bobiy, Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare, Clayton Dillard, Will Dodson, Ellen Freeman, Alanna Thain
Tue., 29 Jan. to Tue., 5 March, 2019 (6weeks)
In this six-week course, six instructors turn their focus on a single year in horror: 1983. Why 1983? Why not!? Many historical analyses focus on watershed years for horror, like 1960 or 1968, but the more random selection of 1983 allows for a broadening of approach and subject matter, and an attention to the historical moment that transcends notions of “key” periods and avoids traditional arguments around horror appearing more significantly at “times of crisis” or collective trauma. Let’s take a look at what horror does all the time, every year. We present to you … the horror of 1983. Works to be discussed include Christine (novel and film), Videodrome, The Dead Zone, Brainstorm, Twilight Zone: The Movie (pictured above), and Lucio Fulci's Conquest. Help us to welcome guest instructors Clayton Dillard, coming to us from Oklahoma, and Will Dodson, from North Carolina!
DETAILED SCHEDULE OF TOPICS
29 January – Christine (Stephen King, John Carpenter)
Visiting Instructor: Clayton Dillard, Oklahoma State University
5 February – Videodrome (David Cronenberg)
Visiting Instructor: Will Dodson, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
12 February – The Dead Zone (David Cronenberg)
Instructor: Mikaela Bobiy, Dawson College
19 February – Brainstorm (Douglas Trumbull)
Instructor: Alanna Thain, McGill University
26 February – Twilight Zone: The Movie (Joe Dante, John Landis, George Miller, Steven Spielberg)
Instructor: Ellen Freeman, Concordia University
5 March – Conquest (Lucio Fulci)
Instructor: Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare, John Abbott College
Instructors: Mikaela Bobiy, Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare, Clayton Dillard, Will Dodson, Ellen Freeman, Alanna Thain
Tue., 29 Jan. to Tue., 5 March, 2019 (6weeks)
In this six-week course, six instructors turn their focus on a single year in horror: 1983. Why 1983? Why not!? Many historical analyses focus on watershed years for horror, like 1960 or 1968, but the more random selection of 1983 allows for a broadening of approach and subject matter, and an attention to the historical moment that transcends notions of “key” periods and avoids traditional arguments around horror appearing more significantly at “times of crisis” or collective trauma. Let’s take a look at what horror does all the time, every year. We present to you … the horror of 1983. Works to be discussed include Christine (novel and film), Videodrome, The Dead Zone, Brainstorm, Twilight Zone: The Movie (pictured above), and Lucio Fulci's Conquest. Help us to welcome guest instructors Clayton Dillard, coming to us from Oklahoma, and Will Dodson, from North Carolina!
DETAILED SCHEDULE OF TOPICS
29 January – Christine (Stephen King, John Carpenter)
Visiting Instructor: Clayton Dillard, Oklahoma State University
5 February – Videodrome (David Cronenberg)
Visiting Instructor: Will Dodson, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
12 February – The Dead Zone (David Cronenberg)
Instructor: Mikaela Bobiy, Dawson College
19 February – Brainstorm (Douglas Trumbull)
Instructor: Alanna Thain, McGill University
26 February – Twilight Zone: The Movie (Joe Dante, John Landis, George Miller, Steven Spielberg)
Instructor: Ellen Freeman, Concordia University
5 March – Conquest (Lucio Fulci)
Instructor: Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare, John Abbott College
WEEKS OF WONDERS: SURREALISM AND HORROR IN 1960s-70s EASTERN EUROPEAN CINEMA
Instructor: Virginie Selavy
Tue., 20 Nov. to Tue., 4 Dec., 2018 (3 weeks)
An MMS Special event! Film scholar, writer and editor Virginie Selavy takes us on a tour of the terrifying liminal spaces of surrealist horror. Followed by the MMS Xmas party!
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Surrealists deployed revolutionary artistic strategies to shake up the established order, challenging not only aesthetic, but also political, social and moral norms. This art of revolt resurfaced with renewed strength in the insurrectionary climate of the 1960s, taking on more horrific forms in the Soviet-dominated Communist regimes of Eastern Europe. This talk will look at the way in which Czech and Slovak films includingValerie and Her Week of Wonders (Jaromil Jireš, 1970) (pictured) and The Cremator (Juraj Herz, 1968), as well as Polish directors such as Andrzej Żuławski and Wojciech Has, wielded sardonic humour and flights of fancy, the disturbing and the oneiric, excess and history, against repressive authority, letting imagination run subversively free in their deliriously menacing dreamscapes.
Instructor: Virginie Selavy
Tue., 20 Nov. to Tue., 4 Dec., 2018 (3 weeks)
An MMS Special event! Film scholar, writer and editor Virginie Selavy takes us on a tour of the terrifying liminal spaces of surrealist horror. Followed by the MMS Xmas party!
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Surrealists deployed revolutionary artistic strategies to shake up the established order, challenging not only aesthetic, but also political, social and moral norms. This art of revolt resurfaced with renewed strength in the insurrectionary climate of the 1960s, taking on more horrific forms in the Soviet-dominated Communist regimes of Eastern Europe. This talk will look at the way in which Czech and Slovak films includingValerie and Her Week of Wonders (Jaromil Jireš, 1970) (pictured) and The Cremator (Juraj Herz, 1968), as well as Polish directors such as Andrzej Żuławski and Wojciech Has, wielded sardonic humour and flights of fancy, the disturbing and the oneiric, excess and history, against repressive authority, letting imagination run subversively free in their deliriously menacing dreamscapes.
LE FÉMININ ET LE DIABLE
Possessions et exorcismes comme manifestation de la répression sexuelle féminine
Instructor: Alexandra Dagenais
Tue., 17 Oct. to Tue. 21 Nov., 2017 (5 weeks)
En 2005, 32 ans après The Exorcist, The Exorcism of Emily Rose (voir à gauche) sort en salle et fait naître une vague sans précédent dans ce que je crois juste de qualifier de sous-genre : le film de possession. L’œuvre de Scott Derrickson relance un engouement qui persiste encore aujourd’hui. L’afflux de ces films (on en compte environ 55 entre 2005 et 2016) gagna mon intérêt et me força à me questionner sur le pourquoi de leur production frénétique. Une de leur caractéristique capta vite mon attention : jamais ou presque un homme ne sera possédé. La norme ici est le féminin. Pourquoi cette répétition quasi compulsive du personnage de la femme possédée? Face au décuplement de ses frêles figures en robes blanches possédées par des démons, il m’a semblé pertinent de m’attarder au rôle de la femme et à l’étude de son corps malmené dans le film d’exorcisme. Mon travail s’inscrit dans l’analyse critique des représentations filmiques en tant qu’elles reconfigurent inlassablement les normes sexuées qui favorisent et légitiment la domination masculine. Ce qui m’intéresse particulièrement dans la lecture que l’on peut faire des œuvres cinématographiques est l’analyse des identités sexuelles et des liens entre les sexes comme constructions sociales. Ces construits sont variables selon les époques et les sociétés. Elles sont traversées par les rapports de domination et de résistance. L’objectif de ce cours est de démontrer comment la possession exprime la manifestation d’une sexualité féminine refoulée par la société patriarcale et comment le spectacle de l’exorcisme comme attraction cinématographique objectifie cette sexualité.
Contenu
En premier lieu, il s’agira d’identifier le contexte social qui a favorisé la production compulsive des films de possession. Nous nous attarderons aussi au passé obscur du catholicisme et de la chasse aux sorcières pour comprendre d’où viennent la fascination et la peur de la sexualité féminine. À l’aide de la théorie des genres de Judith Butler et de celle sur le complexe de la castration de Freud, nous nous pencherons sur la problématique de l’expression entre les sexes. Nous nous concentrerons, par la suite, sur les symptômes provoqués par cette sexualité refoulée. Pour ce faire, nous ferons appel à la théorie du retour du refoulé telle qu’expliquée par Robin Wood.
Deuxièmement, nous ferons l’analyse des thèmes et des figures présentes dans les films de possession. Nous identifierons la possession comme un langage de dernier recours pour être entendue et comparerons l’univers des jeunes filles pour comprendre ce qui provoque la possession. La virginité et la puberté semblent entre autres être des éléments centraux qui favorisent l’arrivée du démon. Finalement, nous observerons comment le corps des jeunes possédées entre en révolte contre le carcan qui les oppresse.
Finalement, nous nous concentrerons sur la séquence d’exorcisme en elle-même et son effet «spectacle» à l’intérieur du film. En nous servant de la théorie des attractions telle qu’établie par Tom Gunning, j’analyse les méthodes de mises en scène qui favorisent la monstration du corps spectaculaire. Nous tracerons un parallèle entre le Grand Guignol et les séquences d’exorcisme pour comprendre le lien entre érotisme et violence. Nous étudierons la performance du corps féminin lors dans la scène d’exorcisme et son attraction sur le public.
Possessions et exorcismes comme manifestation de la répression sexuelle féminine
Instructor: Alexandra Dagenais
Tue., 17 Oct. to Tue. 21 Nov., 2017 (5 weeks)
En 2005, 32 ans après The Exorcist, The Exorcism of Emily Rose (voir à gauche) sort en salle et fait naître une vague sans précédent dans ce que je crois juste de qualifier de sous-genre : le film de possession. L’œuvre de Scott Derrickson relance un engouement qui persiste encore aujourd’hui. L’afflux de ces films (on en compte environ 55 entre 2005 et 2016) gagna mon intérêt et me força à me questionner sur le pourquoi de leur production frénétique. Une de leur caractéristique capta vite mon attention : jamais ou presque un homme ne sera possédé. La norme ici est le féminin. Pourquoi cette répétition quasi compulsive du personnage de la femme possédée? Face au décuplement de ses frêles figures en robes blanches possédées par des démons, il m’a semblé pertinent de m’attarder au rôle de la femme et à l’étude de son corps malmené dans le film d’exorcisme. Mon travail s’inscrit dans l’analyse critique des représentations filmiques en tant qu’elles reconfigurent inlassablement les normes sexuées qui favorisent et légitiment la domination masculine. Ce qui m’intéresse particulièrement dans la lecture que l’on peut faire des œuvres cinématographiques est l’analyse des identités sexuelles et des liens entre les sexes comme constructions sociales. Ces construits sont variables selon les époques et les sociétés. Elles sont traversées par les rapports de domination et de résistance. L’objectif de ce cours est de démontrer comment la possession exprime la manifestation d’une sexualité féminine refoulée par la société patriarcale et comment le spectacle de l’exorcisme comme attraction cinématographique objectifie cette sexualité.
Contenu
En premier lieu, il s’agira d’identifier le contexte social qui a favorisé la production compulsive des films de possession. Nous nous attarderons aussi au passé obscur du catholicisme et de la chasse aux sorcières pour comprendre d’où viennent la fascination et la peur de la sexualité féminine. À l’aide de la théorie des genres de Judith Butler et de celle sur le complexe de la castration de Freud, nous nous pencherons sur la problématique de l’expression entre les sexes. Nous nous concentrerons, par la suite, sur les symptômes provoqués par cette sexualité refoulée. Pour ce faire, nous ferons appel à la théorie du retour du refoulé telle qu’expliquée par Robin Wood.
Deuxièmement, nous ferons l’analyse des thèmes et des figures présentes dans les films de possession. Nous identifierons la possession comme un langage de dernier recours pour être entendue et comparerons l’univers des jeunes filles pour comprendre ce qui provoque la possession. La virginité et la puberté semblent entre autres être des éléments centraux qui favorisent l’arrivée du démon. Finalement, nous observerons comment le corps des jeunes possédées entre en révolte contre le carcan qui les oppresse.
Finalement, nous nous concentrerons sur la séquence d’exorcisme en elle-même et son effet «spectacle» à l’intérieur du film. En nous servant de la théorie des attractions telle qu’établie par Tom Gunning, j’analyse les méthodes de mises en scène qui favorisent la monstration du corps spectaculaire. Nous tracerons un parallèle entre le Grand Guignol et les séquences d’exorcisme pour comprendre le lien entre érotisme et violence. Nous étudierons la performance du corps féminin lors dans la scène d’exorcisme et son attraction sur le public.
MONSTER SCIENCE: THE CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS OF MOVIE MONSTERS
Instructor: Yann Brouillette, Chris Whittaker
Tue. 6 & 13 November, 2018 (2 weeks)
In this two-part course, Dawson College instructors Chris Whittaker (Physics) and Yann Brouillette (Chemistry) present a double-feature investigation and fact-testing of the monsters we love to hate (and sometimes just love).
Part I, "The Ugly Truth: What Physics Has to Say about Movie Monsters" (6 November), asks "Is the colossal movie monster even possible?" Equal parts special-effects marvel and revelation of cultural anxieties, the colossal movie monster has fascinated audiences since perhaps its most famous incarnation in King Kong (1933). From gargantuan radioactive ants in the 1950's classic THEM! (1954) to the resurrected t-rex in Jurassic Park (1993), these giants seem unstoppable. But Nature has rules, after all. In this talk, movie monsters meet physics—and the news isn't very good for the monsters. With Chris Whittaker.
Part II, "Comic Book Chemistry: Beasts and Monsters" (13 November), is a fun and critical investigation of rational explanations describing monstrous manifestations in movies, TV shows and graphic novels. Actual chemical reactions can give birth to frightening monsters, from the zombie symptoms of The Walking Dead to the acidic blood of Aliens. By discerning the magical from the scientific, this lecture helps the curious fan to see the world's beauty through the eye of the test tube holder. With Yann Brouillette.
Instructor: Yann Brouillette, Chris Whittaker
Tue. 6 & 13 November, 2018 (2 weeks)
In this two-part course, Dawson College instructors Chris Whittaker (Physics) and Yann Brouillette (Chemistry) present a double-feature investigation and fact-testing of the monsters we love to hate (and sometimes just love).
Part I, "The Ugly Truth: What Physics Has to Say about Movie Monsters" (6 November), asks "Is the colossal movie monster even possible?" Equal parts special-effects marvel and revelation of cultural anxieties, the colossal movie monster has fascinated audiences since perhaps its most famous incarnation in King Kong (1933). From gargantuan radioactive ants in the 1950's classic THEM! (1954) to the resurrected t-rex in Jurassic Park (1993), these giants seem unstoppable. But Nature has rules, after all. In this talk, movie monsters meet physics—and the news isn't very good for the monsters. With Chris Whittaker.
Part II, "Comic Book Chemistry: Beasts and Monsters" (13 November), is a fun and critical investigation of rational explanations describing monstrous manifestations in movies, TV shows and graphic novels. Actual chemical reactions can give birth to frightening monsters, from the zombie symptoms of The Walking Dead to the acidic blood of Aliens. By discerning the magical from the scientific, this lecture helps the curious fan to see the world's beauty through the eye of the test tube holder. With Yann Brouillette.
WOMEN IN HORROR, PART 3: NEW PERSPECTIVES
Anne Golden, Karen Herland, Rosanna Maule, Rebecca Million, Ursula Misztal, Shalon Noble, Jay Shea
Tue. 2 October to 30 October, 2019 (5weeks)
This five-week course opens with a roundtable discussion on the continued significance and influence of Mary Shelley's classic Frankenstein (1818) with panelists Rebecca Million, Ursula Misztal, and Shalon Noble. In the following weeks, new perspectives on women in horror continue with Jay Shea's recovery of Barbara in Night of the Living Dead, Karen Herland on the popular Black Dahlia murder case, and Anne Golden on Karen Kusama's The Invitation. Rosanna Maule rounding out the course on 30 October with more on the legacy of Mary Shelley, 200 years after the publication of Frankenstein, with special guest, filmmaker Guylaine Dionne, whose drama-documentary, Mary Shelley (2004) will be screened. See below for the weekly schedule.
DETAILED SCHEDULE OF TOPICS
2 October, 7-9pm – Panel Discussion: Frankenstein: Mary Shelley’s “Hideous Progeny” at 200 (with R. Million, U. Misztal, S. Noble, moderated by Kristopher Woofter)
9 October, 7-10pm – Jay Shea on Barbara and Trauma Time in Night of the Living Dead
Screening: Night of the Living Dead (1968)
16 October, 7-10pm – Anne Golden on The Invitation and Karen Kusama
Screening: The Invitation (2015)
23 October, 7-9pm – Karen Herland on the Black Dahlia murder case
30 October, 7-10pm – Rosanna Maule and Guylaine Dionne on Mary Shelley
Screening: Mary Shelley (2004)
Anne Golden, Karen Herland, Rosanna Maule, Rebecca Million, Ursula Misztal, Shalon Noble, Jay Shea
Tue. 2 October to 30 October, 2019 (5weeks)
This five-week course opens with a roundtable discussion on the continued significance and influence of Mary Shelley's classic Frankenstein (1818) with panelists Rebecca Million, Ursula Misztal, and Shalon Noble. In the following weeks, new perspectives on women in horror continue with Jay Shea's recovery of Barbara in Night of the Living Dead, Karen Herland on the popular Black Dahlia murder case, and Anne Golden on Karen Kusama's The Invitation. Rosanna Maule rounding out the course on 30 October with more on the legacy of Mary Shelley, 200 years after the publication of Frankenstein, with special guest, filmmaker Guylaine Dionne, whose drama-documentary, Mary Shelley (2004) will be screened. See below for the weekly schedule.
DETAILED SCHEDULE OF TOPICS
2 October, 7-9pm – Panel Discussion: Frankenstein: Mary Shelley’s “Hideous Progeny” at 200 (with R. Million, U. Misztal, S. Noble, moderated by Kristopher Woofter)
9 October, 7-10pm – Jay Shea on Barbara and Trauma Time in Night of the Living Dead
Screening: Night of the Living Dead (1968)
16 October, 7-10pm – Anne Golden on The Invitation and Karen Kusama
Screening: The Invitation (2015)
23 October, 7-9pm – Karen Herland on the Black Dahlia murder case
30 October, 7-10pm – Rosanna Maule and Guylaine Dionne on Mary Shelley
Screening: Mary Shelley (2004)
