When and why are certain films considered bad by certain people? How do we identify these “bad” films? Why do we continue to watch the sorry lot of cinematic cast offs, neglected ne’er-do-wells, low-down, dirty deadbeats, and scissorbills, especially in the age of easy downloading and free streaming services? What is the value of these bad objects for cinephiles and archivists?
Cinematic pleasures have always featured as distraction, diversion, or decadence, often considered trivial. As opposed to this are other forms of acceptable pleasures like those belonging to the realm of discourse or high art. The course will challenge the practice of the suppression of fun in academic discourse to make it into a serious pleasure. We will not only read critically for “pleasure” but also learn to see critically what constitutes “fun”. The course will help us navigate between the notions of “corrupt” pleasures and “serious” pleasures. In the process, we will perhaps encounter the impact of inviting the anarchy of laughter into the classroom. I will constantly push you to think more about the social structures that surround the creation of racist, sexist, or homophobic images by engaging with the dynamic and complex relation between pleasure and discomfort of watching bad films.
We will see the bad films from varying decades, genres, countries, and socio-political contexts and explore questions of taste and thresholds. Given the topic, please be aware that we will be watching material that is considered in bad taste, offensive or disturbing. If you do not imagine that you can handle the images, I would suggest taking another film course.
Course Expectations
This section of Seminar in Composition is intended as a head-first dive into difficult critical and creative waters, made with the operative assumption that whatever doesn’t kill you not only makes you stronger, but more knowledgeable and articulate as well. You will work with several “layers” of material—among them films, essays written by noted authors from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines, your own short- and long-form responses to their work, the ideas and comments of your peers, the instructor’s comments, and your eventual revisions of early work—as a means of arriving at a wider understanding of college-level composition. Note that this is not a class that will teach you how to write the ideal “college essay,” as expected by a specific field or discipline. Rather, you will find that the assignments position you to do college-level work. The skills used throughout will be useful for any writing-intensive course, regardless of subject.
This is a writing course. The bulk of your work will be in writing, revising, commenting, and revising some more. We will spend the majority of our class time discussing your writing, and the issues and approaches found therein. By the end of the semester, at least one piece of your writing will be distributed for class discussion. We will treat our writing with the same respect afforded the “professional” readings.
Pleasures of Bad Cinema 