Volume 1, Issue 1

The Artful and the Artless: Aesthetic Distance In Horror Films
By Erik Pepple

Borrowed Bloodshed: Appropriation in Hong Kong And American Cinema
By James Eldred

Harold, Fletch and Unfair Constraints: Class in British Sitcoms
By Cheryl Pilot

Vertigo: A Spiral In Gender Confusion
By Susi Busam

What is art?
This is a question asked in this, the debut issue of The Projector, by Erik Pepple in his article, "The Artful and the Artless: Aesthetic Distance In Horror Films" and is one that frequently comes up in the discussion of film. Are only serious films art? What about action movies, or low-class comedies? In our first issue of The Projector, we will look at many different genres of film and television, some have always been considered art, and some have not.

Pepple's previously mentioned essay addresses this discussion head on with his look at the often misrepresented and misunderstood genre of horror films. He does this by comparing foreign 'art' horror such as Suspiria, and low-budget 'trash' like Friday The 13th. Why are the foreign films, that feature just as much, if not more blood and sex, considered classic art while their American counterparts are ruthlessly attacked? Erik offers some interesting insights into this question.

Our second article looks at a genre of film that is just as misunderstood and unjustly attacked as the horror film, the action film. Despite being one of the most popular genres worldwide, the action movie has been ruthlessly attacked by both scholar and critic. In my article "Borrowed Bloodshed: Appropriation In Hong Kong And American Film", I take a serious look at the genre in his tracing the influence of the action movie, beginning in America with the works of Sam Peckinpah, and then to Hong Kong, examining the works of acclaimed action director John Woo.

Moving away from film all together and into television, Cheryl Pilot looks at the sitcom in England, another genre that has been traditionally looked down upon, with her article "Harold Fletcher and Unfair Constraints: Class in British Sitcoms." One does usually not look at the sitcom for a serious commentary on class, but, as they are traditionally the most popular television programs across the world, it is important to see what messages they are putting forth. Cheryl looks at two British comedies, "Porridge" and "Steptoe and Son" (the precursor to "Stanford And Son") and shows their comments on class in British society, and how their characters deal with their class in their society.

Finally, we go back to film and look at Hitchcock's classic Vertigo, a film almost all critics and scholars consider being art in its highest form. What this 'high art' could be saying about gender in 1950s society is discussed in Susi Busam's essay, "Vertigo: A Spiral Of Gender Confusion." Susi looks at this discourse in an unusual form, however, by partially focusing on the cinematography and use of colors in the film as well as detailed examinations of all the characters.

We do not claim to hold the definitive definition of Art. But here, we do think that the definition could be expanded. All forms of film should be examined equally, from Hitchcock to Craven, from Peckinpah to The Wachowski Brothers. This is what I hope The Projector will be all about, and with this wide range of articles, I think we are off to a good start.

Editor - James Eldred