Action Scholar

This month, we explore the modern film theorist. These theorists build upon classical theories while addressing contemporary issues such as digital technology, global cinema, and evolving audience engagement. Here are some key figures and ideas in modern film theory:

1. Laura Mulvey – Feminist Film Theory & the Male Gaze

• Mulvey’s groundbreaking essay, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975), introduced the concept of the male gaze, arguing that mainstream cinema is structured around a heterosexual male perspective that objectifies women.
• Today, her ideas are still widely discussed, especially in conversations around gender representation in Hollywood and the portrayal of female action heroes.

2. David Bordwell – Neoformalism & Narrative Structure

• Bordwell focuses on how films tell stories and how audiences understand cinematic language.
• His work on neoformalism and cognitive film theory examines how editing, framing, and pacing influence perception.
• His books, like Narration in the Fiction Film and The Way Hollywood Tells It, are essential for understanding classical and modern cinematic storytelling.

3. Slavoj Žižek – Psychoanalysis & Ideology in Film

• Žižek applies Lacanian psychoanalysis and Marxist theory to film, often linking cinema to political ideology.
• He frequently discusses how films reinforce or challenge dominant ideologies, using examples from Hitchcock, The Matrix, and Joker.
• His book The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema explores how cinema manipulates desire and reality.

4. Vivian Sobchack – Phenomenology & The Embodied Experience of Cinema

• Sobchack explores how audiences physically and emotionally experience films.
• She argues that film is an embodied experience where viewers “feel” movement, pain, and emotions through cinematic techniques.
• This is particularly relevant to action films, where camera movement and editing create visceral audience reactions.

5. Thomas Elsaesser – Postmodern Cinema & Memory

• Elsaesser’s work explores postmodernism in film, focusing on nostalgia, memory, and historical trauma.
• His analysis of New German Cinema and Hollywood’s Remakes questions how films reframe history and identity.

6. Henry Jenkins – Convergence Culture & Fandom

• Jenkins studies how digital media, fan culture, and participatory storytelling shape modern cinema.
• His book Convergence Culture explores how audiences interact with films through online communities, memes, and transmedia storytelling (e.g., Marvel’s extended universe).

7. Bell Hooks – Race, Representation & Oppositional Gaze

• Hooks critiques how Black identities are represented in film and offers the oppositional gaze, a way for marginalized audiences to resist dominant narratives.
• Her work remains relevant in discussing racial representation and diversity in Hollywood.

These theorists provide a lens to analyze everything from Marvel movies to indie films, and their ideas continue to evolve with streaming, AI, and audience interactivity.