Eric Shapiro reviews Emma Sulkowicz’s new film—and looks at it both as a piece of filmmaking and a conversation starter.
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“The idea of cinema that I grew up with… is coming to a close… In the future, you’ll probably see less and less of what we recognize as cinema on multiplex screens and more and more of it in smaller theaters, online, and, I suppose, in spaces and circumstances that I can’t predict…”
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The only real thing it demonstrates is that Sulkowicz needs professional help, and urgently. As for that consent nonsense – yes, if you make a video and make it publicly available, people can watch it whenever they please. That isn’t really comparable to sexual activity in the flesh. It isn’t a rape irrespective of the point of view of the person watching it. Sulkowicz consented to perform what she did and to be filmed and have it uploaded. The motives and actions of someone merely viewing it, while maybe objectionable for other reasons, do not nonetheless constitute a violation of… Read more »
1. Its almost like she was trying to be artistic but as you say art is supposed to allow for the viewer to form their own interpretation. This seems like those moments when you tell someone, “Promise you won’t get mad,” just before telling them something. It seems she is trying to influence the viewer before they view the film. 2. I wonder if the camera angles were meant to say that we see this happen all around us everyday but don’t act on it. 3. I think the “assailant” is blurred out because we the viewers are meant to… Read more »
You know, we fight so hard to tell people that people don’t report rape because they have to relive the trauma and then this.
Yes, it’s almost as if a victim has a right to process their grief on their own terms. What cheek!
“it’s almost as if a victim has a right to process their grief on their own terms.” Almost, but that makes a huge assumption. That assumes that it’s a victim, who is processing grief. There are people who will hold to that assumption and there are people who will believe the opposite regardless of what happens. Still, I suspect that there are limits to how even a victim should process grief. For example, I would hope that you’d agree that a victim of sexual abuse as a child would not process their grief by growing up to abuse children. We… Read more »
But that would break the immersion the writer here is trying to develop. About the claim: We can’t know whether or not it’s true. We weren’t there in 2012, when it allegedly occurred. Those of a left-wing orientation can find plenty of material online that is sympathetic toward Sulkowicz. Those of a right-wing orientation can find plenty of material that is not. You won’t find an opinion herein as to Sulkowicz’s veracity. Let’s instead look at her film on its own terms… We’re supposed to not presume guilt or innocence but still treat her as a victim? We’re supposed to… Read more »