tracy@hcrvx1.UUCP (Tracy Tims) (12/05/84)
Here follows a review of John Carpenter's movie _Starman_ starring Jeff Bridges and Karen Allen. It appears that a major trend in film and television has been towards "situations". In television the situation comedy reigned paramount for some time and one could describe most crime shows as "situation crime" series. The major premise itself was typically a situation ("hey! let's have a guy living with two girls!") which was typically implemented as a series of smaller situations (a la Three's Company) rather than the actions of interesting characters within the situation (a la Man About the House). It's all a question of balance. There are signs in television that purely situation based shows (where the characterization merely supports the situation and remains consistent) are becoming less acceptable to the public. In film though, the question hasn't yet been settled, and John Carpenter has given us a new experimental film, _Starman_. _Starman_ takes the situation premise to its logical conclusion. The characterization and psychology of its characters are in no sense sane, recognizable or consistent. They are sacrificed boldly for the sense of the situation. The situation is that of an invited guest (our alien friend, invited by the Voyager recording) who is ambushed at the door by a shotgunning lunatic. Perhaps a good way to describe _Starman_ is to provide a simple algorithm that could produce a movie like it. The first step is to phrase the situation in simplistic terms and then to engrave it in the soundstage floor so that no one will forget it. In fact, if we write it as a litany it might be appropriate: "The alien can expect NO rational behaviour from human beings. All sense of reality and art may be sacrificed for this holy goal." I will point out that this step will force you to accept an uninteresting and unrealistic situation. We ignore that for now. (Carpenter did.) The next step is to write the script with the holy goal held uppermost in your mind. Now, it's hard to see a black cat in a coal cellar, so you know that you are going to need contrast in order to make the alien's plight visible. So *someone* is going to have to be rational. The trick is to decide who, where and when. Try this... have the plot and characters wander back and forth between rationality and a pathological sort of fear and evil. Don't try to make the actions consistent within character context, plot context, or reality. Don't try to make it make sense. Don't try to make anyone predictable. (See what I mean by experimental?) What you should end up with is an pointless study of unreal, bodiless paranoia, fear and stupidity. And that's what _Starman_ is. Tracy Tims {linus,allegra,decvax}!watmath!... Human Computing Resources Corporation {ihnp4,utzoo}!... Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 416 922-1937 ...hcr!hcrvax!tracy
mfc@hp-pcd.UUCP (mfc) (12/16/84)
Hey!! I saw "Starman" myself and I happened to enjoy it!! Talk about reviewers on the rag!! Jeez!! Mark F. Cook HP-PCD Corvallis, OR ...hplabs!hp-pcd!mfc