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!tracymfc@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