Monster House.

Monster house is a 2006 animated horror/comedy film directed by debutante director Gil Kenan. Featuring an ensemble of voice actors such as, Mitchel Musso, Sam Lerner, Spencer Locke, Steve Buscemi, Maggie Gyllenhaal and many others, the film released 21st July 2006 to critical acclaim and commercial success. Produced by ImageMovers and Amblin Entertainment, the film grossed 140 million dollars against its budget of 75million. One of the reasons this movie was successful was because it appealed to the audiences in different ways due to the mixed genres present in this film.  In this, we plan to discuss the various genres present in Monster House by using Rick Altman’s Semantic/Syntactic Approach. 

As was previously discussed, Rick Altman’s theory uses semantics and syntax in a film to study and deduce its genre. Semantics being the mise en scène in the movie.  The visuals, the set design, the costumes, actor behavior and movement,  and basically anything that is a visual clue of what the story is about. Syntax is regarding the themes, structures, characterization,  conventions, and basically the parts of the story that we can extract from the narrative. These two aspects will be analysed concurrently to deduce the mixed genres present in Monster House. The genre’s that are evident in this film are basically horror, action, and comedy.

This story follows the protagonist D.J as he investigates and observes a creepy and dilapidated house that is located right opposite his own in his neighbourhood. The house has a reputation and a signage outside that urges people to stay away lest the face the wrath of the mean spirited and cranky owner, Horace Nebbercracker’s wrath. Nebbercracker has a penchant for hoarding all the kids’ toys that accidentally find their way to his yard. Things started to escalate,  when D.J’s friend Chowder loses a basketball onto Nebbercracker’s yard and begs D.J to retrieve it. The whole ordeal of D.J retrieving the ball causes Nebbercracker to have a heart attack and he is soon presumed dead. At this point the house is revealed to be sentient and begins to torments D.J. He then saves a girl selling Halloween candy, from being eaten alive by the house.  D.J, Chowder, and Jenny(the candy salesperson) from an unlikely trio in an attempt to defeat the house to save the countless children who would be victims to the house on  Halloween. Through their escapades and Nebbercracker’s unlikely return, they discover that house is possessed by the spirit of his late wife, Constance, who was encased in cement due to an accident. The four of them eventually managed to outwit the sentient house chasing them and blow  it up to release Constance from this earth.

The genre of horror is very evident in this movie. It falls under the category of unnatural horror as the main antagonist is a sentient house that eats people. The threat to normalcy arises when the house is affected by the presumed death of Nebbercracker and begins luring people and eating them. The semantics in this is the Monster House itself which has a mouth, sharp teeth, tongue and even sprouted limbs during the final chase scene. The syntax is the fact that Constance, was revealed to be encased alive in cement and that her spirit resides in the house.

The action genre, is pretty clear during the chase scene at the final parts of the movie. The house chases our trio and Mr Nebbercracker because it believes that he is going to get rid of it. When the semantics were analysed it gives is the classic action movie tropes. There is a continuous high energy sequences and physical stunts. The characters had to evade the house by running away from it. They even had to jump over fences to get away. There was a fight sequence where Chowder commandeered the excavator and battled the house. Adding to that, the scene where D.J had to swing on the crane and throw the dynamite into the house was also an example of an action movie semantic. The explosion of the house just added the cherry on top as it’s the most common of action movie semantics. The syntax of action that is prevalent is the fact there is a clear good vs evil narrative in which the action centers on the main protagonist. There is also an aspect of resolution of threat after a prolonged battle in which the house is defeated at the end after the fight.

The comedy genre is also very present in this movie. Not as dominant as the other two, but enough to be mentioned. The semantics of the comedy genre can be seen with Chowder, especially when he plays the basketball. He is shown to be terrible at the sport even to the extent of getting hit in the face by the rebounding shot which falls under slapstick humour. Secondly, the character Skull, whom  they consult for advice on how to deal with the house is established as a revered character by D.J and Chowder. When in essence, he seems quite the opposite as he is a delivery driver who plays video games for extended hours.  The syntax is evident though the screwball comedy trope, which can be seen when there is male and female interaction. For example, D.J’s mom insist that his dad say I love you to him, but because of his masculinity he refuses to say it. Secondly, when D.J and chowder try to impress Jenny by exposing each other’s less desirable traits. The two police officers are also an example where there is comedy because they are established as incompetent in their jobs. One, a seasoned veteran who is complacent and another a rookie who is over enthusiastic about his job. This ensues a hilarious exchange when they disagree on how to approach the case.

In conclusion, Monster House is a horror film with elements of multiple different genre. The semantic/syntactic approach allowed us to dissect the individual genres. The rising threats to normalcy and the resolution is a classic horror genre motif. The action genre is evident through the chase sequence and the chracterisation as D.J as the hero. Lastly,  the comedy genre is apparent through the screwball and slapstick moments. Monster House is an interesting film and successfully pulled off the hybrid genre of horror, action, and comedy

The Sixth Sense.

The Sixth Sense, film written and directed by famed director M. Night Shyamalan released in 1999, by Buena Vista Pictures. It became the second highest grossing movie of the year and managed to bag six Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor and Actress.  Starring Bruce Willis, Hayley Joel Osment and Toni Collete, The Sixth Sense was a horror movie of sorts.  Not in the typical sense, but had enough of the usual horror movie tropes to be classified as such.  In this, I hope to discuss Rick Altman’s genre theory and the various aspects that can identify the genre of The Sixth Sense.

Genre is usually a very difficult thing to define. Like all things art, it is very subjective. However , if we follow certain similar elements between movies, we can form a theory for genre itself.  The semantic/syntactic approach is a method that seems to work best in classifying films. Developed by Emeritus Professor Rick Altman , the semantics and syntax in a film are analysed concurrently to put the film in its respective category. Semantics is defined as the meaning of words. In this context however , semantics is usually classified as common traits of a genre in a film. This encompasses characters, set design, location, makeup/costume, lighting and basically anything  that is a visual aspect.  For semantics we analyse the mise en scène of various scenes and how the actors portray the characters in regards to movement , language, and behaviour.  Syntax is the arrangement of words and phrases to form sentences. In a film’s sense, it is what we can extract from its narrative. We can observe the syntax by looking at the type of characters in a film, the ideas presented, themes, and conventions.   These two aspects come together to form the genre of a film. Semantics and syntax of The Sixth Sense will be analysed to deduce its genre.(Altman,1984)

The Sixth Sense, revolves around Dr Malcolm Crowe, an esteemed child psychologist as he tries to help, Cole Sear as atonement for failing a previous patient. The aforementioned patient broke into Dr Crowe’s house and shot him before committing suicide due to his increased mental instability. After spending enough time with Cole and gaining his trust, Cole eventually reveals to Dr Crowe that he can see dead people. Initially, Dr Crowe wanted to stop trying to help Cole because he thought Cole was delusional. But after reviewing his old work, Dr Crowe believes Cole and starts to help him adjust to his abilities.  He suggests  that Cole should use his gift and help the restless spirits to fulfill their last desires.  Eventually once Cole had made peace with his gift, he becomes more sociable and seems happier and it became time for Dr Crowe to be on his way. When Dr Crowe reaches home and tries to talk to his wife, hi wedding ring falls from her grasp and it becomes revealed that Dr Crowe died on the night of the shooting and Cole was helping him with his unfinished business. He then departs to the presumed afterlife.

Through a semantic approach it’s easy to see why this movie can be categorised as a horror movie. It has all the credentials to be classified as such.  For starters, there are ghosts in this movie. Cole sees various ghosts in this movie trying to make contact through him. The appearances of the ghosts add to the horror element as most of them appear rather gory and unsettling. For example, the little girl vomited, the lady in the dressing room had a burnt face, there were three corpses hanging from the ceiling and a boy with a gunshot wound on his head. These are the few of the ghosts that Cole could see. For the squeamish, this is a very unnerving sight. Besides that, the  overall lighting for the movie seems very dull and ominous. Scenes like the basement where Dr Crowe works from, and the kitchen where Cole sees the ghosts all have a darker lighting. The colours used, give a mysterious and creepy vibe that is a staple in a horror movie.

When approached syntactically, the movie gives out a more of a drama vibe. The overall theme of this movie is about is about things left unsaid or unfinished. It can be seen throughout the movie where the ghosts comes back to Cole to ask for his help in communicating. Cole is the messenger in which the ghosts use to relay their messages to the living. The  theme is far from a common horror movie. It isn’t a horror movie for horror’s sake. The horror elements are basically a vehicle to drive the theme. In addition, it has very little syntax related to a horror movie. The only aspect present of a horror film is threat to normalcy, which is observed when Cole says he can see dead people. Besides that, the movie serves as a journey of acceptance for Cole and retribution for Dr Crowe.  Syntactically The Sixth Sense is a drama.

All in all, The Sixth Sense satisfies the three conditions for the horror genre. There are general semantics and syntax that have horror motifs, such as ghosts, gore, and threat to normalcy.  Secondly, the audience can roughly guess where the movie is heading , based on the initial clues. Except for the twist ending though, that was a really well placed twist. Most people wouldn’t have seen that coming.  Lastly, the movie delivered the horror genre by packaging very differently from its counterparts. It is fair to say that The Sixth Sense is not entirely a horror film, it has many dramatic elements to it. It can be considered a hybrid genre of drama and horror because those two elements are prevalent in this film.  

References

1) Rick Altman, (1984) A Semantic/Syntactic approach to Film Genre. Cinema Journal Volume 23, pp 6-18, DOI: 10.2307/1225093

Values to Bind and Build: A Reflection

On 25th January 2019, we were treated to an interesting lecture by YBhg Prof Dato’ Dr Tan Chong Tin. It's was regarding his new book Values to Bind and Build: A Reflection. this book takes a new and refreshing dive into the racial dynamics of our country. Race relations are always a hot issues in any country, more so in a multi ethnic nation like Malaysia. although we thing that in 62 years we have come far in terms of race harmony, events like the recent Seafield Mariamman temple riot prove how volatile things actually are. Although these events are anomalies in an otherwise "peaceful" Malaysia, they still should be paid attention to.

Dr Tan, says one of the main driving force of ethnic relations and its harmony can be boiled down to psychological drives. Being a neurologist for the better part of his life, Dr Tan, made an interesting observation. He sees that patients who suffer epilepsy, suffer far more from stigma related to the condition, than the onset implications of the illness itself. This is what made him come up with the idea of the psyscological drives of ethnic harmony which are ethnic identity, self esteem. and ethnic dignity. In regards to Malaysia, the popular narrative is that, we must embrace unity through our shared identity as Malaysians. Taking pride in your birth culture and identity is always taken as a sign of unwillingness to assimilate. Dr Tan, says that  ethnicities must be allowed to keep their identities. Identity is very important to a human being. To strip that away, is to deny them basic rights of existing. Allowing people to express their identities, will reflect onto national harmony. This is largely due to the fact that this allows people to find similarities in their key differences and this will forge a stronger bond of unity among citizens.

Self-esteem is  an individual's overall subjective emotional evaluation of their own worth. It's basically how much a person values themselves. It is a major component on ethnic harmony. Self esteem, gives people a drive to do things, a need and want to belong in society. This is largely due to the fact that a person will low self esteem will have emotional problems and might eventually react adversely. They might retaliate in ways that they feel is justified because of their self worth. 


 Ethnic dignity is basically the apparent reputation and social standing of an ethnicity in a society. How does the society view the ehtnicity and their contributions? Esteem and dignity are one of the higher tiers of Maslow's hierarchy of need. the need to be respected and viewed as a an essential part of society is crucial to maintain ethnic stability. This was one of the driving force of the May 16th tragedy that befell our nation. The Malays felt insecure and humiliated that in their own country, they were economically backward. This tension eventually spilled over after the 1969 election and riots broke out in our country. That was the birth of the hastily designed New Economic Policy (NEP) which 50 years on still doesn't completely work. The way to maintain ethnic dignities is through competence.

There are several ways to develop competency. One of it is strong work ethic. People must be willing to work for their success. Things like punctuality, hard work, and commitment are things that are encompassed in a strong work ethic. Besides that, openness is a key factor in competency. The willingness to learn and explore paradigms and experiences besides one's own, will enrich their world view. This will make them a more rounded individual armed with an arsenal of perspectives and thoughts on the things around them, thus birthing a more competent individual.. Lastly, freedom is also an essential part of competency. The freedom to express oneself is highly beneficial in creating competence.

Dr Tan also made emphasis on goodness. How that our identity, self esteem, and ethnic dignity all depends on the moral compass that we have. The more morally right things we do, it increases our self esteem, makes carry ourselves with dignity and this eventually becomes our identity. Goodness can generally be cultivated by how we approach things, Joseph Nye a famous political scientist came up with a theory of soft power. This in essence re-imagines how we approach things. It's the ability to co-opt instead of coercing. this is how we deal with our differences in this day and age. Aggressive calls for assimilation is going to bring and change. A more diplomatic approach is needed to prevent radicalization of any ethnicities. A disregard for soft power in regards to handling the issue of so called "Islamic" terrorists, has led to a world wide epidemic of idiotic Islamophobia which has nothing but detrimental effects on global harmony.

All in all, Dr Tan's lecture is a very interesting one and is much needed in today's society. Ethnic relations has and always will be a major concern for a country  like Malaysia. We need to tread lightly but bravely in order to foster better ethnic relation.