Research and progression has been steady and time consuming this week, after last week I knew I needed to focus more on the ‘Epic’ genre and its social reception within Hollywood as well as worldwide audiences as it was these types of films that interested me from the beginning. After repeatedly watching Spartacus and Gladiator I have found that my interests primarily lye on the Roman based epics that imply an historical but contemporary view of feminism and the female body within the formulaic narrative constructs. The only issue is I feel like my focus is getting wider as opposed to clearer and more focused, therefore I feel I have been expanding my readings and initial research into realms I do not need to be looking at. I know I want to look at the ‘Epic’ genre and its perception of feminism/ women but also I want to assess whether such representations have changed throughout the years. That’s why I have mainly focused on the two films Spartacus and Gladiator as they stand at different ends of the spectrum and time frame, but also by using such films I will be able to gage the development of the cinematic representations of feminism through a specific genre. Placing so much emphasis on the films being a ‘Roman Epic’ seems to be unrealistic as I will be able to understand the evolution of the ‘Epic’ genre more by focusing on other film releases that are not of the ‘Roman Epic’ genre, basically what I’m trying to suggest is that at this point in time I feel like the ‘Epic’ genre is a small enough area to research without narrowing my search further. However I am feeling conflicted because I don’t know if it would make more sense to narrow down my search and to just focus on ‘Roman Epics’, but if I did do that I would lose good film references such as The 10 Commandments which is more of a ‘Biblical Epic’ plus more film references and viewings would be required in order to form the basis of secondary textual analysis to my primary film readings. I am however certain that Spartacus and Gladiator shall be my primary films as to which I develop and apply feminist film theory to. Acknowledging that such films were going to be the basis (and perhaps included in my dissertation title) I ordered and researched books that were entirely based on both Spartacus and Gladiator. From the library I found a book entitled Spartacus Film and History that was edited by Martin M. Winkler. This particular book looks at every aspect of the film and its social and political history as well as enlisting chapters written by theorists based on different aspects of the film. So far I haven’t managed to read and take many notes from this book however I intend to and soon. Other books such as Big Screen Rome by Monica Cyrino also focus on Spartacus and Gladiator and offer textual analysis as well as the social importance of the ‘epic’ genre as historical epics are usually inadvertently based on contemporary happenings of the time. I must read more in depth with these books and try to combine feminist theories with the visual and written literature that highlights such issues. Also I need to start looking for online journals that focus on my area of research, the only reason I have delayed such a search is because I wanted to have a real sense of what it was I wanted to do therefore making my search for online journals less complex and time consuming. I need to do more readings and find online journals by doing so I might be able to decide whether or not to base my dissertation on ‘Roman Epics’ as opposed to just ‘Epics’ in general, as the more I extend my research methods on this particular area the more insight I will get as to whether there is enough literature on the ‘Roman Epics’.
Bibliography
Winkler, M. (2007) Spartacus Film and History, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Cyrino, M. (2005) Big Screen Rome, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Filmography
Spartacus, 1969. Film. Directed by Stanley KUBRICK. USA: Bryna Productions
Gladiator, 2000. Film. Directed by Ridley SCOTT. USA: UIP
The 10 Commandments, 1956. Film. Directed by Cecil B. DEMILLE. USA: Paramount Pictures
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