Collaboration: Film Lecture Part 7 - Quality & Storytelling Part 2

 B-movies & Genre Films (1930's to Present)

*B-movies are Equal to Exploitation*

Exploitation is when one part of a film is pushed to make it seem more appealing then it is.

Batman - Was pushed so much it become saturated, and then a parody signaled the end of the Batman era.

This saturation and parody end is common in most film genres;

 *James Bond (Serious) - Austin Powers (Parody)*

Pre-Code, Censorship and the Circus

The film "Baby Face" exploited sex and nudity.

A "Roadshow" took over the "Circus" formulae by taking B-movies onto the road, giving more freedom in what they can showcase. As there was no restrictions, some films showed corrupted content to give false information and scare its viewers.

"Pulp Novels" would push taboo subjects and exploit one areas to grab its viewers - mainly areas such as sex and violence. Many pulp stories aimed at a male audience, holding questionable content.

What is Exploitation - Tod Browning's "Freaks".

 Based in the term "Circus Freaks" at that period, the film was removed from cinemas because of its content. It was then re-edited but was "lost". This film showed a more positive view for people living in the circus, but the viewership struggled to understand the story. This meant the films was removed and ended up killing Tod Browning directing career.

With the court case that release cinema's from studio holds, this allowed a new range of films to be shown, including ones that are questionable.

Some themes that have undergone exploitation are; 

- Sex and Nudity (Cheesecake and Burlesque) = If it was seen to be "educational", the film can be shown in cinemas. (Grind house films is a rename version of the traditional "Bump'n'Grind films)

- Teenagers = These would have spoken to the viewing audience about issues of the time, others tried to exploit the teenager.

- Violence = Pushes the boundaries of violence, an example being the film "Scum of the Earth (1963)" is about domestic violence.

Gore = This goes hand in hand with violence and can be a category all of its own. ("Psycho" is psychological gore, others such as "Blood Feast" is full on violence gore).

The Modern Era

*A change in the censorship*

  "Easy Rider" talked to the "biker" sub-culture of the 1970's, showing to grow more in explicit content and violence. This led to "underground" films becoming A-class films. Disaster movies such as The towering Inferno started to become saturated in the 1980's-90's.

  Larger scaled B-movies became summer blockbusters, but they are still just B-movies at the center with a more developed script and budget.

  With the grown of the blockbuster and the VHS, the Drive-In cinema and Grind-House formulae started to die out.

  However, the culture of the underground VHS started, which exploited violence and horror styled films. Cannon films gave us the actions genre with actors such as Chuck Norries and Van Dam, but was still essentially B-grade films at heart. Troma films is the monster disaster film mash up with horror tropes.

  The Video Nasties- Illegal and violent content that would have been showcased to be have been "real", but was falsely advertised to exploit the audience. There was a fear about "Video Nasties" falling into young children's hands, allowing them access to unnecessary content and warping their innocence.

  Oz-exploitation brought us its own sort of Hollywood, and a well know film to be made from it was the Mad Max series.

  Moving into the 1990's, directors such as Quentin Tarantino, who with a large knowledge of B-styled films, created grade-A films by different sub-category styles. This marked a "Alter" branding of directing.

  However, the movie knock-off still exists with such wonders as Alien vs Hunter and Sharnado. Films are now a shareable media where the fear of copyright is being seen as less prominent. However, we have moved back into ownership by platforms such as Netflix and Hulu.

Mad Max: Fury Road

  A monolithic over-lord in the post-apocalyptic genre, Mad max: Fury Road is stylized after the Oz-exploited era of the 1980's. Full of sub-culture references, Fury road takes these and utilities them to their fullest potential. 

  First, Max Mad himself has been envision to be mentally unwell. Resting between post-traumatic and schizophrenic, he is haunted by his guilt. Max is introduced by having hallucinations of his daughter, her re-occurring visions appearing at critical moments in the films. Being a previous law man, he is shown with the want to help others but battles with the instinct to survive. Although not a "listed"  exploitation, the incorporation of a unstable mental state is one that has been increasing in non-linear films since the 1990's. The "Flashback" trope has been well devised in this film, helping newer viewers of the franchise to gain a small understanding of the protagonist and his history. Giving these glimpses, they are used to hook an audience, encouraging them to watch the previous films to gain a deeper understand of Max and his world. This itself is an exploitation.

  Working on the most obvious sub-culture, the "biker" or "racer boy" tropes are the main theme. A world disfigured into a baron wasteland, cars are built up to be mechanical monsters and worshiped like gods, incorporating Ideologies and the exploitation of faith around  Norse mythology. Although twisted to fit this spectre, the constant noting of "riding into Valhalla" gives the cancer ravened "war boys" something to die for. This incorporation of a fake "faith" helps audience to feel for the "brainwashed" Nux as he grows as an individual. This can be seen as a dual exploitation of religion and mental health. 

  Sexplotion is present thought tyrannical "Immortal Joe" wives. They are young, pretty women, who are scan-tally clad in white cloth. They are the embodiment of ethereal beauty, but are portrayed to be nothing more then child-birthing slaves. Looking back at "pulp" novels, women was represented more towards male "desires", often hosting questionable story lines and topics. Fury Road uses this trope in its story telling. However, the change is that the "wives" choose to fight back against their capture rather then just bend to his whim. 

  As an individual, I enjoy the Mad Max franchise. Although, I am now aware more of their exploitation's, I feel they are used to deepen the story rather then use them as "shock factor".