Question: Explain how dialogue/voiceover constructs a character and reveals key themes of the episode.
Try and use at least two quotations and link to other filmic techniques where possible. Endeavour to incorporate your quotation into your discussion. Paste your comment after this post. I have put a sample paragraph here and if you want to look further at the structure I have followed, visit our page at the PC Portal.
Bree bristles with perfectionism in the first episode of Desperate Housewives; she is constructed as a woman devoted to projecting an image of success. Through the dialogue between Bree and her husband, we learn of the unhappiness beneath the surface, illuminating the theme of the differences between appearances and reality. When Bree's husband abruptly announces "I want a divorce" the viewer is shocked by the abrupt shattering of the domestic ideal. More telling though is Bree's reaction - she ignores him - suggesting her power and determination to cling to the role of the domestic paragon. Her husband announces, “I just can’t live in this detergent commercial anymore” highlighting the superficial strain of their relationship. Indeed, the idea of a "detergent commercial" suggests that Bree has constructed a polished world, with a veneer of success and domestic virtue. As the viewer has seen earlier from her rehearsed speech and uptight deportment at the wake, Bree's role is entirely performative. Overly attentive but often neglectful of others' emotional needs, she appears to control and manipulate her family's behaviour. Classical music from the kitchen of the Van de Kamps echoes the dining scenes from American Beauty where the highly composed pieces reflect the uptight desire of Carolyn to control the domestic setting. The scene from Desperate Housewives closes on a private moment of Bree sobbing, alone, actions which don’t necessarily arouse sympathy but instead reinforce the quiet desperation of the life of yet another housewife. Surfaces shimmer brightly on Wisteria Lane, masking family dysfunction and pain as illustrated in the tense discussions of the Van De Kamps.
Try and use at least two quotations and link to other filmic techniques where possible. Endeavour to incorporate your quotation into your discussion. Paste your comment after this post. I have put a sample paragraph here and if you want to look further at the structure I have followed, visit our page at the PC Portal.
Bree bristles with perfectionism in the first episode of Desperate Housewives; she is constructed as a woman devoted to projecting an image of success. Through the dialogue between Bree and her husband, we learn of the unhappiness beneath the surface, illuminating the theme of the differences between appearances and reality. When Bree's husband abruptly announces "I want a divorce" the viewer is shocked by the abrupt shattering of the domestic ideal. More telling though is Bree's reaction - she ignores him - suggesting her power and determination to cling to the role of the domestic paragon. Her husband announces, “I just can’t live in this detergent commercial anymore” highlighting the superficial strain of their relationship. Indeed, the idea of a "detergent commercial" suggests that Bree has constructed a polished world, with a veneer of success and domestic virtue. As the viewer has seen earlier from her rehearsed speech and uptight deportment at the wake, Bree's role is entirely performative. Overly attentive but often neglectful of others' emotional needs, she appears to control and manipulate her family's behaviour. Classical music from the kitchen of the Van de Kamps echoes the dining scenes from American Beauty where the highly composed pieces reflect the uptight desire of Carolyn to control the domestic setting. The scene from Desperate Housewives closes on a private moment of Bree sobbing, alone, actions which don’t necessarily arouse sympathy but instead reinforce the quiet desperation of the life of yet another housewife. Surfaces shimmer brightly on Wisteria Lane, masking family dysfunction and pain as illustrated in the tense discussions of the Van De Kamps.
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ReplyDeleteEntrapped, frazzled and overloaded, Lynette Scavo is a struggling stay at home mum many can relate to. We are first introduced to Lynette in “Pilot” the premier episode of the first season of Desperate Housewives (Created by Marc Cherry), where we learn from the voiceover that Lynette is a woman who, “Simply doesn’t have the time.” (Mary Alice Young- Voiceover) The voice over then goes on to reveal how Lynette was once a successful career women who fell pregnant and by her husband’s prompting quit her job, “Why don’t you quit your job? Kids do better with stay at home mums.” Tom Scavo’s view echoes the American social expectation of middle class married women who find themselves pregnant- that they should quit their jobs and return to their households to raise their children. In turn, this expectation reveals the key theme of entrapment- particularly entrapment in ones role and gender expectation. Lynette is forced to quit her job as she is a female, and females should stay at home once having children according to the American values and expectations of family life, those being that the mother raises the children, cooks the dinner and so on. As seen through Lynette and the theme of entrapment, voice over’s can be crucial in constructing and revealing a theme as voiceovers provide information that wouldn’t otherwise be accessible to the character. Without out the voiceover in this episode and the subsequent flash back we wouldn’t have discovered Lynette’s past and how she became trapped within the role of being a full time mum and housewife, a role that so many women seem to embody in today’s society. Entrapped, frazzled and overloaded- Lynette Scavo is someone who simply doesn’t have the time.
ReplyDeleteStriking, feisty and stylish, Gabrielle Solis is constructed as a privileged yet seemingly unhappy housewife in the hit TV show 'desperate housewives'. Gabrielle is introduced as a social climber who met her rich husband Carlo's while she was modelling in New York; on the exterior they seem to have a happy marriage however through the dialogue and body movements the viewer can see that that is not the case. Carlo’s showers her with gifts however she is still miserable, Gabrielle reveals to John after an afternoon together the reason she married Carlos was because "he promised to give me everything I wanted" and when John asks why she still inst happy she replies "it turns out I wanted all the wrong things." This reveals Gabrielle's materialistic views and how she has matured and wants to settle down. However this doesn’t stop her from staying with her husband because she would rather be miserable than live without her countless status symbols. Gabrielle’s and Carlos’s superficial relationship really comes to light when they are walking to the funeral and Carlos asks Gabrielle to “casually mention how much I spent on your necklace,” and when Gabrielle shows her annoyance he says “keep it down people are watching,” this outlines how their marriage is all a show and how Gabrielle as simply a accessory of Carlo’s in order to compete with the other males. As soon as Carlo’s has left for work Gabrielle quickly pursues their youthful gardener John, Gabrielle has no feelings for John and sleeps with him to as she explains “stop me from blowing my brains out,” this shows her blatant disregard for other people’s feelings and how she is ready to manipulate anyone to get what she wants.
ReplyDeleteRachael
Conformity to social expectations entraps Lynette Scavo in a life that she does not enjoy: a power struggle between herself and her family. The dialogue by Mary Alice gives us insight into her past and present life, allowing the viewer to see the American values of conformity and false appearances. In the past, we see (through the voice over) that Lynette was a successful entrepreneur and that falling pregnant was the turning point where her life turned from purposeful to dysfunctional. Her husband, suggesting “Kids do better with stay at home mums” ensnares Lynette into the future, and shows the American ideology of conformity. Women are the ones who raise the children, care for the household and cook the dinner, while the husband works hard at the office and brings home the bread. As seen at the point in the episode where Lynette is at the supermarket and runs into an old colleague, where she lies “it’s the best job in the world” when asked how she enjoys her way of life with children, the idea of false appearances masks her true overwhelming life. The use of a voice over allows the viewers to see ‘below the surface’ and understand what the housewives are going through, attempting to conform to the social expectations of the perfect, understanding wife with no needs of her own but to serve and look after her family. Instead, the viewer sees the secrets, deception and particularly with Lynette, the outward appearance of normality where the core is disconcerting. Lynette Scavo is a stressed, busy and unbalanced woman with the voiceover allowing us to see her true nature.
ReplyDelete:)
Bree's character conveys the stereotypical, superficial American housewife, polishing her life in an attempt to make it so perfect, it literally crumbles. Bree's immaculate exterior is a complete portrayal of perfection, but through the dialogue and voiceover, we discover that her life isn't as perfect as she tries to make it. In the first episode of Desperate Housewives, we are introduced to Bree to think everything about her is perfect, until the voiceover states "everyone thought she was the perfect mother and wife, everyone except her family." From this quote, the audience considerably alters their previous thoughts on Bree, and starts to think that maybe she is a little superficial. These ideas are then recognised when Bree speaks for the first time. When she speaks, her body language is standing tall with her head raised, almost robotic. She has no expression on her face except for what seems to be a fake smile, as she talks about the baked goods in separate baskets she so kindly made. In the hospital scene, that is shortly after Bree's husband has told her that he wants a divorce, Mr Van De Kamp expresses his detest for Bree's need for perfection. "I'm sick of you being so damn perfect all the time. You're just this plastic suburban housewife." As Mr Van de Kamp refers to Bree as a 'plastic suburban housewife', the audience recognises that Bree means nothing to him, as she is plastic with no feeling or emotion. The dialogue between Bree and her husband not only outlines the desire for perfection on Wisteria lane, but also that only focussing on perfection will not make you happy or lead a fulfilling life.
ReplyDeleteSuperficial, pristine and polished, Bree is focused on maintaining her, and her family's flawless appearance. Episode one of Desperate Housewives, produced by Mark Cherry shows the audience that Bree's life isn't as perfect as it appears. Through dialogue and voice over, we are exposed to the contrast of the superlative exterior appearance, and the private battle with her dysfunctional family, as well as her own struggle to uphold her perfect housewife appearance. Bree and her husband Rex are out eating dinner when he says, "I want a divorce. I just can't live... in this detergent commercial anymore." From this quote, it becomes apparent to the audience that Bree's coldness and obsession with appearance causes the rest of her family to resent her. After Rex's statement, Bree completely ignores that he said anything, which displays her determination to uphold the family's appearance, and stubbornness to admit that her family may not be as flawless as she thinks. This dialogue highlights that Bree, as well as the whole of wisteria lane would rather have people think that they are a perfect family than actually having a good relationship. These values accentuate the materialistic and superficial themes of Desperate Housewives. Later that day after Rex has told her about his desire for a divorce, Bree finally talks to him about it. She unsuccessfully convinces him to rethink the divorce, smiles and goes into a bathroom. It is here when the audience sees Bree have a moment of vulnerability as they camera focuses on her teary face looking in the mirror. The voice over states, "Bree sobbed quietly in the restroom for 5 minutes, but her husband never knew." This voice over shows that Bree is so obsessed with her appearance that she can't even let her guard down, or show emotion in front of her husband. The voice over and dialogue in episode one displays that Bree values her false appearance more than having a functional family life.
ReplyDeleteFor Jordee
ReplyDeleteDialogue and tone of voiceover is used to create audience response to Lynette's struggling, stressed and unhappy character in Marc Cherry's TV Drama 'Desperate Housewives'. The narrator's tone of voice is quite sympathetic towards Lynette, when describing her life and what she is having to put up with in her stressful, unhappy, day-to-day life. This tone of voice, influences the audience's attitude towards Lynette's character, as someone to feel sorry for. Lynette is a single-mother of three troublemaking twin-boys, and a small baby, and she struggles to find her power in her own household and family. Her character reveals the key themes of unhappiness, dysfunction, families with problems and identity loss, as well as the issue of living up to be the perfect doting wife, and mother, a role that everyone on Wysteria Lane feels pressures to fulfil.
For Georgia
ReplyDeleteMaterialistic, emotionless and immaculate Bree Van De Kamp in TV show, Desperate Housewives, lives her superficial life monotonic. The viewer see’s this depiction of Bree through Mary-Alice Young’s voice-over which uses the tone of Young’s voice as a technique to construct and convey Bree as an entrapped, self-centred desperate housewife. The awkward tension between Bree and her husband, Rex, in the ironic ‘middle-class’ restaurant as Rex tells her, “I want a divorce”, “ I can’t live in this…this detergent commercial anymore.” Bree's emasculated, sexually dissatisfied husband tells her this earth-shattering news and all Bree can do is shake it off and continue to play perfect housewife. This confronts the audience with just how determined Bree is to holding up her family’s status and appearances. Young’s voice over explains this trait in Bree by saying, “as much as Bree wanted to share this heart-breaking news, she wanted to seem together from the outside.” As the first episode of desperate Housewives continues we discover through the voice-over that Bree’s life isn’t as perfect as the façade that she makes it out to be, which displays extreme similarity to Caroline in American Beauty who also presents severe status anxiety and competiveness between the people within her suburban ‘fairytale’. Bree is the perfect representation of the theme of reality versus appearances.
For Rhiahna
ReplyDeleteSuperficial, materialistic and entrapped, Bree Vandercamp is the stereotypical idea of a perfect house wife. No matter how perfect Bree tries to make the exterior of her life look through to fine quinines to a dustless bench, she fails to obtain a perfect relationship with her family. As she puts on a fake smile she pretends her life is perfect and happy, however she is the complete opposite on the inside. You see her breaking down in the toilets after her husband tells her he wants a divorce, the shot of her in looking in the mirror crying symbolizes that she is entrapped in her own superficial life and she cannot escape because she is to wound up in the social expectations of being a perfect wife. “When she left the toilet she appeared perfect, as though nothing ever happened” the voice over shows that Bree cannot let others break through cold exterior and expose her real imperfection and what lays beneath the surface. The shot of Bree, Rex and the two children at the dinner table shows how they are so distant from each other. This scene is almost identical to the dinner table scene in American Beauty. These dysfunctional, suburban families show the husband suffering in silence while the wife gets sucked into status anxiety.
For Leah
ReplyDeleteStressed, frazzled and dysfunctional, Lynette comes across the most desperate out of all the housewives. In the first of 'desperate housewives' she seems to be constantly stressed and overloaded with work, looking after her four children while her greedy and also desperate husband works away from their hectic home. Although we see this as the audience she shows herself as a different character around her friends, showing herself as strong, powerful and easy going mother. We as the audience witness her breakdowns on the phone to her husband, Tom and also when she is yelling at her children, symbolizing the unbalanced, stressed busy women she is. The dialogue between Lynette and her husband, Tom, seem very distant, as she is talking about how stressed she is he changes the conversation to fulfill his desires, he comes across desperate as he rushes straight to the bedroom, this also show how Lynette is dependent on her husband showing her need of having a partner to complete that 'happy family' look.