Wake Forest University Students - Student Essays on Lars von Trier (Critical Media Studies Book 6)

Student Essays on Lars von Trier

STUDENT ESSAYS ON

LARS VON TRIER

Critical Media Studies

Volume 6

By

Wake Forest University Students

Edited By

Mary M. Dalton and Shelby V. Halliman

ISBN 978-1-61846-083-7 (paperback)

Copyright 2019 by the Authors

This work was compiled and edited by Dr. Mary M. Dalton, Professor of Communication at Wake Forest University.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial International 4.0 License (CC BY-NC). To view a copy of this license, visit creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

This work incorporates certain materials previously published, and copyright to those materials is owned by their respective creators or publishers. Excluding third party materials, and other than provided by the CC BY-NC license, no part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or displayed by any electronic or mechanical means without permission from the editor or authors, or as permitted by law.

Cover design by Lucy Porter

TEXT Georgia 12

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction,

in whole or in part, in any form.

Produced and Distributed By:

Library Partners Press

ZSR Library

Wake Forest University

1834 Wake Forest Road

Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27106

www.librarypartnerspress.org

Winston-Salem | North Carolina | Beaufort

Manufactured in the United States of America

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We want to acknowledge those who have helped us produce this volume. First and foremost, we are grateful to Bill Kane and Library Partners Press for guidance on all matters related to the publication of the book. Without Bill, this project would not have happened.

The faculty and staff at Z. Smith Reynolds Library are beyond compare. Molly Keener advised us ably on copyright and fair use. Our technical and research consultant Hu Womack led the effort to help us bring images to the book, introduced us to the joys of Zotero, and provided superb and personalized support for student research. We also appreciate the collegiality of everyone in the Wake Forest University Department of Communication and in the Film and Media Studies Program.

The students contributing to this volume are Wake Forest University students, some of whom were able to take a short study tour to Denmark over the course of the semester to inform their work on this book. That portion of the course would not have been possible without our partners at the Center for Global Studies and Programs, especially Kline Harrison, David Taylor, Jessica Francis, Mike Tyson, Sean McGlynn, and Janice Claybrook.

For this, the sixth volume in the series, we wish to acknowledge the partnership of our friends and colleagues at DIS in Copenhagen, Denmark: for program support, Malene Torp, Ian Samuel Terkildsen, and Zo Kilbourne. We are grateful for the leadership, mentoring, and friendship provided by Suzanne da Cunha Bang, Steffen Lvkjr, and Catharina Sofie Rosendal.

CONTENTS

CONTRIBUTOR BIOS,

PART 1: VIOLENCE AND RELIGION CONTEXTUALIZED

Chapter 1: Ridiculing Violence: The Satirical Approach to Atrocities in The House that Jack Built,

By Qifan Yu

Chapter 2: More than Meets the Screen: An Examination of Lars von Triers The House that Jack Built,

By Cade Luedde

Chapter 3: Bess McNeill as a Christ-like Figure in Breaking the Waves,

By Rob Heppenstall

PART 2: HUMANITY QUESTIONED

Chapter 4: Humanity and Patriarchy: A Study of Grace,

By Lucy Porter

Chapter 5: Humanity in the Eyes of Lars von Trier,

By Cierra Bodrick,

Chapter 6: The Emergence of Pluralism in Dogville,

By Liyan Zhu

Chapter 7: Melancholia : The Expression of Evil,

By DeAndre Delaney

PART 3: MENTAL HEALTH

Chapter 8: Melancholia : A Beautiful Example of Filmic Excess -- Contradiction of Dogme 95 Manifesto ?,

By Roxanna Demrs

Chapter 9: Apocalyptic Scenarios in in Melancholia and Other Films,

By Robert Thigpen

Chapter 10: Melancholy in Melancholia,

By Danielle Key

Chapter 11: Codependency in Breaking the Waves,

By Suzanna Schultz

Chapter 12: Inside the Mind of Bess McNeil in Breaking the Waves,

By Emilia Migliacco

PART 4: PRODUCTION PRACTICES

Chapter 13: Lars von Trier and His Melodies in The House That Jack Built,

By Jaclyn Childress

Chapter 14: Daydreaming: The Sounds and Music in Dancer in the Dark,

By Trey Sutton

Chapter 15: Lars von Triers Intentional Choice of Set Design in Dogville,

By Eric Wood

Chapter 16: Lars von Trier: Dogme 95 and Camera Aesthetics in Breaking the Waves,

By Jennifer Kupcho

PART 5: NATIONAL IDENTITY

Chapter 17: Dogville Americanized,

By Colman Feighan

Chapter 18: The Broken American Dream: Lars von Triers View on American Society in Dancer in the Dark,

By Yuchu Wu

Chapter 19: Lars von Triers American Critique Through Dogville,

By Chris Browning

Chapter 20: Taking Melancholia to the Next Level

By Keegan Good

WORKS CITED,

INDEX,

CONTRIBUTOR BIOS

EDITORS:

Mary M. Dalton is Professor of Communication at Wake Forest University where she teaches courses in critical media studies. Her scholarly works include The Hollywood Curriculum: Teachers in the Movies and the co-edited volume The Sitcom Reader, Second Edition: America Re-viewed, Still Skewed . She enjoys knitting, and her favorite color is chartreuse.

Shelby V. Halliman is a senior Communication major with a concentration in Media Studies as well as a double minor in Film and Media Studies Studies and Entrepreneurship. She is from Dallas, Texas, is a filmmaker, and will attend the UCLA School of Film, Theater, and Television to receive her MFA in directing after graduation.

CHAPTER AUTHORS:

Cierra Bodrick is a senior Elementary Education major and Psychology minor from Matthews, North Carolina. She will remain in NC as she begins her first year of teaching later this year.

Chris Browning is a freshman hoping to major in either Business or Communication at Wake Forest University and is from Raleigh, North Carolina.

Jaclyn Childress is a sophomore student-athlete on the Wake Forest Volleyball. She is from Dallas, Texas, and is a Sociology and Communication double major with a minor in Journalism. After graduation, she plans on pursuing a career in Investigative Journalism, specializing in forensics.

DeAndre Delaney is a junior, Communication major and Entrepreneurship minor from Morristown, Tennessee. He is a student-athlete on the Wake Forest Football team. Dre enjoys photography and has plans of traveling to new places around the world after graduation.

Roxanna Demrs is a junior, double-majoring in Politics and International Affairs and in Communication with a concentration in Integrated Strategies. Originally from Raleigh, North Carolina, she enjoys international travel and singing the national anthem for Wake Forest sports and the minor league sporting events. After graduation, she plans to pursue a career in political campaign design.

Colman Feighan is majoring in Communication with a Media Studies Concentration and a Film and Media Studies minor. Originally from New York, Colman plans to move to LA after graduation and work in the Entertainment Industry as an actor and director. He loves telling stories through a digital medium and believes that everyone has a story to tell and everyone deserves to be heard.