- spectator as a film character -
“The real struggle is not between East and West, or capitalism and communism, but between education and propaganda.” (Martin Buber)By participating in cinematic spectacle spectator is manipulated either through process of imposition of spectacular images (propaganda), or through didactic attitude of author (education). In both cases, spectator is positioned below author in hierarchical structure of the film spectacle.Examples of early films with spectators as film characters show us these two potentials of cinema.
1. propaganda:
In Robert Paul’s 1901 film The Countryman and the Cinematograph a countryman stands and stares at a moving train on a cinema screen, reeling in amazement until the moment at which he believes the train is almost upon him. Running from the screen, the countryman acts out the popular myth of the time, in which audiences supposedly ran hysterically from early cinema projections of oncoming trains. Amazement has long functioned within spectacular attractions as a promotional vehicle, both for specific movies and the cinematic apparatus in general.
2. education:
In D.W. Griffith's 1909 film Those Awful Hats, narrative is produced between film spectators, rather than between spectators and screen. This example demonstrate the authors intention to educate spectators how to act in a movie theater.
The assumption that the viewer needs to be educated or inspired by the artist can also imply an unequal relationship. This seems aligned with outmoded Modern and pre-Modern notions of the artist as genius – where an artist’s talent qualifies him to grant a gift of beauty or rare vision to the viewer. But instead of bestowing something upon recipients, artist should produce a gift: symbol that forms a social bond. For Rancière, artist and spectator should become equal participants in the verification of images and concepts.