Professional Documents
Culture Documents
F/X Porn - David Foster Wallace
F/X Porn - David Foster Wallace
W inte r/Spring 19 9 8
1(Actual
ly de fine d in th e film as "m im e tic polyalloy," w h ate ve r th at's
s uppos e d to m e an.)
U.S. action m ovie s of th e e ntire 19 80s 2, w as a dark , bre ath les s ly k ine tic, ne ar-brilliant pie ce of m e taph ys icalLudditis m .
R e callth at it's A.D . 2027 and th at th e re 's be e n a nuclear h olocaus t in 19 9 7 and th at ch ip-drive n m ach ine s now rule, and
"Sk yne t," th e arch onic diabolus e x m ach ina, de ve lops a lim ite d k ind of tim e -trave lte ch nology and dis patch e s th e now
clas s ically cyborgian A. Sch w arze ne gge r back to 19 84's Los
Ange les to find and te rm inate one Sarah Connor, th e m oth e rto-be of th e future leade r of th e h um an "R e s is tance ," one
Joh n Connor3;and th at appare ntly th e R e s is tance its e lf s om e h ow ge ts one -tim e -only acce s s to Sk yne t's tim e -trave lte ch nology and s e nds back to th e s am e s pace -tim e coordinate s a
R e s is tance office r, th e e ve r-s w e aty but e xtre m e ly tough and
re s ource ful K yle R e e s e , to try de s pe rate ly to prote ct M s .
Sarah Connor from th e Te rm inator's proph ylactic advance s 4,
and s o on. It is , ye s , true th at Cam e ron's Sk yne t is bas ically
K ubrick 's H AL, and th at m os t of "T1"'s tim e -trave lparadoxe s are re w ork ings of s om e fairly s tandard Bradbury-e ra
s cie nce fiction th e m e s , but "Th e Te rm inator" s till h as a
w h ole lot to re com m e nd it. Th e re 's th e ins pire d cas ting of th e
m alevolently cyborgian Sch w arze ne gge r as th e m alevolently
cyborgian Te rm inator, th e role th at m ade Ah node a s upe rs tar
and for w h ich h e w as utte rly and totally pe rfe ct (e .g. e ve n h is
goofy 16-r.p.m . Aus trian acce nt adde d a pe rfe ct little robofas cis t tinge to th e Te rm inator's dialogue 5). Th e re 's th e firs t of
"Alie ns ," also m ode s tly budge te d, also both h air-rais ing and de e ply
inte llige nt.
3(W h os e initial
s , for a proph e s ie d s aviour of h um anity, are notparticularly
s ubtle.)
4Th e fact th at w h at Sk yne t is atte m pting is in e ffe ct a re troactive abortion,
toge th e r w ith th e factth at"te rm inate a pre gnancy" is a pre tty w e ll-k now n
e uph e m is m , led th e fe m ale I firs ts aw th e m ovie w ith in 19 84 to claim ,
ove r coffe e and pie afte rw ards , th at"Th e Te rm inator" w as actually one
long pro-ch oice allegory, w h ich I s aid I th ough tw as notw /o m e ritbut
m aybe a bittoo s im plis tic to do th e m ovie re aljus tice , w h ich led to k ind of
an unpleas antrow .
5Cons ide r, for e xam pl
e , th e now fam ous "I'llbe back " line took on a leve l
of om inous h is toricalre s onance w h e n utte re d by an uns toppable k illing
m ach ine w ith a _ Ge rm an_ acce nt. Th is w as ch illing and brilliant
com m e rcialpos tm ode rnis m atits be s t;butitis also w h atm ade
"Te rm inator 2"'s in-jok e of h aving Ah node re pe atth e line in a good-guy
conte xtis s o dis appointing.
6It is a com pl
e te m ys te ry w h y fe m inis tfilm s ch olars h ave n'tpaid m ore
atte ntion to Cam e ron and h is e arly collaborator Gale Ann H urd. "Th e
Te rm inator" and "Alie ns " w e re both violentaction film s w ith tough ,
com pe te ntfe m ale protagonis ts (incre dibly rare ) w h os e tough ne s s and
com pe te nce in no w ay dim inis h th e ir "fe m ininity" (e ve n m ore rare ,
unh e ard of), a fe m ininity th atis roote d (along w ith both film s ' th e m atics )
in notions of m ate rnity rath e r th an jus ts e xuality. For e xam ple, com pare
Cam e ron's Ellen R ipley w ith th e panty-and-tank -top R ipley of Scott's
"Alie n." In factitw as flat-outcrim inalth atSigourne y W e ave r didn'tw in
th e '86 O s car for h e r lead in Cam e ron's "Alie ns ." M arlee M atlin inde e d.
No m ale lead in th e h is tory of U.S. action film s e ve n approach e s W e ave r's
s e cond R ipley for e m otionalde pth and s h e e r balls -- s h e m ak e s Stallone ,
W illis , e t. al.look m uddled and ill.
7(Th e re is a ponde rous , m arve l
ous built-look ing q uality (com plete w ith
fe rrous clank s and/or pne um atic h is s e s ) th at-- oddly e nough -- atrough ly
th e s am e tim e also dis tinguis h e s th e s pe ciale ffe cts of Gilliam 's "Brazil"
and PaulVe rh oe ve n's "R obocop." Th is w as notcoolonly be caus e th e
e ffe cts w e re th e m s e lve s cool,butalso be caus e h e re w e re th re e talente d
young te ch -m inde d dire ctors w h o re je cte d th e airy, h yge nic look of
Spie lbe rg's and Lucas 's F/X. Th e grim y de ns ity and pre ponde rance of
m e talin Cam e ron's e ffe cts s ugge s te d th ath e w as look ing allth e w ay back
to M lis and Lang for vis ualins piration.)
8(Cam e ron w oul
d rais e th e us e of ligh tand pace to ne ar-pe rfe ction in
"Alie ns ," w h e re jus ts ix alie n-s uite d s tuntm e n and inge nious q uick -cut
e diting re s ulte d in s om e of th e m os tte rrifying Te e m ing R apacious H orde
s ce ne s of alltim e . (By th e w ay, s orry to be going on and on about"Alie ns "
and "Th e Te rm inator." It's jus tth atth e y're gre at, gre at, com m e rcialcine m a,
and nobody talks aboutth e m e nough , and th e y're a big re as on w h y "T2"
w as s uch a tragic and ins idious de ve lopm e ntnotonly for 9 0s film s butfor
Jam e s Cam e ron, w h os e firs ttw o film s h ad ge nius in th e m .))
9 (So actual
ly I gue s s itw ould be m ore lik e "Luk e Sk yw alke r's
Appointm e ntin Sam arra" -- nobody s aid th is w as Art-Cine m a or anyth ing.)
10(Viz. a "ne utralne t proce s s or" bas e d on an "uncool
e d s upe rconductor,"
w h ich I grie ve to re portis a conce itrippe d off from D ouglas Trum bull's
19 83 "Brains torm .")
13It augurs il
lfor both Furlong and Cam e ron th atw ith in m inute s of Joh n
Connor's introduction in th e film w e 're rooting vigorous ly for h im to be
Te rm inate d.
14A com pl
e x and inte re s ting s ce ne w h e re Joh n and Sarah actually ope n up
th e Te rm inator's h e ad and re m ove Ah node 's CPU and do s om e furth e r
re program m ing -- a s ce ne w h e re w e learn a lotm ore aboutne uralne t
proce s s ors and Te rm inative anatom y, and w h e re Sarah is s trung outand
h as k ind of an unde rs tandable anti-Te rm inator pre judice and w ants to
s m as h th e CPU w h ile s h e can, and w h e re Joh n as s e rts h is nas ce nt
com m and pre s e nce and bas ically orde rs h e r notto -- w as cutfrom th e
m ovie 's finalve rs ion. Cam e ron's profe s s e d rationalfor cutting th e s ce ne
w as th atth e m iddle of th e m ovie "dragge d" and th atth e s ce ne w as too
com plex: "I could accountfor th e Te rm inator's be h avior ch ange s m uch
m ore s im ply." I s ubm itth atth e Cam e ron of "T1" and "Alie ns " w ouldn't
h ave talke d th is w ay. Butanoth e r big-budge tform ula for e ns uring R O I is
th atth ings m us tbe m ade as s im ple for th e audie nce s as pos s ible;plotand
ch aracte r im plaus ibilitie s are to be h andled th rough dis traction rath e r th an
re s olve d th rough e xplanation.
15(Around w h ich th e s e curity m us t be s h ock ingl
y lax.)
16Th at's th e m ovie 's m ain pl
ot, butlet's obs e rve h e re th atone of "T2'''s
s ubplots actually e ch oe s Cam e ron's Sch w arze ne gge r dilem m a and cre ate s
a k ind of w e ird m e ta-cine m atic irony. W h e re as "T1" h ad argue d for a
ce rtain k ind of m e taph ys icalpas s ivity (i.e ., fate is unavoidable, and
Sk yne t's atte m pts to alte r h is tory s e rve only bring itabout.) "Te rm inator
2"'s m e taph ys ics are m ore active . In "T2," th e Connors tak e a page from
Sk yne t's book and try to h e ad off th e fore ordaine d nuclear h olocaus t, firs t
by trying to k illSk yne t's inve ntor and th e n by de s troying Cybe rdyne 's labs
and th e 1s tTe rm inator's CPU (th ough w h y Joh n Connor s pe nds h alf th e
m ovie carrying th e de adly CPU ch ip around in h is pock e tins te ad of jus t
th row ing itunde r th e firs tavailable s te am roller re m ains unclear and
irk s om e ). Th e pointh e re is th atth e protagonis ts ' atte m pts to re vis e th e
"s cript" of h is tory in "T2" parallelth e dire ctor's h aving to m uck around
w ith "T2"'s ow n s criptin orde r for Sch w arze ne gge r to be in th e m ovie .
M ultivalentironie s lik e th is -- w h ich re q uire th atfilm audie nce s k now all
k inds of be h ind-th e -s ce ne s s tuff from w atch ing Ente rtainm e ntTonigh tand
re ading Pre m ie re m agazine -- are notcom m e rcialpos tm ode rnis m atit's
fine s t.
m atic of th e ins idious th re e -part loop th at ch aracte rize s Spe cialEffe cts Porn -O NE: As tounding digitaldinos aur / tornado / volcano / Te rm inator e ffe cts th at cons um e alm os t allth e dire ctor's cre ative
atte ntion and re q uire m as s ive financialcom m itm e nt on th e
partof th e s tudio;
TW O : A cons e q ue nt ne e d for guarante e d m e gabuck R O I,
w h ich e ntails th e form ulaic e lem e nts and e as y s e ntim e nt th at
w illas s ure m as s appe al(plus w illtrans late e as ily into oth e r
language s and culture s , for th os e im portantfore ign s ales ...);
TH R EE: A dire ctor -- ofte n one w h o's s h ow n gre at talent in
e arlie r, les s e xpe ns ive film s -- w h o is now s o cons um e d w ith
re alizing h is s pe ctacular digitalvis ion, and s o de pe nde nt on
th e s tudio's m one y to bring th e F/X off, th at h e h as ne ith e r
th e leve rage nor th e e ne rgy to figh t for m ore inte re s ting or
originalplots /th e m e s /ch aracte rs .
-- and th us yie lds th e tw o m os t im portant corollary form ulations of th e Inve rs e Cos tand Quality Law :
(ICQL(a)) Th e m ore lavis h and s pe ctacular a m ovie 's s pe cial
e ffe cts , th e s h ittie r th at m ovie is going to be in allnon-F/X
re s pe cts . For obvious s upporting e xam ples of ICQL (a), s e e
line s 1-2 of th is article and/or also "Juras s ic Park ," "Inde pe nde ntD ay," "Forre s tGum p," e tc.
(ICQL(b)) Th e re is no q uick e r or m ore e fficie nt w ay to k ill
w h at is inte re s ting and originalabout an inte re s ting, original
young dire ctor th an to give th at dire ctor a h uge budge t and
lavis h F/X re s ource s . Th e num be r of s upporting e xam ples of
ICQL (b) is s obe ring. H ave a look , e .g., at th e diffe re nce
be tw e e n R odrigue z's "ElM ariach i" and h is "From D us k to
D aw n," be tw e e n D e Bont's "Spe e d" and "Tw is te r," be tw e e n
Gilliam 's "Brazil" and "Tw e lve M onk e ys ," be tw e e n Bige low 's "Ne ar D ark " and "Strange D ays ." O r ch art Cam e ron's indus try ris e and artis tic de cline from "T1" and "Alie ns "
th rough "T2" and "Th e Abys s " to -- de ar Lord -- "True Lie s ."
U.S. e nte rtainm e nt m e dia re port th at Cam e ron's ne w "Titanic," curre ntly in Am e rican re leas e , is (once again) th e m os t
e xpe ns ive and te ch nically am bitious film of alltim e . D oubtles s , Britons h ave be e n pricing tre nch coats and lubricants in
anticipation of its arrivalin th e UK .