Maryland’s Intercounty Connector

About Me

Hello, My name is Janessa Jackson and I’m currently a student at the University of Pittsburgh studying Communications and Film. These two subjects are my chosen areas of study because I need a field that allows me to be creative and interact with people. I have created this blog to explore the issue of Maryland’s Intercounty Connector, a proposed highway that will connect two major counties in the state. I have decided to focus on this issue because as a Maryland resident and licensed driver I will be directly affected by the construction of this project. I enjoy writing however writing on a blog for me is brand new. So stick with me as I address the problems of Maryland’s ICC and feel free to comment.

“Mr. Brown: Let me tell you what ‘Like a Virgin’ is about. It’s all about a girl who digs a guy with a big dick. The entire song. It’s a metaphor for big dicks.
Mr. Blonde: No, no. It’s about a girl who is very vulnerable. She’s been fucked over a few times. Then she meets some guy who’s really sensitive…”

            The fight to put a film into a genre can be just as back and forth as this conversation between Mr. Brown and Mr. Blonde in the film Reservoir Dogs. Genre is a way of categorizing films based on certain conventions such as setting, plot line, and character types (Corrigan). Genres evolved out of earlier films that fit into almost formulaic plot lines however, as technology and culture changed, genres became more complicated and not as linear. That is why it is important to look at the broad definitions of the six main genres of which help define what genre Quentin Tarantino film Reservoir Dogs fits into.

            Reservoir Dogs, one of Quentin Tarantino’s first directed films follows the story of 8 criminals after their jewelry heist ends in a bloody shootout, killing cops and civilians. The group realizes that they have a rat within the group and the rest of film becomes a bloody pursuit to expose him. The film’s violence, crime and urban setting correspond most closely with what would be defined as crime genre.

            The most important aspect to a crime movie is in fact, a crime. This film may be unique to genre because the main crime, the jewelry heist is simple and almost a second thought as the plot moves along in the film. Tarantino minimizes the main crime by not even depicting it. He shows all of the results of it and all the events leading up to it through various characters’  flashbacks. I have denoted the jewelry heist as the main crime because there are in fact even more criminal acts that take place throughout the film such as kidnapping, torture and the killings that happen after the heist. These although not the “main” crime are even more significant, these acts help define that characters who are only at first defined by generic names. The crime also helps the audience define themselves. The “Reservoir Dogs” acts are such are so deviant from social norms the audience can learn their views on how they think society should be.

Another convention central to crime films is the characters’ association to a mysterious or violent society (Corrigan). Mysterious and violent could not better fit that group of characters within Reservoir Dogs. In order to keep the robbers names from leaking to the cops, in the event that they are caught, the group leader Joe, assigns each man a color. From their color each man is referred the each other as Mr. Black and so forth. This shrouds the group in anonymity. The only person allowed to know who each man really is the audience. They are informed through flashbacks that retrace how the character got to where he was on the day of the heist. It is interesting that the anonymity of the group members causes more problems than the actual crime itself. For as mysterious this group is they are even more violent. Spilling blood becomes a norm by the end of this film, making the audience uncomfortable with it similarity to a slasher film. Just like the characters are defined by their crime they are even more defined as individuals with their different acts of violence and reactions to violence. For instance Mr. Blonde becomes known as the “psycho” because of his extreme acts of random violence toward the police officer.

The last convention of a crime movie is defined through is a setting that is typically urban, often dark and shadowy. Although it is not explicitly mention the film looks like it takes place in Los Angeles. Sunny Los Angeles seems like the polar opposite of a dark crime movie but Tarantino contrasts by filming most of the film in a shadowy dark warehouse. The warehouse becomes a metaphor for the mystery that surrounds the film. You never learn where exactly it is located, why they chose it and what it may have previously been used for.

DISCLAIMER: Defining genre can become difficult in today’s film industry because of innovations in technology and a move towards being alternative. Quentin Tarantino is also a director that make defining genre difficult because he is often ambiguous and unpredictable. With his film Reservoir Dogs he went in the direction of a crime film, as defined by its genre standards however there are twists such as the crime never being shown and the extreme violence.