In my opinion, the article “Leaving the Movie Theater” is trying to analyse the experience of going to the movie theater to see a movie. Since we have all experienced that feeling of coming back to reality when leaving the theater, the author believes that watching a movie is hypnotic, but he is aware the he is two persons in the cinema. The first one is absorbed to the movie experience like a person peering through a keyhole, and a second person who is trying to observe things around him in the theater. I think the author likes going to

Continue readingReading Response: Roland Barthes

Benjamin’s work expressed his critics and reflection on the production of artworks under the rapid development of technological reproduction, with an emphasis on the art of film. One argument in his work that has triggered my interest is his claim that film, as opposed to painting and some other forms of art, can manipulate individual thoughts by collective reactions. To me, Benjamin’s opinion is very visionary. In the 21st century, critics and comments about all sorts of arts, not just films, can be easily found on the internet due to the technology boom. Just by reading those words can people

Continue readingReading Response: Walter Benjamin

In this book, Walter Benjamin shows his concern about art in the period of technological revolution. The essence of artwork is a concept called aura, which Benjamin thinks suffers a loss during technological reproduction. On the one hand, authenticity is part of the aura, which is created by the specific historical background of a work of art. However, reproduction makes the product independent from historical content and destroys its uniqueness. On the other hand, Artwork loses its cult value when the reproduction happens. Cult value is created by distance, including both physical and aesthetic distance. Physical distance (time, space …)

Continue reading[READING RESPONSE] WALTER BENJAMIN

Barthes put forward the concept”cinema situation”, describing the film as a “lure”. Compared to watching TV at home and watching shows in a “legitimated theater”,  the uniqueness of watching a film in cinema lies in the immersive trap. That is, the environment of the cinema( including the light of the screen, the sound, even the audience sit beside you) and all the ideological discourse (especially image-repertoire) effect with each other, creating a hypnotic atmosphere. In my mind, Barthes’ attitude towards movies is critical but hopeful. In an era when the cinema first came into the public eye and the role

Continue readingReading Response: Roland Barthes

What is the charm of a movie theater? What leads people to enjoy movies in the cinemas? These are the questions that I’ve always wondered about but couldn’t find the answers. However, after reading “Leaving the Movie Theater” by Roland Barthes, I was able to find the answers.  The dictions “hypnosis” and “darkness” were constantly mentioned in the reading to show that theaters are the only places that could lead us to solely focus on the movie. I fully sympathize with this and was able to recall back the days before the epidemic; the time when I frequently visited the

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