This study attempts to consider the significance of the Singaporean heartland film by examining h... more This study attempts to consider the significance of the Singaporean heartland film by examining how issues of social conformity, hierarchy, and ordering are configured into a dystopian imagination of the heartlands. The researcher argues that the significance of the genre lies in its attempt to destabilize official narratives regarding society, culture, and community by depicting stories of deviance and dysfunction in the heartlands. The methods used in this article involves discourse and textual analysis to identify the recurring patterns, themes, and motifs of the genre. Three major themes emerge from the analysis; (1) the visualization of the dystopian city, (2) the breakdown of the family unit, (3) and general pessimism towards contemporary life in Singapore. However, the analysis also reveals gaps that currently exist in its current configuration. These include tendencies to romanticize a nostalgic past, to eschew social and cultural diversity, and to reinforce narratives of repression and angst in the nation.
The superhero is a much-maligned figure in contemporary culture. In what follows, I draw upon Pla... more The superhero is a much-maligned figure in contemporary culture. In what follows, I draw upon Plato’s idea of the auxiliary class and Joseph Campbell’s monomyth to read the superhero as a modern version of the auxiliary class. Focusing on the superhero archetype that is found in the MCU or Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, I argue that the superhero-auxiliary is underpinned by an ethos that privileges values like public service, teamwork, social cohesion, and self-sacrifice. The significance of this reading lies in showing how the MCU re-mythologizes Plato’s auxiliary class for contemporary culture. As a corollary to that, I hope that the reading will ameliorate some of the negative reception that has plagued the superhero archetype in literary and media discourses.
The aging action hero has become an important figure in post-millennial action cinema. Its signif... more The aging action hero has become an important figure in post-millennial action cinema. Its significance can be seen in how aging heroes can be seen in such franchises like The Expendables (2009 – 2013), Taken (2008 – 2014), The Fast and the Furious (2001 – 2017), Mission Impossible (1995 – 2018), and James Bond (2006 – 2015). In the following chapter, it is argued that the aging action hero and the aging male body is significant because they provide an opportunity to rehabilitate the tropes of hegemonic masculinity and the indestructible male body by emphasizing the benefits of the aging male body and where male toxicity is replaced by wisdom and maturity; egocentricity is replaced by allocentrism. As a result, the presence of the aging hero shows the dynamism of action cinema in offering different and alternative visions of heroism and heroes.
This study attempts to consider the significance of the Singaporean heartland film by examining h... more This study attempts to consider the significance of the Singaporean heartland film by examining how issues of social conformity, hierarchy, and ordering are configured into a dystopian imagination of the heartlands. The researcher argues that the significance of the genre lies in its attempt to destabilize official narratives regarding society, culture, and community by depicting stories of deviance and dysfunction in the heartlands. The methods used in this article involves discourse and textual analysis to identify the recurring patterns, themes, and motifs of the genre. Three major themes emerge from the analysis; (1) the visualization of the dystopian city, (2) the breakdown of the family unit, (3) and general pessimism towards contemporary life in Singapore. However, the analysis also reveals gaps that currently exist in its current configuration. These include tendencies to romanticize a nostalgic past, to eschew social and cultural diversity, and to reinforce narratives of repression and angst in the nation.
This study attempts to consider the significance of the Singaporean heartland film by examining h... more This study attempts to consider the significance of the Singaporean heartland film by examining how issues of social conformity, hierarchy, and ordering are configured into a dystopian imagination of the heartlands. The researcher argues that the significance of the genre lies in its attempt to destabilize official narratives regarding society, culture, and community by depicting stories of deviance and dysfunction in the heartlands. The methods used in this article involves discourse and textual analysis to identify the recurring patterns, themes, and motifs of the genre. Three major themes emerge from the analysis; (1) the visualization of the dystopian city, (2) the breakdown of the family unit, (3) and general pessimism towards contemporary life in Singapore. However, the analysis also reveals gaps that currently exist in its current configuration. These include tendencies to romanticize a nostalgic past, to eschew social and cultural diversity, and to reinforce narratives of repression and angst in the nation.
The superhero is a much-maligned figure in contemporary culture. In what follows, I draw upon Pla... more The superhero is a much-maligned figure in contemporary culture. In what follows, I draw upon Plato’s idea of the auxiliary class and Joseph Campbell’s monomyth to read the superhero as a modern version of the auxiliary class. Focusing on the superhero archetype that is found in the MCU or Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, I argue that the superhero-auxiliary is underpinned by an ethos that privileges values like public service, teamwork, social cohesion, and self-sacrifice. The significance of this reading lies in showing how the MCU re-mythologizes Plato’s auxiliary class for contemporary culture. As a corollary to that, I hope that the reading will ameliorate some of the negative reception that has plagued the superhero archetype in literary and media discourses.
The aging action hero has become an important figure in post-millennial action cinema. Its signif... more The aging action hero has become an important figure in post-millennial action cinema. Its significance can be seen in how aging heroes can be seen in such franchises like The Expendables (2009 – 2013), Taken (2008 – 2014), The Fast and the Furious (2001 – 2017), Mission Impossible (1995 – 2018), and James Bond (2006 – 2015). In the following chapter, it is argued that the aging action hero and the aging male body is significant because they provide an opportunity to rehabilitate the tropes of hegemonic masculinity and the indestructible male body by emphasizing the benefits of the aging male body and where male toxicity is replaced by wisdom and maturity; egocentricity is replaced by allocentrism. As a result, the presence of the aging hero shows the dynamism of action cinema in offering different and alternative visions of heroism and heroes.
This study attempts to consider the significance of the Singaporean heartland film by examining h... more This study attempts to consider the significance of the Singaporean heartland film by examining how issues of social conformity, hierarchy, and ordering are configured into a dystopian imagination of the heartlands. The researcher argues that the significance of the genre lies in its attempt to destabilize official narratives regarding society, culture, and community by depicting stories of deviance and dysfunction in the heartlands. The methods used in this article involves discourse and textual analysis to identify the recurring patterns, themes, and motifs of the genre. Three major themes emerge from the analysis; (1) the visualization of the dystopian city, (2) the breakdown of the family unit, (3) and general pessimism towards contemporary life in Singapore. However, the analysis also reveals gaps that currently exist in its current configuration. These include tendencies to romanticize a nostalgic past, to eschew social and cultural diversity, and to reinforce narratives of repression and angst in the nation.
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Papers by Kelvin Ke Jinde