An oft-used phrase in contemporary popular culture, \u201ciconic performance\u201d suggests a performance that transcends its particular time and place. And yet it can also imply a performance that registers \u2013 and even comes to represent \u2013 a particular cultural moment. But what exactly makes a performance \u201ciconic\u201d? The star? Acting style? Writing? Story? Some combination of these? With its etymological traces of idol worship, the word iconic tells us something about our veneration of stars and our desire to see them perform in extraordinary ways. Studying performance also reinforces the powerful function of fictional characters to illuminate truths that might otherwise remain obscure in the more mundane scenes of our everyday lives.<\/p>\n
Join us every other Tuesday evening this spring in FFB-11, where we\u2019ll watch six iconic performances and consider what makes them both inimitable and enduring.<\/p>\n
All screenings will begin at 17.45. Worth 20 GE points<\/p>\n
2 February: Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993)
\nIntroduction by Colleen Kennedy-Karpat, Department of Communication and Design<\/p>\n
16 February: The Man Who Fell to Earth (Nicholas Roeg, 1976)
\nIntroduction by Kitty Aal, Independent Scholar<\/p>\n
1 March: A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavettes, 1974)
\nIntroduction by Joanna Mansbridge, Department of American Culture and Literature<\/p>\n
15 March: Johnny Guitar (Nicholas Ray, 1954)
\nIntroduction by Daniel Leonard, Program in Cultures, Civilizations, and Ideas<\/p>\n
29 March: The Big Lebowski (Joel and Ethan Coen, 1998)
\nIntroduction by Hande Vural-Johnson, AMER\/COMD<\/p>\n
12 April: Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1974)
\nIntroduction by Spencer Hawkins, Program in Cultures, Civilizations, and Ideas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An oft-used phrase in contemporary popular culture, \u201ciconic performance\u201d suggests a performance that transcends its particular time and place. And yet it can also imply a performance that registers \u2013 and even comes to represent \u2013 a particular cultural moment. But what exactly makes a performance \u201ciconic\u201d? The star? Acting [\u2026] <\/p>\n