Project #6 Film Review

The Role of the Reader
(Subjective Reader-Response Theory)

The theory of reader-response criticism is based on the understanding that a work of art's meaning to an individual has more to do with the individual than the work of art. The reader or audience member is actually a key player in the performance because of what they bring to the table. Everything in their background and make-up as a person shapes how they view and understand the art, and therefore what the meaning/value/interpretation of that art is. Where this critical lens gets really interesting is when a work of art is so ambiguous that different individuals come to startlingly different conclusions about the work in whole or in part, and what unconscious truths those conclusions reveal about ourselves and one another. The film version of 'No Country for Old Men' is one such work of art. Though the plot is that of a crime thriller, for me the interest lies more in the characters, their natures and the forces that drive them. But as I watch the film I am conscious that my own memories, feelings, and experiences, or symbolization, shape my interpretation. I desire to reconcile the film to my personal knowledge. The impression I am left with is composed greatly by my own life.

Unlike many conventional dialog centered movies and novels, where the characters tell you up front everything they are thinking and feeling, McCarthy's characters are dramatically more subtle and mysterious, qualities that the Coen brothers capture brilliantly with their style of filming. There is very little dialog in the film, the story is presented primarily throught both dramatic and subtle imagery, which leaves much room for interpretation, specifically about what each character is thinking. The most interesting character, Anton Chigurh, has relatively little dialog, but he makes quite an impression. His distinctive moptop haircut, his careful mannerisms, his methodology, and the calcuatled ideology expressed in his actions all speak louder than words. But people's reastions to Chigurh still vary widely. To me he embodies pure evil, but some people have gone so far as to see him as a kind of hero. Having discussed the film in academic settings, I know that some fans of the movie view Chigurh's commitment to his ideology, the ideology that "causes" him to commit murder, as a sort of morality, a nobleness that he is dedicated to. When Chigurh does speak he explains that the people he kills have died because it was their fate to die at that time, he is just a bringer of fate. He would have you believe that he has nothing to do with the decision and he's not responsible for it. In fact he even allows some victims a coin toss to see fi chance will save their lives, and whatever the outcome of the coin flip Chigurh will honor it because he lives by a code. This commitment to his "honor" code allows some people to idealize the murderer. And while I understand that, I will never feel that way, because of who I am and my aesthetic relationship with the film.

The major themes of the film are chance and free will. But how each viewer identifies with those themes affects how they feel about the movie at the end. My response is one of hope really, even though Moss and his wife died they did not give up in the face of unstoppable evil and incalculable injustice. They made their own choices to the end and never allowed Chigurh or fate to control the outcome. For me there is hope in that defiance. Other audience members felt a range of emotions from outrage, sadness, confusion, excitement (mostly boys who liked the actions scenes), indifference, acceptance, and much more. There were as many different reactions to the movie as there were audience members who viewed it, because each person's unique perspective affected them.
'No Country for Old Men' is a complicated movie that defies classification into a single genre. Because of that fact the people who saw it came from many varied backgrounds and classes, and their thoughts towards the film have made it what it is. Cormac McCarthy is never an author to come out and tell people what to think, he doesn't explain his novels, they are what they are. This made his novel an ideal candidate to be made into a movie by the Coen brothers, who use their considerable skill to create art that is thought provoking and relevant. But the final peice of the puzzle in this work of art has been the millions of viewers whose reactions to the film cannot be separated from our understanding of the film. Their individual understandings of the film make it what it is.

Project #5 Graduate School

The University of Alabama College of Arts and Sciences
The Master of Fine Arts program in Theatre Management

Students gain invaluable academic and objective experience from the two environments. The program allows for a very high degree of personal contact and involvement in the operation of the University Theatre. To maintain that environment, enrollment in the program is limited to a maximum of three students admitted each year.

The Degree Requirements
A total of 60 semester hours is required for the Master of Fine Arts Degree. Students will fill those hours with the following class requirements:

• Marketing the Arts (3 hours)
• Arts Advocacy and Public Policy (3 hours)
• Fundraising & Financial Management for the Arts (3 hours)
• Business & Legal Issues in the American Theatre (3 hours)
• Graduate Theatre Practicum (2 hours)
• Additional courses in Theatre Management/Arts Administration (40 hours)

Students will select 6 hours from the following:

• Organizational Theory and Behavior (3 hours)
• Human Resource Management (3 hours)
• Management Communications (3 hours)
• Small Business Consulting (3 hours)
• Industrial Relations (3 hours)

The Application Procedure
Candidates for admission to the Theatre Management program must meet the admission criteria established by the University of Alabama Graduate School. Candidates for the program must:

1.	Applicants must complete a baccalaureate degree in an arts or arts related field with a minimum 3.0 GPA (major/cumulative).
2.	Applicant must submit a COMPLETED APPLICATION (including ALL requested materials) by January 1st for fall admission. Late applications or applications with late material will not be considered.
3.	Applicant must submit a resume, to be mailed to the Program Director, detailing educational and any related professional experience.
4.	Applicant must submit three (3) letters of recommendation directly to the Program Director from three (3) seperate sources. At least one (1) letter must be from a professor in your undergraduate major or in your proposed field of graduate study. Click here for instructions on preparing the letters of recommendation.
5.	The admissions committee will review completed applications (all requested material included) during the second week of January. Because of the number of applications, only select applicants will be asked to interview. Applicants who are asked to interview are encouraged to present a portfolio of related work (i.e. marketing materials, writing samples, budget samples, or other projects to showcase their strenghts.)

Graduate Assistantships
Degree candidates in this program are awarded assistantships that provide a stipend of $1212 per month and full tuition.


Indiana Unversity Bloomington, Department of Theatre
Master of Arts

General Information
The candidate for the Master of Arts degree is expected to be familiar with all areas of study in theatre and drama but, in accordance with the student's aims and prior training, may be allowed to concentrate his/her study largely in one area. Usually the thesis subject or project the candidate selects will determine the area of concentration. In that area the candidate must acquire a mastery sufficient to allow him/her to do independent thinking and to demonstrate the results in a thesis. All graduate students are expected to supplement the knowledge acquired in courses by participating in the various production activities of the department and by independent reading and study.

Requirements and Qualifications:

1. An adequate undergraduate academic background for graduate study in theatre and drama. This should include at least three undergraduate courses in the general area of theatre production: one of these must have been in either Acting or Directing; another in Costuming, Lighting, Scenic Design, or Stagecraft; and at least three courses in the area of Theatre History, Dramatic Literature, and Dramatic Theory.
2. An understanding of research methods and a general knowledge of bibliographical resources in theatre and drama.
3. A well-balanced program of at least 30 semester hours including:
   • T500, Introduction to Graduate Study and Research (1.5 cr.)
   • T501, Historiography (1.5 cr.)
   • At least 20 semester hours in the department (which may include T500 and five semester hours of credit in T895, MA Thesis). The remaining ten semester hours may be taken in the department or an allied field (or fields) outside the department. (The student must have a grade point average of at least 3.0 in all coursework taken for graduate credit.)
   • At least 15 semester hours in courses numbered 500 or above (which may include T500 and T895).
4. Language Requirement. The ability to translate scholarly materials on theatre from one foreign language must be demonstrated.
5. A minimum of two semesters, or equivalent summer sessions, in residence at Indiana University. (The entire MA program must be completed within a five-year period.)
6. The mastery of a specific topic, demonstrated by a thesis and an oral examination upon it and appropriate materials or a Master's Essay.

University of Washington, Department of Drama
Ph.D. in Theatre History, Theory and Criticism

The Ph.D. program provides comprehensive training in theatre scholarship with a dual emphasis on theatre and performance history and dramatic theory. Particular strengths of the program include American, English and Classical studies, race and gender studies, semiotics, Asian and post-colonial theory. The plan of study addresses a full range of Western and Non-Western materials from the ancient to the postmodern.

Graduates of the program have gone on to careers as university professors, arts administrators, dramaturgs and critics. Most applicants have theatre degrees and stage experience, but production work is not an integral part of the doctoral program.

Program Information

Coursework within the School consists of three years of study including a sequence of 16 seminars (8 in history/8 in theory), a reading quarter and qualifying and comprehensive examinations. Students also enroll in a minimum of three upper level courses outside the School of Drama and must complete an upper level reading course in a foreign language.

Topics in the history sequence have included Drama in the Industrial Age , Communism and Capitalism , and Sources and Antiquity . From the seminars, students are encouraged to develop original research and to present their work at professional conferences, leading to publication in academic journals.

The fourth year of the program is devoted to writing a dissertation under the guidance of a faculty advisor. Recent doctoral dissertations have explored semiotics, feminism, medieval traditions, American theatre history, contemporary English and German drama, ethnicity and performance theory.