So one of the interesting ideas that has come to me is about what zombies represent. Obviously they have represented a lot in the past, ranging from mindless consumers to... well that seems to be the main one but there have always been ideas of race, gender and equality attached to Zombies. I think these are all interesting however I dont want to use Hunger to make a political point exactly I think zombies are a much more simple representation of the id. I was looking for a text specifically on this subject but surprisingly couldn't find any, however there are many small comments in the articles I have read that evidence the idea that Zombies could be the id. One of Freud's simplest descriptions of the Id is "we call it a chaos, a cauldron full of seething excitations.... It is filled with energy reaching it from the instincts, but it has no organization, produces no collective will, but only a striving to bring about the satisfaction of the instinctual needs subject to the observance of the pleasure principle."(1) Zombies fit in a way to this simple analysis, they have needs ie. their hunger, and they live only to satisfy them, with no regards for anyone or anything else, they work purely on instinct with no thoughts about societal pressures. On the other hand the lack of fulfilment of their needs, the lack of satisfaction separates them from the id, as does their gang mentality. Part of my final scene (as well as the majority of my film) will address the pack mentality idea as my zombies will show themselves to look out for themselves first and foremost. In the final scene I show this with the zombie who denies Andy a meal, this both shows that the group isnt important to the zombie as well as showing that Andy is separate from the other zombies making him a more sympathetic character.
The ego on the other hand "seeks to please the id’s drive in realistic ways that will benefit in the long term rather than bring grief."(2) which doesn't sound much like a zombie however it might be interesting to consider the whole of the film as a struggle for Andy to deny his id. In the start he is as any other zombie is, a creature controlled by his id and by his hunger. And after gaining a connection with Sarah he becomes to realise there is more. Or at least he tries (in the final scene) to deny his Id, deny his hunger, but tragically fails.
Another idea about the final tension in Hunger could relate to Mulvey's comment on Hitchcock style narratives that relate to the gaze. She says that Hitchcock "uses the process of identification normally associated with ideological correctness and the recognition of established morality and shows up its perverted side."(3) This seems like it is doable within a zombie film, especially one featuring a zombie as the main character. The problem with this is that I still want Andy to be the character identified with and the morale hero of the film. I can easily say that my "survivor" group represent the characters usually identified with and that demonising them makes this point but within my own narrative I am not questioning the correctness and morality of my hero and audience. Again an easy solution would be that the simple fact that he is a zombie and that he does eat Sarah. One thing is quite clear, Sarah will be the object of scopophilia mentioned in Mulvey's article, I am not planning on sexualising her but as a main female character it is inevitable. This leads to more possible readings in which the character of Mark can be utilised. If Sarah is the object of Scopophilia and she clearly hints at Mark being a violent or sexual predator in some way ("Im not going to keep quiet about what you did to that girl") he represents the normal audience who takes pleasure in the way they view Sarah. Andy on the other hand watches her in a more abstract and less objective way, without emotion or lust through glass in my only other planned scene. This shows the morality of Andy and when he finally eats Sarah or bites her dead body at least the metaphore for sexual fulfilment is complete however he clearly isnt happy, he is succumbing to needs not wants unlike Mark. The internal struggle of whether to eat Sarah or not is my manifestation of what Mulvey sees in Hitchcock's heroes that "portray the contradictions and tensions experienced by the spectator"(4) the spectator and Andy clearly dont want Sarah to be eaten but social pressures and primal needs take over in both cases and Sarah is eaten and is a subject of scopophilia.
So there are lots of things that my final scene could show in reflection to the articles I have read and I think that is a good thing however it would be nice when writing the rest of the film to try and pin down for sure which of the subtexts I am addressing If not pin down which then give more evidence to support each theme. Another important thing when writing issues into the subtext of films in my mind is to be clear about your aims for the film and whether you are for or against the issues. It is a good thing to raise issues within films but I think if you are unclear about whether you think something is good or bad you leave yourself open to misinterpretation and criticizes for things you did into intend. Obviously that cannot be completely avoided but that is why I am taking as much time to consider possible subtext before my writing as they can be clarified within the rest of my film.
Well I obviously have a lot to think about but in general I like the way my ideas are heading and will continue my research and writing for sure.
2. Noam, Gil G; Hauser, Stuart T.; Santostefano, Sebastiano; Garrison, William; Jacobson, Alan M.; Powers, Sally I.; Mead, Merrill (February 1984). "Ego Development and Psychopathology: A Study of Hospitalized Adolescents". Child Development(Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the Society for Research in Child Development) 55 (1): 189–194. (accessed on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id,_ego_and_super-ego) (date accessed 15.12.12)
3."Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" (1975) Laura Mulvey Originally Published - Screen 16.3 Autumn 1975 pp. 6-18. Accessed on: http://imlportfolio.usc.edu/ctcs505/mulveyVisualPleasureNarrativeCinema.pdf) (date accessed 15.12.12)
4.Ibid.
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