1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the
screening.
Election is a film
that takes a look into a high school presidential election in a small suburban
town. The film takes on some controversial topics such as infidelity, anti-establishment
and homosexuality that were also examined in many other films of the late 90’s.
In that sense the film has a similar feeling to late 90’s films such as
American Beauty and Fight Club to a certain extent.
2) Find a related article (on the film, director, studio,
actor/actress, artistic content, etc.)and summarize the content.
The New York Times review of Election titled, “Election (1999) film review; The Candidate: Dirty
Tricks and Even Dirtier Minds” is an excellent and accurate review of the film.
The article makes sure to acknowledge the film as a dark comedy and definitely
recognizes how each individual actor played their part. The article also states
that the entire film is a satire of the American electoral process. And even
though the film has its fair share of goofy moments, none of them really take
away from the story of good and evil that is portrayed in the film. The article
then goes on to describe some of the basic plot points and introduces each one
of the main characters and fairly describes each of their roles in the film. The
article then finally concludes by making a connection of the films black comedy
to the Wes Anderson film Rushmore.
3) Apply the article to the film screened in class. How did
the article support or change the way you thought about the film, director,
content, etc.?
The New York Times article about Election is very accurate and very to the point. I agree with most
of the things the writer of the article had to say about the film as well as
the characters. However one thing the article pointed out that I did not notice
when watching the film was that there were not any African American students at
the school. Even in a place such as Nebraska it would be highly unlikely that
the school would be filled entirely with white people. This could possibly be a
message that the director of the film was trying to illustrate about the
American voting system back in 1999. Aside from that one point the article
definitely seemed to get the point of the movie and did not seem bothered by
the quirkiness of some of the characters, especially Matthew Broderick.
Broderick seems to drive the film with his unintentional comedy which is what
really makes the film work. The New York Times article seemed to get that,
which is a key part of understanding the film for what it is intended to be.
4) Write a critical analysis of the film, including your
personal opinion, formed as a result of the screening, class discussions, text
material and the article.
The 90’s film Election
is a highly entertaining black comedy featuring a younger Matthew Broderick
and a young Reese Witherspoon. The film takes place at a seemingly average
suburban town in Omaha Nebraska where Broderick is a school teacher that learns
to despise one of his own students named Tracy (played by Witherspoon). The
irony used throughout the film is one of its strongest points and is what makes
the film so funny. The film starts off with Broderick trying to explain to his
class the difference between morals and ethics before he ultimately is forced
to face the reality of morals and ethics in his own personal life. Also each of
the actors helped bring the script to life. The loser teacher, the uptight
Tracy and ditsy jock all add up to make for a great comedy team. Overall the
film was good and a definite change of pace from typical comedies. Election not only strived to be funny in
bizarre ways, but it was also able to do so by commenting on the American
electoral system.
CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM 1) ( x) I have not handed in this assignment for any
other class. 2) (x ) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other
classes, I clearly explain that in the paper. 3) (x ) If I used any passages word for word, I
put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text. 4) (x
) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in
the text of the paper. 5) ( x) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally
read. 6) ( x) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in
another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography. 7) (x ) I did not
so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality. 8) ( x) I
checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and
ideas used in my paper.
Name: ____Joe Katulak__________________ Date: _5/5/15
