Melodrama Screening and Discussion session on Monday 30th of October CANCELLED

Many apologies for the late notice, but we’ve decided to cancel the planned melodrama meeting on the 30th of October. We’ve been immersed in Kat and Ann-Marie’s wonderful ‘At Home with Horror?’ conference (https://tvhomeofhorror.wordpress.com/) and are sure we will find the intense Friday- Sunday experience a difficult one to follow!

While there have been many interesting papers and discussions, it was especially great to hear two excellent ones from melodrama research group members on TV programmes we’ve previously screened. Katerina Flint-Nicol’s presentation ‘Home and Hearth? Science, the Gothic and the Female Narrative in Black Mirror’s ‘Be Right Back” (see introduction to the episode in the post below) effectively argued for the importance of temporality.

In ‘”You know ma’am, you just imagine things”. Terror, Technology and the Female Gothic in The Devil’s Vice’, Frances Kamm commented on the thoughts of writer/director/producer Peter Watkins-Hughes, as revealed to her in an interview. Frances convincingly spoke of the domestic setting Watkins-Hughes hoped his work, conceived with the premise of raising awareness of domestic violence, would reach. (A summary of our previous group discussion on this intriguing work can be found here: http://blogs.kent.ac.uk/melodramaresearchgroup/2017/02/22/summary-of-discussion-on-the-devils-vice/)

The next melodrama screening and discussion session will therefore take place on Monday the 13th of November, 5-7pm, in Jarman 6.  Information on the film to be screened will be posted once known.

Melodrama Screening ,16th October, 5-7pm, Jarman 6

All are very welcome to join us for the next Melodrama Research Group screening. We will be showing two episodes from the UK TV series Black Mirror on Monday the 16th of October, 5-7pm, Jarman 6. 

‘Be Right Back’ (Series 2, Episode 1, February 2013, 44 mins) tells the story of a young couple, Martha (Hayley Atwell) and Ash (Domhnall Gleeson), living in a remote house in the countryside. Their lives are soon shattered when Ash is killed. This is not the end of their relationship, however, since Ash’s emails and social media profile are mined, and a virtual version of him is created. While initially this offers Martha some comfort, the next step of the process, which involves an android resembling Ash, causes problems….

‘Nosedive’ (Series 3, Episode 1, October 2016, 63 mins) also revolves around social media, since everyone both gives and receives ‘ratings’ for their interactions with others.  Obsessed with approval, Lacie (Bryce Dallas Howard) becomes distressed as her high rate starts to slip, and opportunities like discounts on housing, access to flights, and health treatment are denied to her.

Do join us for these, if you can, ahead of Kat and Ann-Marie’s ‘At Home With Horror? Terror on the Small Screen conference’, taking place at Kent from the 27th to the 29th of October. You can find out more information on the blog: https://tvhomeofhorror.wordpress.com/ 

And purchase tickets here: