{"id":1144,"date":"2024-09-08T12:49:07","date_gmt":"2024-09-08T16:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/?p=1144"},"modified":"2024-09-10T09:26:02","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T13:26:02","slug":"activity-vs-inertia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/2024\/09\/08\/activity-vs-inertia\/","title":{"rendered":"Disrupting the Status Quo: Activity vs Inertia"},"content":{"rendered":"

The film makes it abundantly clear that Lisa and Jeff\u2019s relationship is at an impasse \u2013 divided on the subject of marriage and how to reconcile the demands of their jobs and lifestyles. While the film\u2019s dialogue emphasizes the incompatibility of their lifestyles (a glamorous, pampered life of a magazine editor vs the rugged, difficult life of a photographer), the visual elements contrast their ideological rift on the subject of the future through the portrayal of Lisa\u2019s movement vs. Jeff\u2019s inertia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In Lisa\u2019s first scene, after the cliche, slow-motion romantic kisses, Lisa\u2019s true nature is revealed through her movement around the apartment. Confined to his wheelchair, Jeff is a very stagnant figure, content with watching out his window at the world passing by. On the other hand, Lisa is in almost constant motion, turning lights on, visiting different parts of the apartment, shedding and donning layers of clothing and accessories. In comparison, Jeff sits in the dark, stays by the window, and wears the same pajamas throughout the film. While she at first matches his slower energy, leisurely going around the apartment turning on lights, when Lisa remembers that she prepared a dinner, she jumps and begins frantically moving around the apartment. The camera tracks her movement in one continuous shot as she disrupts Jeff\u2019s equilibrium, inviting new people into the apartment and moving around furniture to create a makeshift table. She rearranges Jeff\u2019s space, and there is no later shot of her putting it all back the way it was, as the film does for Stella every time she massages Jeff. Unlike the predictability and status quo of Stella, Lisa is independent enough to do what she wants, taking charge of the space and the shot.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s ironic that even though Jeff is an adventure photographer, traveling the world and capturing destruction on film, during the course of the film he is static both physically and emotionally. Confined to his wheelchair, Jeff cannot move around the space of his apartment, content to watch out the window, wear the same clothes day after day, and not move from his stationary spot. This mindset is reflected in his thoughts towards his relationship with Lisa, where he wants to keep things the way they are, refusing to jump into the next step: marriage. On the other hand, Lisa, who is spoken of as a rich socialite uncomfortable with adventure and travel, is actually the one who is in motion, running around Jeff\u2019s apartment and pushing him toward the future, their future. During their fight, this chasm in opinion is revealed: Jeff asks, \u201cCouldn\u2019t we just keep things status quo?\u201d and Lisa responds, \u201cWithout any future?\u201d (30:50 – 31:05). Lisa disrupts Jeff\u2019s status quo, and his discomfort with this fact is an evident sore point in their relationship.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The film makes it abundantly clear that Lisa and Jeff\u2019s relationship is at an impasse \u2013 divided on the subject of marriage and how to reconcile the demands of their jobs and lifestyles. While the film\u2019s dialogue emphasizes the incompatibility of their lifestyles (a glamorous, pampered life of a magazine editor vs the rugged, difficult … Continue reading Disrupting the Status Quo: Activity vs Inertia<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4989,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[145914],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2024-blog-posts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4989"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1144\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}