Appetites and Anxieties: Food, Film, and the Politics of Representation

346 Pages·2013·18.548 MB·English

by  Diane Carson, Cynthia Baron, Mark Bernard

FILM STUDIES / FOOD
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“Alongside delicious scenes of food production Cynthia Baron is the author of r
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and consumption, Appetites and Anxieties con- Denzel Washington. She is also n
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siders cannibal films, product placement, food co-author of Reframing Screen
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documentaries, and dystopic images of food to Performance and co-editor of a
consider film’s role in alternately masking and More Than a Method: Trends rs
revealing the prickly politics of food. A highly and Traditions in Contemporary o
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readable and teachable addition to the growing Film Performance (Wayne State ,

field of food studies.” University Press, 2004). B
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—Pamela Robertson Wojcik, r
director of gender studies and professor of film at the Diane Carson is the editor of John n
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University of Notre Dame Sayles: Interviews and co-editor r
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of Sayles Talk: New Perspectives
“This superlatively researched, well-written volume on Independent Filmmaker John
puts the genre of food films on the scholarly map Sayles (Wayne State University
but also makes excellent reading for those outside Press, 2006). She is also co-editor
the academy, including average ‘foodies.’ Using of More Than a Method (Wayne
the conceptual and critical lens of the ‘foodways’ State University Press, 2004),
paradigm, the authors convincingly argue that Shared Differences: Multicultural
food films—from successful commercial movies Media and Practical Pedagogy,
to low-budget documentaries and independents— and Multiple Voices in Feminist
explore the politics of gender, race, ethnicity, class, Film Criticism.
sexuality, culture, and community through their A
characters’ interactions with food, whether haute Mark Bernard is the author of p Appetites
cuisine or far less appetizing concoctions. Special Selling the Splat Pack: The DVD p
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attention is paid to selected films and auteurs, as Revolution and the American and
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well as the contributions of food stylists and Horror Film and co-author of a i
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the role of product placements in contemporary forthcoming book on horror film e
Anxieties
movies.” performance and cult reception. s

—Frank P. Tomasulo, a
visiting professor of film studies at City College of n
New York, City University of New York Contemporary Approaches to Film d
and Media Series
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“The topic is timely. The writing style is lucid and n
convincing, with the volume offering a wealth of x
material for the uninitiated, highlighting an area Wayne State University Press ie
Detroit, Michigan 48201-1309
of film studies that will undoubtedly increase t
ISBN 978-0-8143-3431-7 i
in importance as the general interest in food, e Food, Film, and the Politics of Representation
from cooking as a recreational activity to health s
implications and environmental issues, continues
to grow.”
9 780814 334317
—Hilary Radner,
professor of film and media studies at University
of Otago and co-editor of Jane Campion: Cinema, On cover: The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976).
Courtesy of STUDIOCANAL Films Ltd. Cynthia Baron, Diane Carson, Mark Bernard
Nation, Identity (Wayne State University Press, 2009) Cover design by TG Design

APPETITES AND ANXIETIES
contemporary approaches to film and television series
A complete listing of the books in this series can be found online
at wsupress.wayne.edu
General Editor
Barry Keith Grant
Brock University
Advisory Editors
Robert J. Burgoyne
University of St. Andrews
Caren J. Deming
University of Arizona
Patricia B. Erens
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Peter X. Feng
University of Delaware
Lucy Fischer
University of Pittsburgh
Frances Gateward
California State University, Northridge
Tom Gunning
University of Chicago
Thomas Leitch
University of Delaware
Walter Metz
Southern Illinois University
APPETITES AND ANXIETIES
FOOD, FILM, AND THE POLITICS OF REPRESENTATION
CYNTHIA BARON,
DIANE CARSON, MARK BERNARD
WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS
DETROIT
© 2014 by Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan 48201. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced without formal permission.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Baron, Cynthia.
Appetites and anxieties : food, fi lm, and the politics of representation / Cynthia
Baron, Diane Carson, Mark Bernard.
pages cm. — (Contemporary approaches to fi lm and media series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Includes fi lmography.
ISBN 978-0-8143-3431-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Food in motion pictures. 2. Motion pictures—Social aspects. 3. Documentary
fi lms—History and criticism. I. Carson, Diane, 1954– II. Bernard, Mark.
III. Title.
PN1995.9.F65B38 2013
791.43'6564—dc23
2013018443
ISBN 978-0-8143-3805-6 (ebook)
contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction: The Cultural and Material Politics of Food
Representations in Film 1
1. Foodways as an Ideological Approach 25
2. Food and Film Industries: A Filter for the Food
We See in Films 53
3. Foodways Syntax: Utopian Films’ Use of Food
to Create Community 83
4. Foodways Structured to Convey Disorder and Dysfunction 107
5. When Humans Are the Food Product: An Ideological Look at
Cannibal Films 129
6. Food as Threat and Promise: Genre and Auteur Analysis 153
7. Foodways in Documentary Films: Consumer Society
in a Wider Frame 179
8. The Politics Surrounding Documentaries’ Depiction
of Foodways 201
9. Food as a Window into Personal and Cultural Politics 225
Appendixes
1. Insights from Food Stylist Ann Schulz 251
2. Selected Fiction Films Featuring Foodways 263
3. Selected Food Documentaries 271
4. Selected Work in Food and Cultural Studies 275
Notes 285
Works Cited 305
Index 321

acknowledgments
I fi rst want to thank my colleagues Diane Carson and Mark Bernard
for their adventurous spirits and unfailing enthusiasm. Thanks also to
the many food scholars who inspired us, in particular Carole Couni-
han and Warren Belasco. Special thanks to Lucy Long, whose 2001
NEH “Food as a Humanities Subject” seminars suggested ways that
food studies could enhance studies of fi lm, and to the Institute for the
Study of Culture and Society for the 2011 fellowship that facilitated
research. Sincere thanks to family and friends, especially Emily Baron
and Donald McQuarie, for their patience, humor, and interest in fi lm
and good food.
—cynthia baron
Throughout this exciting, educational project, I’ve benefi tted enor-
mously from the camaraderie of my hard-working, inspirational co-
authors, who have enhanced every aspect of this venture. I thank my
best friend and spouse Wil Loy for hours of stimulating conversations
about food, fi lm, and life. I also thank my dear friend Ann Schulz for
generously sharing her diverse food stylist experiences. Her knowledge
about food never ceases to amaze me. I deeply appreciate my friend
and fellow fi lm reviewer Martha K. Baker, who scrupulously read early
versions of my work. And thanks, fi nally, to my many associates who
offered their keen insights concerning food in fi lm and in their lives.
—diane carson
I thank my co-authors, Cynthia Baron and Diane Carson, for inviting
me along on this amazing journey. Thanks to Sean Moncrieff and all
acknowledgments
the folks at NewsTalk Ireland for having me on the air to discuss work
featured in this volume. Thanks to Dan Charles at NPR and Stephen
Rust at the Ecomedia Studies blog for sharing my work on food and
fi lm with a larger audience. Thanks to Pamela Robertson Wojcik and
everybody at Notre Dame who organized the Food Networks confer-
ence in January 2012. Finally, thanks to Fred and Linda Bernard, Bill,
Pam, and Brandon Davis, and especially Hope Bernard, who continues
to inspire and sustain me.
—mark bernard
We would all like to express our appreciation to fi lmmaker Daniel E.
Williams for doing the frame captures and, fi nally, to Annie Martin,
Barry Keith Grant, and everyone at Wayne State University Press for
their faith in this project and for making it a reality.
Earlier versions of sections of this work were previously published
as “Food and Gender in Bagdad Cafe,” Food and Foodways 11:1 (2003)
(reprinted by permission of Taylor & Francis); “Dinner and a Movie:
Analyzing Food and Film,” Food, Culture & Society 9:1 (2006) (reprinted
by permission of Food, Culture & Society); “Cannibalism, Class, and
Power,” Food, Culture & Society 14:3 (2011) (reprinted by permission of
Food, Culture & Society); and “Transgressing Boundaries: From Sexual
Abuse to Eating Disorders in 301/302,” in Seoul Searching: Culture and
Identity in Contemporary Korean Cinema, ed. Frances Gateward (Albany:
State University of New York Press, 2007) (reprinted by permission of
the State University of New York, All Rights Reserved).
viii