Hi Gloria,
I think I understand what you're saying. I hope you don't take offense if I disagree.
From my point of view, asking questions of those with greater expertise is most certainly a form of research. Obviously the internet has made it a lot easier than it once was, and I've also had the frustrating experience of dealing with students who seem unaware that there are books on library shelves. Then again, if our goal as scholars is to communicate to others what we've learned, perhaps it doesn't matter how the information is shared. Those who responded to Peter's request were not (in my opinion) encouraging intellectual laziness; they were choosing to aid a fellow scholar who made a request for information. Of course it's possible that this may run contrary to the spirit of the work assigned to Peter by his instructor, though personally I don't see a lot in Peter's original request that merits such aspersions.
This is a polite discussion list, and under most circumstances those who participate are collegial and kind. But I hasten to contest your remark that Peter is a "kid" who has treated others as "servants." Indeed, Peter's original e-mail looks pretty similar to posts made by others to this list. I call him a "fellow scholar" above because that's precisely what he is, and he deserves to be treated as such. I think we can all find ways to disagree with each other about research methods without employing derogatory language.
Matt
Matthew Sewell
Associate Professor of English
Minnesota State University, Mankato
230 Armstrong Hall
Mankato, MN 56001
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________________________________________
From: Film and TV Studies Discussion List [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of godard [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2010 3:06 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [SCREEN-L] a note regarding the request on negative criticism on alfred hitchcock as an auteur
does anybody else on this list find this undergraduate request
troubling? with a simple click of a key, this kid gained access to the
research that his professor expected peter to do himself. i believe that
encouraging this kind of behavior fosters intellectual laziness. instead of
finding kapsis's book *at the library* and read it, now a student can just
e-mail kapsis himself and hit him up for ideas. or even access bentley's
yet unpublished work -- and therefore unprotected by copyright.
another example of how professors are turning into their customers'
(formerly known as students) servants. what's next?
gloria monti
gloria monti, ph.d.
assistant professor
radio-TV-film
CSUF, fullerton, CA
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On Sun, Oct 31, 2010 at 10:04 AM, Ian Brookes
<[log in to unmask]>wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender: Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
> Poster: Ian Brookes <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: Negative criticism on Alfred Hitchcock as an auteur
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Another good place to look is Robert E Kapsis's Hitchcock: The Making of a
> Reputation. This is full of interesting instances of the shifts in
> Hitchcock's critical reputation. RK talks about a film like Torn Curtain,
> for example, which was quite poorly reviewed at the time because Hitch's
> reputation as a "master" of the espionage thriller (The Man Who Knew Too
> Much, The 39 Steps, North by North-West, etc) had become superseded with the
> advent of James Bond since 1960 and its impact on the genre. To many
> critics, Torn Curtain appeared outmoded in comparison. - Ian Brookes
>
> ________________________________________
> From: Film and TV Studies Discussion List [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
> Of George Robinson [[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2010 2:54 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [SCREEN-L] Negative criticism on Alfred Hitchcock as an auteur
>
> If you can find Raymond Durgnat's Hitchcock book, he has some
> interesting and quirky things to say about the director, stuff that
> would certainly leaven your thesis.
>
> George Robinson
>
> --
> Man is the only [creature] that kills for fun;
> he is the only one that kills in malice, the only
> one that kills for revenge [. . .] He is the only
> creature that has a nasty mind.
>
> -- Mark Twain
>
>
>
>
> On 10/30/2010 10:23 PM, Peter Longworth wrote:
> > Hi
> >
> > I'm an undergraduate student studying Cultural and Media Studies at
> > the University of Newcastle, Australia. The reason I am writing is I
> > have a major essay on Alfred Hitchcock as an auteur, and to make my
> > essay more interesting I'd like to locate articles / books which
> > criticise Hitchcock somewhat negatively. I've been directed to
> > criticism from feminist scholars, but was wondering where else I
> > should be looking, and if anyone could please recommend any articles
> > where I may concentrate my study.
> >
> > Apart from the feminist angle, I know of a couple of articles written
> > by Andrew Sarris who comments on Hitchcock's films not being taken
> > seriously in the 1960s because they weren't considered serious films
> > like what the European directors were making such as Antonioni and
> > Bergmann.
> >
> > Other place I could go with my essay is for Hitchcock's use of
> > violence in Frenzy - I actually find the strangle scenes today pretty
> > disturbing, and I understand critical reception to the film's use of
> > violence was mixed. I think Rope might have been criticised also from
> > a moralistic point of view. There is also Hitchcock's attack on
> > religion in his films, such as the Catholic church, in how he
> > represents / shows nuns in Vertigo, which is the key film i'll be
> > discussing in my paper.
> >
> > I hope someone might be able to recommend me to resources articles
> > giving a negative criticism, or mixed criticism of Hitchcock, because
> > mostly everyone says positive things about his films. I seek to make
> > my essay a mixture of positive and negative criticisms.
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Peter
>
>
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