1. Explore how far spectators respond in the same way to film. Illustrate your answer by close reference to your chosen film.
This essay will explore how far the spectators respond when watching Captain Fantastic in the same way, spectatorship is how individuals engage with the film and develop their own response.
Filmmakers use a range of key and structural elements of the film so that spectators will respond in a particular way. All spectators will have an active response when watching captain fantastic, because they are consuming it, engaging with it and forming a response when watching the film, whereas they won't have a passive response because they will do all these things. Some spectators may have a negotiated response when watching the opening sequence where Bo brutally kills the stag, the spectators may respond this way due to their social or cultural backgrounds, they may disagree with the way they have killed the stag or think its inhumane to kill any animal or they may be vegetarian or vegan and so reject their life choices of eating animals. However the spectators may disagree with their life choices, they acknowledge how the family wish to live. The spectators may feel sympathetic towards Rellian in the scene when they're all rock climbing and he breaks his arm, in this scene Ben refuses to help Rellian instead makes him carry on rock climbing because he argues that they must be dependant on themselves. Spectators may have different responses depending on whether they agree with Ben's views, they may feel sympathetic towards Rellian if they reject Ben's beliefs and parenting skills, however the spectators that agree with his beliefs wouldn't feel sympathetic for him if they do believe they have to depend on themselves.
Spectators may also have different responses in the funeral scene when they're cremating their mother. Some spectators may have a oppositional response when watching this scene, because the spectators will have a rational response by questioning of how they all managed to dig up her coffin and how they managed to carry it and transport it. Because of this some spectators may reject this scene because of the unrealistic aspects but other spectators may have the emotional response of sympathy for the family because of the loss of their mother. Other spectators may respond in a different way than most spectators due to their personal experiences for example, they may feel empathy towards the family over the loss of their mother if they have lost someone themselves. Also the use of diegetic music in this scene, when they are cremating their mother heightens the sympathy that some spectators may feel if they have lost someone, because the children are creating it themselves, this makes the scene more meaningful and sincere when commemorating their mother. Whereas those who can not empathise may not respond in the same way because they can't relate to the children in this scene.
In conclusion, spectators won't respond in the same way when watching Captain Fantastic, this is due to their cultural, social or political beliefs because of this they may reject Ben's views on raising his children away from society however other spectators may agree with his views and so wouldn't feel sympathetic towards the children. Spectators may also respond differently due to their personal experiences, or their response might be dependent on their age for example younger spectators may not understand the political views represented in the film so will not respond in the same way as older spectators who will. Also gender and ethnicity affect the way that spectators respond when watching Captain Fantastic.
