FLM 227 - Melodrama

Course unit(s): 1
Meets GAR (students beginning prior to Fall 2024): Meets general academic requirement HU.
Meets Explore Core requirement (students beginning Fall 2024 and later): CE
Melodrama is a form of popular storytelling that puts its characters in dramatic situations in which the stakes are nothing less than the victory of good over evil. This course will investigage the central role of melodrama in American film, with particular attention to issues of gender and race. It focuses on films that are often classified as “women’s films” and “social problem films,” but also includes “male melodramas.” The course considers how these topics are represented through melodrama’s aesthetics, such as music, dramatic editing, and symbolic use of setting.
Attendance at weekly screenings is required.