The vernacular rhetoric of and audience responses to The debut
Date
2015
Authors
Casem, Anika, author
Anderson, Karrin, advisor
Aoki, Eric, advisor
Sorensen, Leif, committee member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract
In this thesis I look at an early Filipina/o American film, The Debut (2000). As one of the first of its kind The Debut was written, starred, directed, supported, produced, and created by and for the Filipino/a community (Ginsela 2003a; Ginsela 2003b). The marginalized Filipina/o American community has little power and little say within contemporary U.S. society and as a result, they are rarely acknowledged in U.S. economics, politics, culture, history, and society (Cordova 1983; Espiritu 2003). The silencing of the Filipina/o American community has resulted in creating a population of people who appear to have been erased from the public memory of the country they inhabit. The erasure and silencing has repercussions for the identity of the Filipina/o American community and issues surrounding identity. To explore Filipina/o American identity, I employ a dual methodology. The first is a critical analysis of the Filipina/o American film The Debut (2000). Using a theory of vernacular rhetoric I argue The Debut showcases several identities which consist of a both/and quality that allows the Filipina/o American community to maintain an identity at odds with itself. The second approach is an audience analysis of Filipina/o American college age students who discuss the relevance of the experiences depicted in the film to their own lives. In the conclusion I discuss that we need to continue educating the public about representations on screen; there needs to be more research done on vernacular discourses, ethnic audiences, and focus groups; there needs to be a cultivation of appreciation in the Filipina/o American community for film as art; for the time being, instead of more research being done by scholars what we actually need is for the Filipina/o American community to create more films.
Description
Rights Access
Subject
Filipina/o American
Cajayon, Gene
The Debut
film
identity
Asian Americans