One of our readings for the week is ‘A Beginner’s Guide To Textual Analysis’ by Alan McKee, which is pretty much an introduction to textual analysis. First, I’d like to begin by saying that through out the entire time I was reading this text, I just kept having flashback moments of my time in my Media class in Year 12. So if I start using examples from Mean Girls or The Breakfast Club, or even the movies which I currently cannot stand watching right now, that is, The Dark Knight and Children Of Men, then know that I’m having a throwback session in my head of past experiences.
The very first question that the reading begins with is ‘What is textual analysis?’ And it’s response to it’s own question is that ‘when we perform textual analysis on a text, we make an educated guess at some of the most likely interpretations that might be made of the text.’ For instance, in Mean Girls, when Regina George is first introduced, she is being carried by a group of guys onto a football field while her other female accomplices are walking. Just from this, we can make an educated guess that Regina is the queen bee of her group, as well as the most popular girl in school who is admired by all. It might not even cross people’s mind that maybe Regina has some sort of mobility impairment and that’s why she has to be carried onto the field. And I’m going to take a guess here and say that many people, whether they’ve seen this classic teen film or not, will think that this is a crazy suggestion.
However, as absurd as this suggestion might be, the reading makes another point that ‘there is no such thing as a single, ‘correct’ interpretation of any text. There are large numbers of possible interpretations, some of which will be more likely than others in particular circumstances.’ For example, (and SPOILER ALERT) in the closing sequence of Children of Men, Theo Faron is slowly bleeding to death with Kee and her baby on a small boat in the middle of the ocean as they wait for the arrival of the Tomorrow Boat to rescue them. For many, including myself, I thought (and still think) that Theo dies. But some may argue that Theo may have actually survived as the film ends with the Tomorrow Boat arriving before cutting to a shot of Kee shouting at a ‘fainted’ (or rather I like to say ‘dead’) Theo that the boat has arrived. These are merely simple examples of textual analysis and how audiences can create different interpretations of the same text, and to be honest, this is a concept that I actually enjoy participating in.