Lecture Eleven, Fragmenting

I must say, I liked the use of a Patti Smith cover in the first part of the film. I don't think I'd ever heard her used in a film before (although I did travel to the big apple for one night only over the Xmas break to see her live, and it was amazing (and I did just use this blog as an opportunity to gloat, because it was a crowning achievement to date)).

And I thought I hated life throughout high school. Tracey seems to live in absolute Hell.

"How do you know what's real and what's not when the whole world is inside your head," Tracy asks us.

What is real in Tracy Fragments is that the audiences experience is mediated through the "split screen" effect and we understand we are watching a film. We are not submerged into the cinema appearing in front of us, meant to seamlessly envelope us in the narrative and carry us away on the romantic ride of film. Instead we are constantly asked to figure out what is going on, and what the hell we're supposed to listen to.

McDonald's use of split screen, collage, billboard, I liked. When he uses these techniques to express the fantasies that Tracey has created for herself, I them them as a form of appropriation of mass culture techniques. For example, when Tracey fantasizes about her fake boyfriend at school at one point the billboard effect pops up and she becomes like a rockstar "Tracy Berkowitz" flashes, and different coloured panels show her pictures. The technique is reminiscent of movies like 'That Thing You Do' (cheesy example, I know) or any block buster movie where the characters are presented as popstars. We recognize this technique as meaning "Good Things." We know it means the characters have reached a certain point, have found some success, are becoming recognizable (which we always assume is a good thing).

In Tracey Fragments this technique is used to expose the let down that is Tracey's reality. What usually connotes 'making it' and is mimetic of modern entertainment television shows here tells a different story. In contrast to Tracey's dire existence the techniques show the let-down of her reality, and the split screen only adds to the disorienting nature, and the horrid parts of the film are magnified by this confusion. When Tracey is in Lance's house and we're cringing with her in the corner of the room waiting for her to be discovered, the split screen feels like it's coming at us from all angles. Horrifying.

Side note, I must say though, the whole "titless wonder" thing was terribly excessive.

And on brighter note, Fun Fact: Bruce McDonald used to come in to the restaurant I worked at all the time! And my friend Brads choir sang at his wedding! He wears a cowboy hat a lot.