The Viewer's Dilemma: Resolving the Tension between Distance and Sympathy
By Lauren Calabrese, with comment by Mary Brune
[1] The Hooverville scene illustrates the thematic tension between distance and sympathy in viewers. More specifically, this particular sequence hinges upon illuminating the documentary style realization of the camera, which strikes upon the voyeuristic process of identification/ alienation.
[2] Leslie Gossage claims that The Grapes of Wrath is a compilation of “expressionist narrative techniques with documentary cues and content†(115). Grapes provides an extraordinary range of visual texture through this intricate balance of expressionism and documentary style techniques. However, the Hooverville scene relies more on the documentary angle to project and capture the conditions of the moment. The visualization of the austerity and vile despair of the campers juxtaposed with the Joad family magnifies the complexity of the human condition. Separated by complete destitution and hunger but connected by their struggle for survival, the Joads are conflicted with their Hooverville counterparts. Should the Joads identify or distance themselves from the campers--sympathize or ostracize? According to Gossage, not a single word is uttered until the sixth shot of the scene. Despite this, the moving camera portrays the images and the dynamic between the groups in a method that renders speech unnecessary.
[3] The Joads enter Hooverville in their jalopy, and the camera moves and views individuals of Hooverville as if it were a member of the Joad family. The visual treatment of the camera as a Joad extends the scope of the Joad world. No longer is the camera squeezed into tight spaces; the provincialism of the Joad family is placed against the backdrop of a larger context. In this sequence, the Joads are positioned as the viewer: they must reconcile the “uncomfortable reciprocity†that the moviegoer usually is forced to deal with (113). The process of identification / alienation is cast into a tripartite: the Joads, the campers, and the movie viewer all become implicated in the convoluted moments of the Hooverville sequence. (see comment by Mary Brune)
[4] Throughout the course of this scene, there is a series of alternating shots in which the camera pans from the perspective of the Joads to the campers. In essence, the shots are uninflected cuts that serve to communicate meaning, to emphasize the shift of one body of visual information to the next, between the Joads to the campers, and the campers to the Joads. The reverse point-of-view shots, the oscillation between subject to viewer, viewer to subject creates movement, a pendulum-like shift that is lubricated by the dichotomy of identification and alienation. The conflict is apparent; the visual mode of expression depicts the controversy of the moment. Once the Joad jalopy comes to a stop, the camera shifts from Ma and Tom to a grandmother, grandfather, and daughter; to Ma and Tom; to a husband and wife next to their shack; to Pa, Uncle John, and Casy; to a woman standing next to a for-sale jalopy; and finally back to Ma and Tom. A cadence between them and us, the Joads, and the campers is established and maintained by the chugging groans of the old Joad jalopy. The silence of the moment is countered by the visual potential of present, the level of misery is undeniable, but there is a hesitation in the Joad party to embrace a thread of comparison, to embark upon the process of identification. It is evident that there are similarities between the campers and the Joads, the close-up shots of campers such as the grandmother, grandfather, and daughter parallel the dynamics within the Joad family, but are the Joads willingly to accept this similarity?
[5] Tom is the first to break the silence, and his line reinforces the struggle of us versus them. Tom utters to Ma, “Sure do look none too prosperous. Wanna go somewheres else?†Unsure of their new surroundings, Tom verbalizes the inherent tension that exists not only between the Joads and the campers but also between the Joads and the viewers of the movie.
[6] The microcosm of the Joads’ bubble world is popped. No longer contained by the expressionistic angles of the camera, the Joads open up their window (and ours as viewers) into a macrocosm. The moment exposes a universal truth that applies to all levels of humanity. Ford is seemingly stating that this is the world and this is how the interaction between class to class, human to human works. This Hooverville scene is arguably the only moment in the movie in which the provincialism of the camera is extended to encompass a larger scope. After this scene, the aperture of the lens closes back up and the viewer is once again trapped in the world of the Joads. This triangulation of the Joads, the campers, and the movie viewer is the apotheosis of the film: the documentary style of the camera realizes the potential of the universal struggle to identify or alienate with another.
Comments
Lauren’s analysis has unquestionable depth and detail. She focuses on the different angles of shots and how the chosen shots contribute to a feeling of “despair†for the Joad family. Although film techniques help to build a mood for the viewer, such as extreme displacement (as was shown in this clip), I feel that Lauren does not address an equally crucial aspect of the construction: the body language and facial expressions of the Joad family and the people of Hooverville. Mouths twisted in disgust and melancholy eyes greet the Joads as their overpacked car rolls down the dirt road. The Hooverville people do not offer a hand of welcome but instead turn their backs to the Joads after thoroughly judging them through unforgiving stares. Once the camera turns its focus back on the Joads, their faces have become enveloped with fear, disbelief, and immense sadness. Tom and the rest of the group are frozen in the car, not sure whether there is more hope in turning around with one gallon of gas or setting up camp in a community of tents and starving men, women, and children. The silent interaction between the Joads and the Hooverville inhabitants creates the feeling of “tension,†“sympathy,†and “distance†that Lauren describes. However, these feelings are due not only to the camera angles, but the unspoken chemistry between the family and their new neighbors.
