Rahpooye Honar/Performing Arts

Rahpooye Honar/Performing Arts

Analysis of Types of Violence in the Movies The Salesman and Drown A study based on the Views of Slavoj Žižek

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 Master of Arts in Cinema, Faculty of Arts, Soure University, Tehran, Iran.
2 PhD student in philosophy of art, ,Philosophy of Art, Department, Law, Theology and Political Science Faculty, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Violence is one of the important concepts throughout the history of humanity, which has undergone changes and developments in its definitions and classifications. Slavoj Žižek is an important theorist in the field of philosophy, society, and art. In his book Violence: Six Sideways Reflections, he introduced violence in five groups including subjective, objective, systemic, symbolic, divine, and mythic violence. Violence from Žižek's view has formed the theoretical foundations of the current research. Considering the importance of cinema as an art that reflects society, the case studies analyzed in this research are two films The Salesman (2016) and Drown (2020). Also, considering the popularity of cinema and the mutual influence of this art and society, it is important to analyze the way something like violence is reflected in prominent movies. As a result of this article, it can be seen that both films reflect the five types of violence. The attention of both films is focused on women and the issue of rape is also raised in both films. Subjective violence in Drown is more intense and goes up to the scene of murder. Objective violence in both films is influenced by the patriarchal atmosphere. The way of showing systemic violence is different and it is applied in The Salesman under the influence of cultural norms and in Drown through the influence of the hierarchy of criminal groups. The manifestation of symbolic violence is the most similar to each other and in both films it is influenced by the concepts of jealousy and honor and leads to condemnation of rape victims. Divine violence in both films leads to the agency of the main male character in the execution of the punishment, and the mythic violence in Drown forms the entirety of the film's narrative.
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  • Receive Date 02 March 2024
  • Revise Date 22 August 2024
  • Accept Date 06 January 2025