Foucault on Film

1. After reading Michel Foucault's "Panopticism" in Ways of Reading (pages 314-42), you will choose a movie that relates to his theories of normalization and surveillance. Foucault analyzes contemporary culture in terms of a highly particular metaphor of incarceration--the panopticon. In the first part of this project, you will clarify the image of the panopticon for your reader by explaining both its literal structure and its metaphorical presence in the film you've chosen. The movie should deal in some way with how "normal" social behavior is established, maintained, and/or resisted. Ask yourself these questions as you view it: