Paper Evaluation for
Gimme That Old Time Religion:
A Textual Interpretation of the Movie "Dogma"

The evaluation form had six different categories (listed below), and I got a check plus (the highest mark you could get) in each:

• makes use of course concepts to perform critical analysis of the text chosen for analysis
• refers explicitly to the reading material and uses proper citation method
• addresses the question: what cultural codes are at work in this text?
• explores the race, class, and gender, and/or sexual meaning systems in the text
• considers the roles of ideology, hegemony, and resistance in the text
• uses specific examples to support argument

In the General Comments section the TA wrote,
"Excellent work overall. Your analysis of "Dogma" is thoughtful and well-written. Towards the end, you could edit a bit (repetitive on Gramsci, etc.). But overall, wonderful!
Thanks, [name deleted]"

Below are the comments written into the margins of the paper by the TA.

My response: Um... you caught me. I'll confess -- I made it 10 pt type so I could fit everything I wanted to say into the space limitations we had. Okay, so I was bad... :-) [back]

My response: Erk, I forgot to mention that. It came from both what I was hearing the audience around me comment on as I left the theatre, what my companions at the movie said, and what I'd seen in the odd review or so I'd heard of from friends, the newspaper, and the web. [back]

[Footnote #3] TA's comment: good [back]

[Footnote #4] TA's comment: good questions [back]

[Footnote #5] TA's comment: nice transition [back]

[Footnote #6] TA's comment: but this would suggest 'Indian' characteristics exist.

My response: An excellent point, and one I was initially trying to make, until I got myself tangled up in my own commentary.[back]

My response: I admit, I'm not sure here what the TA means. Taking a stab at it, I'll guess she's asking why the female characters all appear mostly Caucasian, where the male characters are more obviously black or white. Unfortunately I don't know what the director was thinking, but I'd guess he realized on some level the female characters would have a harder time being accepted by the movie's audience, since they were carrying a heavier load of the subversive commentary he wished to make. As a result he didn't want to make them appear so 'radical' (i.e. not the hegemonic societal 'norm' of a white middle-class female) that the audience would refuse them, and by extension the movie as well.[back]

[Footnote #8] TA's comment: nicely stated [back]

My response: thanks! :-) [back]

My response: what, you thought I'd only put up the good things the TA wrote? :-) [back]

My response: Newspapers and the web, yes. I don't tend to read magazines much.[back]

My response: Oops. Oh well, I thought the bit about it being dialogic made it different enough that it bore repeating... my mistake. :-)[back]