Im Not There

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

Billy...
Billy is a natural shift from what weve just looked at, i.e. the constant demands of the media and the impact on the artist. The reason why is that, to an extent, Billy is a representation of what happened to Dylan as a consequence of being pushed so constantly by the media. His period of reclusion is the ultimate consequence of trying to assert autonomy in a world where media and audiences want easy messages.

The Allusion
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid directed by Sam Peckinpah The allusion is created in two ways: - the storyline itself - Richard Gere playing Billy the Kid, who has clearly hidden himself away to hide from Pat Garrett - the visual treatment - Hayness styling, or mise-enscene, borrows heavily from the western genre tradition

The Story...
You have copies of this... Before the story - in 1878 - Billy the Kid is offered an amnesty for his crimes and in return, Billy promised to testify against much more significant criminals. He did so, but was betrayed by those he trusted and, consequently, was forced to lived the rest of his life on the run.

The Story...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CcadC-S8-E

Quote Quiz...
On a spare piece of paper: some hawks... "...instead of a place where... I wanted all along...

The Look...
Haynes doesnt create the same kind of homage to Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid that he does for 8 1/2; however, he is still making very conscious decisions about the mise-en-scene that reflects his desire to reference the western genre. We see this in the mise-en-scene: particularly setting and costume. And we hear it in the music.

The Look...

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The Outlaw
And so the whole sequence becomes a metaphor for the persecution of the artist in the face of the endless quest by the media to fix and determine the artist. In order to be disconnected from this whole identitymaking process, the artist has to disconnect themselves from all forms of representation. This is exactly what Dylan did - he took back control over his own artistic identity by disappearing from all public appearances. He made music for himself - but the media still chased him.

The Curse of the Artist

And so there is this sense that the artist can never escape. Their creations are a sort of prison that come to define them and fix them in the eyes of the audience and of the media. Haynes does a really good job of expressing this in his 7 Rules montage...

Insert clip of 7 Rules... montage

The 7 Rules
1. Never trust a cop in a rain coat 2. Beware of enthusiasm and of love, each is temporary and quick to sway 3. When asked if you care about the worlds problems, look deep into the eyes of he who asks, he will not ask you again. 4 & 5. Never give your real name, and if told to look at yourself, never look. 6. Never do or say anything that the person standing in front of you cannot understand. 7. Never create anything, it will be misinterpreted, it will chain you and follow you the rest of your life, it will never change.

Purpose?
What is the purpose of this sequence? What is it trying to argue?

Think about the work weve been doing on the nature of the artist, their relationship with their audience, and their relationship with the media...

How?
So, weve got a range of opinions here about what the scene is trying to make happen. But what choices are made that allow us to reach these conclusions? Re-watch through the scene, discuss, and write notes about how some of the following contribute to the scenes ability to create meaning: - voice-over - editing / juxtaposition - contrast - dialogue - the combination of voice-over and montage