I’m Dr. Andrew Wood, and this is your introduction
to the Culture of Humanization.
By humanization, I refer to efforts by artists
and activists to challenge and transform modern
culture, to renew humankind seemingly lost
in its urban environment.
I focus on Playtime, a film by Jacques Tati
who famously inveighed against the dehumanizing
nature of what Lee Hilliker terms “rationalist
optimism" epitomized by modernist architecture
and forecasted earlier in our class when we
discussed Haussmannization.
In many ways, Tati offers the same argument
we encountered in David Harvey’s discussion
of Faust, that our efforts to destroy the
past, to replace tradition with “the new,”
force us to lose something that makes us human.
Hilliker traces the twentieth century progression
away from the past with his reference to the
architectural movement called Bauhaus and
to an architect nicknamed Le Corbusier.
Their confidence in central planning and unified
design would culminate in the so-called International
Style of architecture that dominated global
skylines until the 1970s.
It was in this era, specifically in 1967,
when Jacques Tati directed his wildly ambitious
Playtime.
The film flopped with most audiences and bankrupted
its director. Even so, Playtime, despite its
challenge against cinematic norms, deserves
close attention.
Playtime is a masterpiece of postmodern cinema.
In a manner that should remind you of Greg
Dickinson’s Starbucks essay, Hilliker observes,
that “[Playtime] questions the very capacity
of humans to assess accurately basic conditions
of spatial location and personal identity.”
We observe this struggle when witnessing the
confusion of Playtime’s characters, their
efforts to locate themselves in the material
“locale” of Paris and having to accept
instead - its abstract symbols as poor substitutes
for meaningful human interaction.
I mean, it’s cool to see the Eiffel Tower
when you visit Paris. But confusing that monument-to-modernity
with the actual city suggests a sort of tourism
that fails to satisfy.
What’s worse, the denizens of Playtime struggle
even to find that touchstone, getting lost
among the mirrored optics of the spectacle
city.
Cast into this modernist maelstrom is Playtime’s
protagonist, M. Hulot: a fellow who – sometimes
accidentally, sometimes intentionally – breaks
the rules of urban life.
One of Playtime’s major themes is a celebration
of Bricolage, which we discussed when reading
Michel de Certeau, over disciplinary design,
which we explored with Michel Foucault.
Another key theme is the effort of modern
design to produce a totalizing environment
of perpetual flow, akin to omnitopia.
Hilliker describes this flow as a “seamless
architectural whole that segues from airport
to workplace to dwelling to leisure space
without a break and with little differentiation
between structures.”
The author does a great job of summarizing
the film and pointing out its many comments
on modern culture.
There’s no need for me to repeat his insights
here.
Instead, I’ll merely show one scene from
the film, in which a character named Barbara
visits Paris and tries to find some genuine
experience within the city’s modern design.
As you watch this excerpt, write a few original
sentences to answer the following question:
What does Playtime say about modern architecture
and tourism and their impact upon human relationships?
[Tourist chatter]
Please follow me.
[Tourist chatter]
Barbara, come here. Let's see the sights.
[Tourist chatter]
From what the book says, that should be
- let me see!
- le pont Alexandre trois. 
- I'm sure it is!
That'd be a good picture, OK? Let's go.
[Urban noise]
Ladies, excuse me, would you mind? That's really Paris! Please, I'd like to take a photo.
[Urban noise]
S'il vous plaît, Madame, may I...?
[Teen Music]
Hey! Hey boys, do you mind? Thank you.
[Urban noise]
Excusez-moi, Madame. Sorry.
[Urban noise]
This will be a little longer to take. Just a minute.
Excuse me, I want to take your picture. Please, could you move over here and let me take y'all's picture together?
Here, really fine. Just stand there together and get these flowers. Big smile! Hold it, that's real good!
Could you move your camera bag just a minute?
- Barbara, Barbara, hurry up!
- I'm coming.
Oh, come on girls, wait 'til you see how modern it is!
And they even have American stuff. Come on!
I also encourage you to rent Playtime to watch
the glorious cacophony of the Royal Garden
sequence, as well as the film’s final carousel
scene Tati’s grand transformation of staid
urban life into something unexpected, uncontrollable,
unforgettable when (in Hilliker’s words),
“the socially constructed physical world
begins to come apart and look less omnipotent
and more malleable.”
As you watch this film – which demands a
great deal of even the most experienced moviegoer
– think of all of the concepts and ideas
we’ve explored in this class.
For you are truly a citizen of modern culture.
Now the question remains: How will you deploy
that citizenship to humanize our world?
 
