Film-makers usually employ different elements and tools to make their wok a masterpiece. The attempts to make a film worth watching is usually applied in filmmaking because just like any other industry, the film industry usually intends to make more sales and increase their profit margins through increased viewer ships. Rashomon effect is an element employed in building scenes that involve more than a single character to build interesting conflicts that make the audience keep watching. Rashomon effect is a term that is used to refer to real-world situations in which there are versions and testimonies of different eyewitnesses. It is the situation in which an event in a film is given contradictory descriptions or interpretations by the characters involved. Rashomon effect is a writing and a storytelling method in films that are meant to provide different perspectives and points of view of the same incident (Coplan, 2006). The eye witness can exist in one’s head to show what is described in the actual movie is what occurs to a human being each day. In the series Hanna Montana Season 2 episode 24, Miley and Jackson forget their dad’s birthday, so they plan a surprise party to make him believe that they did not forget. Lily and Oliver have found a chip that resembles Darth Vader and tries to take bids on it until Rico claims it as his own. Hanna Montana season 2 episode 24 portrays the use of the Rashomon effect in different scenes making the viewers and readers sort out the conflicting perspectives.
As Seymour Chatman argues, the presence of “unreliable narration” in film and literature provides evidence to support the concept of an “implied author” Unreliable narration exists in many forms (lying flashbacks, voice-overnarration, etc.). One specific form is usually referred to as the “Rashomon effect,” named for Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 film Rashomon (Chatman, 1990). This form of unreliable narration features multiple narrators whose perspectives on an event conflictwith one another. Readers and viewers are challenged to sort out the conflicting perspectives (Bordwell, 2013).During the initial scene, when both Miley and Jackson are taking ‘breakfast,’ and they realize that their father had not made the usual breakfast, they are disappointed by their father not preparing breakfast for them. Their father seems disappointed too. Miley blames Jackson for their father’s disappointment, but their father makes a point of correction that he is disappointed in both of them. The conflict between the children and the father is left for the audience to uncover the truth as the film progresses.
While the children are forced to make breakfast for themselves because their father is disappointed in them for an unknown reason, the siblings do not seem to get along. Jackson and Miley offer contradictory interpretations of their father’s disappointment in them. After manipulating Miley to make breakfast for him in vain, Jackson blames Miley for being the reason their father was sad and disappointed in them. Jackson Blames Miley for behaving weirdly around their father the previous night before she went to a party. The scene turns into a flashback where the audience witness Miley sarcastically insulting their father for failing to comprehend that she was going out. Jackson, on the other hand, plays the role of a loyal son and chooses to take the responsibilities of his father into his own hands to save him the embarrassment. Miley, on the other hand, blames Jackson for their father’s disappointment due to his actions the previous night. The fact that Miley wants to explain to Jackson what really happened the previous night makes the audience begin doubting Jackson’s version of the story about what had happened the previous night. In her version of the story, through a flashback, Miley is portrayed as a loyal daughter to her father, while Jackson is portrayed as the naughty one. Jackson is portrayed as the one who acted sarcastically to their father the previous night. The two contradictory versions of the story give a contradicting interpretation of the previous night’s situation. The two versions of the story make the audience wonder which individual is telling the truth and who is not. But, definitely, both of them must have done something hurtful to their father. While the audience cannot make up what it is in this scene, they hope that eventually, they will get to the truth of the matter.
The Rashomon effect is applied in the scene where Miley and Jackson’s father are jogging near the edge of what looks like a see and comes across two teenagers. One of the teenagers (the girl) had initially told the other teenager (the boy) that the reason she cannot get dates is that he does not act nice towards girls, while the other one responds that the reason why she does not get dates is that she eats like a pig. Soon afterward, Miley and Jackson’s father show up, and upon the girl asking what was up, he turns back and answers, “never have kids. They will only break your heart.” The boy then responds, “Now I know why he does not get dates.” This scene offers different contradicting descriptions about why one cannot get a date. It is left for the audience to determine the genuine reason why the characters cannot get dates.
Rashomon effect is applied in the second interaction between the children (Miley and Jackson) and their father. While both Miley and Jackson hope to apologize and hope things will get back to the way they were, their father remains unmoved by their apologies. This situation contradicts the interpretation of the father’s disappointment further because he is not even willing to tell them what they did wrong to deserve silent treatment. The two siblings are left stranded, wondering what they did wrong to their father. While they are stranded, the audience is subjected to a flashback which seems to offer a real account of what had happened the previous night. It is when they come across a mail that reveals the reason why their father was acting the way he was acting. Apparently, their father’s birthday had been on the previous day, and yet they had done nothing for him to celebrate his birthday.
Towards the end of the episode, Jackson struggles to get people who are close to the family to come to the surprise party, which was meant to be a “birthday party.” He ends up inviting total strangers. Jackson’s perception and Miley’s perception seem to conflict with each other appears contradicting after Miley learns that he had invited strangers to what was supposed to be their father’s birthday. Towards the hand of the party, when the siblings were expecting their father not to show appreciation for their effort for not doing it on time, they were shocked that their plan had worked, and their father was happy again. The different expectations by the siblings and the father create a contradictory interpretations from the audience. it is not until both Jackson and Miley see their father’s positive reaction that they understand that everything had worked out fine. In the different scenes that Rashomon effect is applied, the audience in one way or another manage to sort out the conflicting perspective eventually. Contradictory interpretations or descriptions run throughout the episode, and it creates suspense and makes the series worth watching.
Hanna Montana season 2 episode 24 portrays the use of the Rashomon effect in different scenes making the viewers and readers sort out the conflicting perspectives. Most of the scenes generate questions that make the audience develop suspense and focus on the film for the answers to unfold. For instance, during the initial scene, the audience cannot tell why Miley and Jackson’s father were disappointed in their children. As the children attempt to understand why their father had been disappointed through contradicting and conflicting flashbacks which are made up, the audience has more questions than answers as they cannot tell who is telling the truth or if both of them are lying. The audience cannot determine why Miley and Jackson’s father had been sad either. The Rashomon effect is applied in different scenes and creates an interesting conflict that makes the episode more entertaining. Suspense is an essential element in a film and it can be achieved through the application of Rashomon effect.
REFERENCES
Bordwell, D. (2013). Narration in the fiction film. Routledge.
Chatman, S. B. (1990). Coming to terms: The rhetoric of narrative in fiction and film. Cornell University Press.
Coplan, A. (2006). Catching characters’ emotions: Emotional contagion responses to narrative fiction film. Film Studies, 8(1), 26-38.
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