*HEAD Essay by Leah * In writing the movie "head", screenwriter Jack Nicholson has created a film in which the traditional tools of screenwriting are used in unconventional ways. Often imagery is more important than character, one conflict replaces another with no real resolution and structure is subordinate to all other elements. This results in a very unusual film which the audience must watch actively to understand, and yet this audience may still leave wondering if they really understood. No doubt this was the screenwriter's intent. The film is very much like a dream (it contains multiple dream sequences and it can be argued that the whole film is one character's dream or hallucination) and, like a dream, its meaning is open to analysis. The dialogue of the film itself dissuades any attempt to understand its meaning, saying "If you look for meaning and form as you do fact, we might tell you one thing but we'll only take it back." However, it can be argued that the film does have a theme and that this theme is the deceptive nature of popular entertainment. This taken to be the theme, the statement from the film would be a lie and therefore an example of this theme. There are many example of this deceptive nature throughout the film. For example, in one scene, Micky is in a western when he suddenly decides he doesn't feel like it anymore. He proceeds to brush away the fake arrows he'd been shot with and to kick awake his co-star who had just dramatically died, before walking right through the backdrop in search of something else. This scene shows Nicholson's unconventional use of traditional screenwriting tools because he sets up the scene using the conventions of the western, and then proceeds to have the hero refuse to play along. The illusion of the film is shattered again in the scene with Annette Funicello when a hand appears from off screen to apply a fake tear at a particularly emotional moment. The film goes on to apply this theme not only to fictional entertainment, but to the news as well, showing a famous Vietnam war news clip of a Vietnamese general assassinating a Vietcong captain, followed by a young girl giving off a piercing scream. The viewer assumes the scream is a response to the horrifying footage, but is deceived, for we have already moved on to the next scene and the scream is merely an enthusiastic response to the Monkees in concert. Here, for the first time, the film openly deceives its audience as you watch the crowd rush forward and mob the performers, only to discover that it is not the real Monkees, but instead look-alike dummies. Not only do the news and other movies deceive us, but this movie will as well. It is an unusual combination: the movie is honest with you about the fact tat it deceives you. Dummies are a frequent image in the film and can be taken to represent the false face of people. Not only does it turn out that the Monkees' fans have been presented with false representations of their idols, but when Mike becomes angry with Micky, Micky is replaced by a dummy. Also, all the guests at the birthday party Mike is unwillingly brought to are at one moment replace by the image of a bin full of broken dummies, showing them to be false friends. The image of the dummy also appears in the dialogue in an argument where Peter insists repeatedly "I am the dummy". The double meaning of this statement is shown in the next scene when Peter is revealed to be a sort of puppet, manipulated and deceived by the director. In this case, the dummy represents a more subtle form of false impression: not only is the audience being duped, but the characters as well. Many of the images in the film are critical of popular media. For example, Peter sits holding an ice cream cone as it melts down his hand, saying "I don't want it, but I can't throw it out. There are people starving in China." As it inevitably melts anyways, the ice cream becomes a symbol for the futility and ridiculousness of trying to bring political causes into the popular media. This futility can also be seen in the aforementioned scene involving the footage of General Nguyen Ngot Loan and Captain Bay Lop: A seemingly serious response to serious footage is trivialized. Somewhat related to the idea that political messages are futile is the idea that the Monkees are not free to sa what they feel. This idea is most evident in the scene concerning Mike's surprise party. The party guest respond as though he had committed sacrilege when he indicates that he would rather sleep than party, even on his birthday and (gasp!) Christmas. The follows the "don't ever laugh at a cripple" scene. This scene indicates that the opinions of popular entertainers are not always without their flaws, but public response to their mistakes can be out of proportion. (Most people would consider being thrown in jail for being rude and perhaps a little mean excessive). Another example of imagery in this film is the image of water. The film begins with Micky jumping off a bridge into water, which represents escape and freedom. Later, we see Mike staring out at the ocean while a song plays with lyrics concerning escape. In the film's conclusion, the Monkees are being chased and jump off the aforementioned bridge. But just when we suspect that they will finally escape, the image is turned on us and shown to be consistent with the film: they have not really found freedom; the "ocean" they have escaped to is really just the box they have been trying to escape. The black box in which the Monkees are continuously finding themselves trapped is not only an important symbol, but also the source of the major conflict within the film. The way in which they end up in the box shows the audience that not only is the audience being deceived, but the Monkees themselves. In this interpretation, the box can be seen to represent typecasting or exploitation by the powers that be. The Monkees don't enjoy being locked in the box and wish to get out and stay out and this provides the main conflict in the film. This conflict provides a certain sense of structure to the film. Although the audience is unaware at the time, the film begins with the Monkees running to escape the box. We then move into a flashback which begins with a summary of the movie's events which serves as a kind of road map. This is followed by a series of encounters and dream sequences strung together in a stream of consciousness-like manner, each of which is very open ended: we see someone flipping channels on tv and we watch the tv, but no indication is given of when we stop watching...we see several dreams begin but don't know when they end (Is Davy dreaming of what the cop dreams about or has Davy's dream ended and the cop's begun?etc) These encounters begin to lead more and more frequently back to the box as the characters become more and more frustrated. Finally, they fight back to escape the box once and for all in a montage providing another summary of the movie. At this point we have reached the scene we saw at the beginning, giving the film a circular structure, which it then betrays by adding one last scene: they haven't really escaped, they been returned to the box. So, while the story is by no means chronological or even logical, close examination shows that the film does have its own chaotic kind of structure. Although the box is the main image of typecasting, there are others, all of which, in a satirical way, depict typecasting as a positive force. For example, in one scene, Peter is walking in a snowy field, Davy is walking through a garden and Mike is strolling on a beach. These are all symbols of peace and solitude, but because they are shown in a montage with each other, it seems that even in solitude the Monkees must be together. Also, in the scene where Davy is a boxer, all chaos breaks loose until Peter, like an angel surrounded by bright light, appears to assume his typecast role ("I'm the dummy. I'm always the dummy."). Through this the film seems to be saying that typecasting brings order and peace. Later, when Davy is looking for the big eye in the mirror, Peter insists "nothing's wrong" indicating that when everyone is in their typecast roles, there is peace in the world.