To the extent that escapism has been theorized at all, scholars tend to conceive it through geographic metaphors—as the desire to get away to another world or utopia. Yet escapism is fundamentally temporal; it opens a reparative interval for the subject to gather emotional resources for persevering in their world. Focusing on The Wizard of Oz, Victor Fleming’s 1939 paean to escapism, this talk explores escapism’s temporal framework, as the material conditions of video exhibition allow viewers more control over their narrative and emotional experience.
Bio:
Caetlin Benson-Allott is Professor of English and Film & Media Studies at Georgetown University. She is the author of The Stuff of Spectatorship (University of California Press, 2021), Remote Control (Bloomsbury, 2015), and Killer Tapes and Shattered Screens (University of California Press, 2013). Her current book project reframes the concept of escapism as a spectatorial mode with regenerative political potential.