The Purple Rose of Cairo and Medium-Specificity

Katherine Duke

Philosophy of Film

Dr. Langguth

5 May 2014

The Purple Rose of Cairo and Medium-Specificity

            The Purple Rose of Cairo is undoubtedly accepted to be a film by most people. Both the critics and the supporters of this film can typically agree on this point. We do pause to question, however, if medium-specificity theorists agree.

            The theory of medium-specificity argues that each artform has a specific domain in which it can best express the ideas of the artist. These theorists argue that the “purity” of the medium must then be respected and the constraints of the medium should be recognized by the artist. Film as an artform, then, transcends mere recording by being cinematic, and a true artist aspires to expertise this aspect of each film they create.

            First and foremost, we must establish whether the medium used is that which is specific to cinema. The Purple Rose of Cairo is, in fact, a “moving picture” in that it was created by utilizing film strips with the use of a machine known as a video camera. This is akin to a painting being made of paint that was applied with the use of a paintbrush. Additionally, editing is used to piece different shots together, which is often done when using the medium of cinema to create a feeling of continuity in the plot and highlight certain objects, actions, or people for the viewer, among other reasons. Thus the medium used is still specific to film.

            According to the theory of medium-specificity, each artform has certain “distinctive” attributes that allow it to manage certain artistic expressions better than other content of the medium and better than another medium expresses the content. The Purple Rose of Cairo certainly uses artistic expression better than other films (better than, for example, Sharknado, which I would recommend for viewing for the enjoyment value of a B-list movie). The quality of the shots used in The Purple Rose of Cairo is excellent. They are well-focused shots that convey the desired concepts and impressions in each scene. For example, when Cecilia is daydreaming during her waitressing job, the filmographer successfully captures the hustle-bustle of the diner swirling around Cecilia, who is completely oblivious of her surroundings. In contrast, most of us can think of a film where the director was trying to make a point that clearly was not coming across, whether it was due to the editing, acting, filmography, or for other reasons within the film.

            In addition, The Purple Rose of Cairo expresses that which could not be expressed as well through other media. For example, a stone sculpture would have great difficulty depicting a snowstorm due to the stone’s heavy nature and the difficulty it has with showing detail. Similarly, film should be used to express that which is not better expressed using other means, such as theater.

Film is often said to be most closely related to theater. This is possibly due to the movement and sound captured by both theater and film. The Purple Rose of Cairo transcends that which theater best shows by expressing both that which is two-dimensional and that which is three-dimensional. One of the main plot-points of The Purple Rose of Cairo is that a character from a film within the movie itself steps out of the film and into “real life”. That is, Tom Baxter exits the big screen in a movie theater and joins the world in which Cecilia lives. This is something that would have been very difficult to catch onstage because everyone is perceived to be three-dimensional by the viewer. The film is more successful with this depiction because, although the film itself cannot go beyond two-dimensionality, it can show the “flatness” of the characters as they are in the film within the film, and it can illustrate the existence of other characters in the three-dimensional world, or the “real” world.

            The movie The Purple Rose of Cairo is, then, a piece of cinematic artwork in the eyes of one who believes in medium-specificity. It is, in fact, a film because it uses a form of recording, a.k.a. a video camera, to construct the artwork using the medium of film. It has the “distinctive” attributes of a film because it expresses ideas that could not be conveyed as well using other mediums. In addition, it is more expressive than other works in cinema. The Purple Rose of Cairo is an excellent film that is intriguing, exciting, and unique. Although I am not a believer in medium-specificity, this movie does an excellent job of exploiting the potential of film in its beautiful camera work, skilled editing, wonderful acting, absorbing plot and beautiful scene construction. I would highly recommend this film to others.