section i In The House of Yes there are several ways in which the film plays on the idea of boundaries. Moreover, we could say this is a strategy which elaborates the theme of incest as narcissism. Develop this argument using both theoretical material and textual examples from the film. Make sure you include reference to the context under discussion, i.e., the "cultural screen saver" known as JFK. The incest that is portrayed in the film, The House of Yes, is narcissism at its root. Revolving around the lives of troubled, fraternal twins, (Jackie and Marty Pascal) The House of Yes delves deep into the taboos of incest and schizophrenia. The movie also manages to cleverly tie the Pascal family dysfunction off with an obsession with the Kennedy family that begins to filter into the unstable reality of Jackie, our troubled heroine. As the audience comes to learn, Jackie actually believes herself to be Jackie O and through a lifetimes worth of lies and half-truths, comes to see her brother, Marty, as Jackie O’s beloved husband, John Kennedy. The narcissism that can be seen in The House of Yes, comes through in the way in which the boundaries of the Pascal family are slowly blurred away. As McLuhan argues, when we thinks we are talking about the objective world, we are really turns the gaze back onto ourselves. This notion of imposing ourselves onto the objective world, forces us to root ourselves in history. This gives us the chance to put ourselves in a position of history. The ever famous catch phrase of, "where were you when…" that circulated after Kennedy’s death, is a prime example of average individuals rooting themselves in history. While not physically being at the scene of the assassination, "where were you when…" allowed millions of people to anchor themselves to the moment, thus creating the illusion of a privileged, historical status. This illusion is incredibly prevalent in The House of Yes, for it is the Kennedy assassination that gets the proverbial incestuous ball rolling. As mentioned previously, Jackie believes herself to be Jackie O. Along with Marty as JFK, they continually roll play the assassination in the comfort of their living room, gun et al. Jackie states that, "I’ll be her" while Marty replies with, "and I’ll be him". Toward the end of the movie, Marty’s fiancée tries to jostle him out of the deeply disturbing game in which Jackie has him so tangled within, and Marty explains to Jackie that she is in fact not Jackie O. Jackie goes on a desperate rant, recounting how Jackie O reacted after Kennedy’s head shot, reaching out as if to grab his skull, talking as if she was the one that physically reached out for John Kennedy’s head. The distorted boundaries between past and present and fantasy and reality become responsible for the tragic end of the movie in which Jackie re-enacts the Kennedy assassination, yet unlike all the previous times in which an empty gun was fired, Jackie creates living history by shooting Marty in the head. Moreover, Reynolds claims that narcissism is a reflection that allows a person to see what they wish to believe. As Reynolds states, "we need identity not to be there in order to find it" (86). The Kennedy family becomes so important because they became the embodiment of American values and patriotism, despite the well-circulated rumors of darker tidings that existed beneath the polished and smiling Kennedy venire. This goes to say, according to Reynolds, the Kennedy’s became "America’s romantic dream of itself". Reynolds further states that the image the Kennedy’s put forth to the media became something to desire, something to yearn for and achieve. McLuhan adds that, "depictions of the dead president are a template for constructions of American identify", therefore, something to be desired ( ). This desire for the perfect American ideal is what keeps the iconic status of the Kennedy family, iconic. Desire, as Reynolds suggests, is what keeps one living, or in the Kennedy’s case, keeps one immortal. People spend their entire lives searching for their own personal Camelot, searching for a place where they can see their own perfection reflecting back at them. This reflection is taken almost exactly in The House of Yes. Jackie claims that sleeping with Marty is, "like fucking a mirror". This mirror is symbolic of the gaze as well as the concept of looking. For Jackie, attributing her physical and genetic similarities to Marty forms a link that binds them together. They become perfect and ideal, because that is hoe Jackie views them – parts of a whole that are only complete when together. As well, JAckie desires her brother, centering her life on the notion of them being together. She tells Marty that she "got sane" for him, and very vocally disapproves of the relationship he has with his fiancée, Lesly. On that note, Lesly is a clear allusion to Marilyn Monroe, who is probably Kennedy’s most infamous (yet never confirmed) affair. Like America at the time, Jackie is willing to overlook Marty’s indiscretion, because it ruins her image of their relationship, and Jackie needs Marty to fall in line in her idealized, dream world in order to keep her sanity in check. section ii Discuss and compare at least two of the theoretical approaches we have looked at thus far (charisma, celebrity and narcissism). Which aspects of these approaches work best together? In your answer, discuss what and how one can draw from these approaches to help arrive at a "reading" of "JFK the image". Charisma is epistemologically defined as a gift or a favor. The element that makes charisma so valuable when referring to JFK, is that charisma gives the allusion of extravagance or grandiose in a person, making them appear larger than life and mythic. Whether or not the quality is actually inherent in the person is of little consequence, for charisma makes people believe said grandiose to be true. This chimera naturally leads to a charismatic person having a group of followers that reinforce the concept of their extraordinary qualities and powers. Building on this notion of 'special powers', a charismatic person, therefore, stands on a plateau of existence that is untouchable by mere humans. Their incredibleness comes from nowhere and everywhere, but is without a doubt, not mortal. Finally, much like a God on Mt. Olympus, a charismatic person graces everyone around them with the vestiges of their power. Celebrity is something much more complex. Much like currency, celebrity flows round and round, and is accumulated. The more currency collected by a single person, the richer that person becomes and the same goes for celebrity. Celebrity allows people certain leniencies they would not be permitted under normal circumstances, thus giving the impression of celebrities having a different set of rules than normal people. Yet, due to the fact celebrities have to still abide by rules, celebrity status becomes something that one can attain. Most fascinatingly enough, what keeps the public enthralled with celebrities is the assumption that there is something darker and more sinister lurking behind their glossy finish. The negative spaces of information that celebrities hide from the public become insatiable stories for the public to swallow up and keep coming back for more. Personally, I believe that charisma and celebrity walk hand in hand with each other. In today’s world, it is very easy to say there are a lot of famous people. Between musicians, movie and television stars and those famous simply due to excessive wealth, society is swarmed with images of famous people doing the most mundane of thing. Yet, a fascinating way to look at the gossip tabloids and entertainment sections of newspapers is that although we are bombarded with a litany of images of famous people, we have very few celebrities. The celebrity is an illustrious title that is only bestowed upon people who manage to infiltrate and leave a mark on the minds of people. What differentiates Brook Hogan from Angelina Jolie? Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy? The answer is charisma. In order for a person to reach celebrity status, charisma is most definitely needed. If a person wants to be remembered forever, that is when narcissism is needed. Yet, for the short run, charisma and celebrity are the two theoretical approaches that work best together. Narcissism needs charisma, whereas charisma does not need narcissism, therefore, charisma solidifies the status of celebrity in a way that narcissism cannot. In JFK’s case, his status as a famous person was assured when he won the presidency. His status as a celebrity was solidified due to his enigmatic manner of speaking and salacious manner of attracting attention. His charismatic nature drew in millions of 'fans', which spurred magazines and newspapers to focus their reports on his personal life in lieu of his political one. In addition, magazines were littered with articles and pictures of John Kennedy playing football, Jackie O playing with her children, images of the Kennedy kids being kids. None of the magazines dug very deep into the Kennedy bubble, but that did not stop newspapers from flying off the shelf. People became obsessed with knowing everything they could on the Kennedy family, wanting to abstractly take part in their lives and learn all their dirty little secrets. Magazines would come up with scandalous headlines that drew the readers in, yet could never back their bylines with anything more than common knowledge, rehashed and reprinted for mass consumption. Even now, sixty years later, the Kennedy assassination still piques the interest of people due to the highly unsetting and jarring account of events and the even more troubling results that the Warren Commission concluded. Another example of JFK’s celebrity status due to his charisma can be seen in his brother Robert. Robert, much like John, was young, attractive and athletic, looking very much like the Kennedy standard of the All-American male. Yet, unlike John, he did not possess a flare for politics and speaking, but the public still associated him with the image of a charismatic celebrity due to his proximity to John, their fallen god. Robert was not John, but he was as close as the public could get and politicians like Lyndon Johnson knew to capitalize on Robert’s secondhand charisma. At the National Democratic Convention, Robert received a twenty-two minute standing ovation from all those attending, which only furthered to separate the Kennedy clan from the Johnson’s.