Gus Van Sant, My Own Private Idaho

This is a critical movie review that you have to watch “Film Title
and Director: Gus Van Sant My Own Private Idaho” in order to
write an critical review.
Assignment Objectives: Enhance and/or improve critical thinking and media literacy skills by:
1. Developing a clear and concise thesis statement (an argument) in response to the
following question: Does the film have the power to transform political sensibilities?
2. Writing an outline for a five paragraph analytical essay building on a clear and
concise thesis statement, including topic sentences and secondary supports.
3. Identifying and explaining three scenes from the film text in support of the thesis
statement/argument.
4. Writing an introductory paragraph for the outlined analytical essay
Be sure to read thoroughly the writing conventions below before beginning this assignment.
Note: You are NOT writing a full essay; rather, you are outlining an analytical essay by completing the
dialogue in the boxes below.

Writing a Critical Review (analytical) Essay

Every essay that you write for this course must have a clear thesis, placed (perhaps) somewhere
near the end of the introductory paragraph. Simply stated, a THESIS (or ARGUMENT) expresses,
preferably in a single sentence, the point you want to make about the text that is the subject of your
essay. A THESIS should be an opinion or interpretation of the text, not merely a fact or
observation. The best possible THESIS will answer some specific questions about the text. Very
often the THESIS contains an outline of the major points to be covered in the essay. A possible
thesis for an essay on character in Perry Henzell’s The Harder They Come might read somewhat as
follows:

The protagonist of THTC is not a hero in the epic sense of the word, but a self-centered young man
bred of economic oppression and cultural dependency. The characters in this film have no real
psychological depth, but are markers for a society of consumption and momentary glory.

(You might then go on to exemplify from the text and argue in favor or against this interpretation:
your essay need not hold to only one perspective.)

What single, clear QUESTION does the above THESIS attempt to answer?

Each essay should be organized into five (5) paragraphs, each based on one of two to four major
ideas, which will comprise the BODY of the essay. Each paragraph must have a topic sentence,
often (but not always) towards the beginning of the paragraph, which clearly states the ARGUMENT
or point to be made in the paragraph. Following the thesis set forth above, the first paragraph might
begin with a sentence like “Ivan’s desires and his destiny are signaled in the opening shots of the
film, where the friendly, jumbled interior of the bus is contrasted with Ivan’s first view of the outer
world: a world of shiny white cars and beautiful women.” Avoid topic sentences that fail to make an
interpretative statement about the work or that merely state something any reader might observe; for
example, “The first characters we see are country people on a bus to town.”

Underline the THESIS and each TOPIC SENTENCE in every critical review essay you submit. This
exercise will force you to make certain that you have expressed and developed the ideas in your
essay clearly and logically. (In other words, do not do this exercise five minutes before you submit
the essay but, rather, as you are working on the very first draft.)

Always use present tense verbs in your critical review essays about film texts. Present tense is the
verb tense of analysis. Past tense, on the other hand, is the tense of narration. In each essay, you
will be analyzing a particular text, not retelling or summarizing the story. If you find yourself slipping
into past tense as you compose, you are probably narrating rather than analyzing.

Use specific passages from the text to support each point that you make in your essay. You may
simply refer to an event in the text, or you may paraphrase what a character or the narrator says. But
the best EVIDENCE will most often be direct quotes from the text.

The Introductory Paragraph – Some Approaches
In your essay, an opening or introductory paragraph may not always be the first one you write. But it will be
the first one your readers read and you need to engage your readers’ attention and interest and present all
you need to make your thesis clear and convincing.
I.

Some Pitfalls to Avoid
1.

Dictionary definitions: Define key terms and concepts in your opening paragraph, but don’t
quote directly from the dictionary to do so. Use a dictionary – more than one dictionary – to
formulate the definition in your own words.

Generalizations about “life,” “society,” “people today,” etc.: You don’t want to begin your
essay with the kind of statement that teeters on that fine line between opinion (those ideas
you will go on to prove) and belief (those ideas unprovable with the evidence offered by the
text). Rather than a statement like, “Almost every man has a sense of pride and will go to
war to prove it,” try something more specific to the text you are analyzing. “The character of

Roland exemplifies how personal pride and personal valor do not always lead to the most
fortunate conclusion.”

The painfully obvious: Avoid opening statements like “Dante’s Inferno is about a journey to
hell,” or “Roland is the hero of The Song of Roland,” unless such statements are in some way
controversial and challenging to traditional interpretations of the text. Try to avoid any kind of
tautological formula – “something is something else” – in the opening sentence, especially,
but also elsewhere as an “argument.”

Try to distinguish between historical or biographical fact: “Dante’s Inferno was written in
fourteenth-century Italy,” and interpretation, especially when you are considering the intention
of an author: “Dante wrote his Inferno to expose the problem of Florentine political corruption
to the world.” The latter may be a part of your theory or thesis (or conclusion) but if you use it
as a statement of fact (an “intentional fallacy”) you will have to prove it rather than merely
argue it – a slippery and difficult and perhaps not particularly useful task. Beware also of
using vague or imprecise generalizations of terms such as “dramatic,” “realistic,” or “critical,”
which differ in their literary and historical significance.

II.

Challenges to Meet
1.

Try for a (syntactically) shapely and relevant opening sentence: be thoughtful and original
and persuasive. Always look for interesting ways into your essay: an epigraph, perhaps, or
an important episode that seems to set the stage for what you want to say, or a succinct
comparison with another well-known work, which will help your reader understand the point
you want to make.

Always (particularly in a comparative essay) identify your texts early on. (Usually with full title,
full authors’ names, and date/period of publication.)

Think of your thesis statement as the logical goal of the first paragraph. Everything you say
here should lead towards (or from) that thesis. Anything that doesn’t lead in that direction –
unless you are presenting a view different from yours, which you want to argue against—
doesn’t belong in your paragraph. Think of the paragraph as a funnel, where the contents
are being concentrated and filtered to one end.

Critical Review #2
*
Using proper MLA bibliographic formatting, cite the film text in the box to the right:

MLA Film Citation

*
1. Develop a thesis pertaining to the assigned film text and whether or not it, the film, in your view has
the power to transform one’s political sensibilities. Your argument should express your point of view
regarding the politics of difference, political sensibilities, and political transformation(s) as related to the
film. Remember, you’re writing (developing) an analytical essay. Submit your thesis statement in the box
to the right:
*
2. Develop three (3) topic sentences that articulate the major ideas that will comprise the body of your
essay. Remember that your topic sentences should clearly state the argument or point to be made in the
respective paragraphs. Submit your topic sentences in the box to the right:
*
3. Identify three (3) scenes from the film that support your thesis statement. Briefly explain
in the box to the right:
*
4. Lastly, fully develop your introductory paragraph. Remember that the best possible thesis will answer
some specific question about the text. In this case a question related to the film’s power to transform
political sensibilities regarding difference. Enter text in the box to the right:

Sample critical review:

Example 1
Film Title and Director: Gus Van Sant My Own Private Idaho
1.

Develop a thesis pertaining to the assigned film text and whether or not it, the film, in your view has
the power to transform one’s political sensibilities. Your argument should express your point of view
regarding the politics of difference, political sensibilities, and political transformation(s) as related to
the film. Remember, you’re writing (developing) an analytical essay. Submit your thesis statement in
the box below:

1a. I found My Own Private Idaho to be a very complex film and with out any background
information the average moviegoer would not see this film as one in which would awaken their
sensibilities.

Develop three (3) topic sentences that articulate the major ideas that will comprise the body of your
essay. Remember that your topic sentences should clearly state the argument or point to be made in
the respective paragraphs. Submit your topic sentences in the box below:

2a. (1)The average moviegoer is not aware of the Generation X culture/era, male prostitution, nor
the plight of someone with a unique illness like narcolepsy as presented by Mike Waters and
therefore has difficulty becoming immersed and empathizing with the character’s. challenges. (2)
Throughout the film there is no prominent societal involvement, authority figures or anyone opposing
the behavior that the Generation X slackers demonstrated. (3) The “cut-up” directors technique
made the film hard to follow contributing to the overall difficulty relating to the characters.

Identify three (3) scenes from the film that support your thesis statement. Briefly explain:

3a. It is difficult to identify three scenes to support my thesis statement because there is not a
particular scene in the movie that could do so. It is the technique in which the film was presented and
the unique character attributes that leave the average moviegoer confused, lost and walking away
saying “what the fuck was that all about?”

Lastly, fully develop your introductory paragraph. Remember that the best possible thesis will answer
some specific question about the text. In this case a question related to the film’s power to transform
political sensibilities regarding difference:

4a. My Own Private Idaho, a movie about two young male hustlers, is not a film that has the
capability to transform one’s sensibilities. Although one might relate to one of the characters, the film
does nothing but leave you confused and or lost, wanting more information about the characters in
order to make some conclusions about what the producer/movie is trying to make. I found My Own
Private Idaho quite confusing. Only after reading about it in Democracy and Difference did it make
some sense to me. I found My Own Private Idaho to be a very complex film and with out any
background information the average moviegoer would not see the film as one in which awaken’s
their sensibilities.

Review completed by: Julie Rodin

Example 2

Film Title and Director: Gus Van Sant, My Own Private Idaho
1.

1a. Gus Van Sant’s movie, My Own Private Idaho, has the power to change a person’s political
sensibilities by examining the paradigms that exist between sexuality and personal identity as they
relate to the social and moral norms of society.

2a. The character Scott uses his sexuality to create a false identity, though initially intended as a
back handed action against his father, in truth, Scott is just as lost as any of the other “street
hustlers.” Lacking a cognitive connection between morality and sexuality, Mike falls asleep when
faced with “situations of stress,” returning to a time in his life when he feels his personal identity is
most stable, his life with his mother; in this way he attempts to understand who he is, through what
he has experienced. The accessibility and internal acceptability of this generation of “lost boys”
becomes evident during the Café scene, where each tells a horror story of their hustles, laughing,
smiling, and shrugging off these encounters as though each was a common experience for those

who live hollow lives.

Identify three (3) scenes from the film that support your thesis statement. Briefly explain:

3a. Café 20:50 In the Cafe the “Hustlers” tell horror stories, often overlapping, of their encounters
as though they are normal experiences, and though distasteful, perfectly acceptable amongst our
society. Betray Bob 1:25:10 Here Scott turns his back on his former mentor, this shows how while
Scott appeared to be the character who is the most “together” he is actually the most lost; by casting
off a former lifestyle to take up another without respecting the transition that links the two, Scott, has
simply taken off one mask and put another on. Here the audience realizes he is the most profound,
yet hollow character. Last Pass-out 1:32:05 Mike’s inability to reconcile his past with his present is
the reason he is constantly at a cross roads in the middle of nowhere, and it’s in the realization of this
that he becomes so upset that he passes out. Here in the final scene he passes out on a road
between a brown dying field and a vibrant green one, lost on a road separated from who he was and
who he is, this adds to the depth of his shoes being stolen, and a random person picking him up
while he slumbers; he doesn’t know where he is going or how he will get there, but it will be an
arduous journey.

4a. Gus Van Sant’s movie, My Own Private Idaho, has the power to change a person’s political
sensibilities by examining the paradigms that exist between sexuality and personal identity as they
relate to the social and moral norms of society. With main characters Scott Favor, Keanu Reeves,
and Mike Waters, River Phoenix, walk the roads of life amongst a subculture that allows them to
exploit their bodies to survive, while attempting to create the foundations of an identity they have yet
to understand. With Bob as the veritable “psychedelic teacher” of their subculture, a man who
hustles and lies to others, as each hustles and lies to themselves; lost in a world without substance,
a melancholy of fading youth.

Review completed by: Mark Lux

Example 3

Film Title and Director: Gus Van Sant, My Own Private Idaho
1.

the box below:

1a. In my opinion, the film, My Own Private Idaho, does not have the power to transform one’s
political sensibilities because it reinforces negative stereotypes about homosexuality, the
characters are not very likable, and the Shakespearian dialogue would be difficult for the average
middle-north-american to follow.

2a. When considering homophobia in the United States, one main factor that stimulates most
prejudice is that many associate the gay community with promiscuity. This film not only
reinforces this stigma but could also intensify it with the promiscuity that occurs mostly in the
form of prostitution. 2. The characters in this film are not portrayed as righteous good-doers,
but as deviants of our society. Unlike the depiction of Harvey Milk, from the film, Milk, the
protagonists in My Own Private Idaho are not fighting to save lives, they are doing drugs and
performing sexual favors in return for money and even though it is possible to feel sympathy for
them, it is unlikely that a homophobic person could watch this film and want to relate to these
characters. 3. Not only is it difficult to relate to the characters because of their behavior, but also
because of the complicated dialogue and artsy nature of the film. Literacy in the United States is
not so high that the average person would feel comfortable following along with a Shakespeare
play, that was turned into a creative, modern play about prostitution, and then made into a
movie, without losing interest in it.

Identify three (3) scenes from the film that support your thesis statement. Briefly explain:

3a. Approx. 22 minutes, Café scene In this scene, some of the male prostitutes are describing
their first experience with an exchange of sex for money. They were desperate and were willing
to have sex with strangers, not long term partners or significant others out of love. Even though
I personally sympathized for their difficult situation and traumatizing experiences, this shows
homosexuality with values that are not strict or pure, the way that many generalize for all gays
and would continue to after watching this film. 2. Approx. 29 minutes, Hotel Scene In this scene
where Bob first appears and arrives to the hotel, many forms of deviance occur, showing
questionable morals. Doing drugs, stealing drugs, planning to rob, and being prostitutes, the
characters are not the typical protagonists that one would want to root for relate themselves to.
3. Approx. 42 minutes, Dialogue with Scott and Bob Scott and Bob engage in an argument that is
difficult to follow, and very Shakespearian in its dialogue, Bob uses many metaphors and other
devices. Throughout the play, there are pieces of dialogue like, “Good lord, lads, I know you as
well as he that made you- Do you think that I would kill the heir apparent?” which clearly use
vocabulary that is unusual for our time.

4a. The film, My Own Private Idaho, tells a story of desperation and hardship for young male
prostitutes. Many times they are stripped of their innocence and they surround themselves with
a hostile environment containing drugs, stealing, and other forms of illegal activity. Although
one may come to like the characters and feel sympathy for them, the film is unlikely to appeal to
those who are not already open-minded about homosexuality. In my opinion, the film, My Own
Private Idaho, does not have the power to transform one’s political sensibilities because it
reinforces negative stereotypes about homosexuality, the characters are not very likable, and the
Shakespearian dialogue would be difficult for the average middle-north-american to follow.