COMPONENT 2 US FILM SINCE 2005​ - Captain Fantastic - Assessment - March 2021

​‘Captain Fantastic reflects the extent to which contemporary US culture and society is divided.’ Examine this statement with reference to key sequences and in relation to the film’s values and ideologies.​

Throughout Captain Fantastic, the director, Ross, reflects the extent to which contemporary American culture and society is divided through several key sequences. These include; the opening sequence where the Fantastic family hunt and kill a deer; the shoplifting sequence; and the sequence at the dinner table, literally highlighting an American social divide with a table splitting apart the two sides of the extended family. Within these sequences, Ross captures this divide through the full use of all film features: from dialogue to camera angles, exploring the dual nature of America through the perspective of the spectator who is, most likely, on the more conventional side of the divide, with the Fantastic family being on the other. Ross demonstrates that this divide is in every part of American society, from the clash of ideologies such as Marxism and Capitalism, to the way parents bring up their children, with the film reflecting this divide through cinematic contrasts that make the spectator understand and ask questions about the Fantastic family's way of life.

In the opening sequence, Ross explores the American divide between nature and humans, and the American attitude of imperialism, spreading the American way far and wide. This is first seen with the symbolism of the deer as a Native American symbol for power which is promptly dismantled when the Fantastic family kill the deer and ritualistically use its blood. This reflects the way contemporary American society is built upon the genocide and displacement of Native Americans, and whilst the Fantastic family are seen to go against many aspects of this society, they are still contributing to it by invading natural spaces that are free from American society. Ross emphasises this idea for the spectator with contrasting shot distances: the deer is only seen from far away whilst the family receive close-ups, illustrating how, despite this forest being the deer's home, they have made it theirs. However, it can be argued that, whilst the family's invasion of the deer's land is reflective of American values, the Fantastic family are being in touch with the natural world which is something left out of contemporary American society, with the extended family later on in the film spending their time in the company of technology. Ross achieves this contradictory-to-American appearance of this family through their introduction in this sequence: covered in mud, making them appear closer to the natural landscape than to American culture, and showing the spectator that they are an unconventional family from the get-go, allowing them to understand that the Fantastic family's rejection of modern America is the key focal point of the film and the lens through which Ross explores the divide within contemporary American culture and society.

Ross explores this American divide more clearly within the shoplifting sequences which demonstrates the literal clash between the Fantastic family and American society and also calls the spectator to question whether Ben is bringing up his children in the right way. In rejecting perhaps the biggest vice of contemporary America, consumerism, Ben teaches his children to shoplift which provides the spectator with a clear indication of his opposing views towards consumerism, however, Ross shows how Ben fails to grasp how shoplifting does nothing to combat consumerism and only teaches his children dishonesty and antisocial behaviour, especially with the way he pretends to have a heart attack. That aspect is especially potent because it calls back to what Ben said about American people ignoring when people are in need, proving him wrong when they come and help him. This also recalls the opening sequence where the family act like animals to hunt a deer, with this faking of heart attack being reminiscent of animals playing dead to avoid being captured - in this case, the capturer is the grips of capitalism. Ross uses a shaky hand-held camera to emphasise how out-of-their-element the Fantastic family are in the supermarket, contrasting the still, wide shots of the landscape around where they live. The shakiness also reflects the immorality of the shoplifting and how it goes against Ben's previously secure morals and ideas about contemporary American culture. However, this scene does not only critique Ben but also critiques America by illustrating how American society rejects those that go against its capitalistic and selfish mindset and forces them to escape to the forest and resort to animal tactics to survive, forcing the family, and the spectator, into the long, claustrophobic alleyways of items inside the supermarket. Within this lies the question for the spectator whether Ben is a good father by teaching his children to shoplift, even if his children are shown to be more intelligent and strong than other children their age and, through that, demonstrates how American society generally limits children to a lower level of intelligence and fitness when they conform to it. Ross leaves this ambiguous, demonstrating how the American divide is as strong as ever and how there is no clear solution to bridge the gap.

The most visually explicit exploration of the American divide by Ross is in the dinner table sequence where the Fantastic family are clearly divided from their extended family over the table. Ross portrays this more specifically by contrasting the actions on one side of the table with those on the other. The conforming, contemporary American family have their kids on their phones at the dinner table whilst Ben allows his children (including the very youngest at around 4) to drink wine, with Ross showing that each side of the divide is flawed, but also the hypocrisy of an American society that normalises addictive technology for children but not alcohol which, in moderation, is arguably less dangerous. Another example of contrast between the two families is the way in which the suicide of the mother of the Fantastic family (auntie/sister of the other family) is described. The typically American family sugar-coat the specifics of the suicide with euphemisms and vague language, whilst Ben goes ahead and describes in great detail, even if it clearly distresses both the children and the sister of the deceased. This, once again, calls on the spectator to question who is in the right and how far they are willing to justify Ben's actions in rejecting American society. Ross uses quite a small table, allowing the families to spill over into each other, suggesting that there is no room in America for both distinct ways of life to co-exist, with the ideas of capitalism and Marxism not being able to work if the other is still in place. This reflects the dual nature of Democrat and Republican in American politics with even slightly different ideologies causing large-scale unrest. Furthermore, Ross has the camera at medium close-up, focusing on the heads of these characters and showcasing how their egos are taking over and causing conflict, illustrated even more with the background being out of focus, forcing the spectator to see the people without the context of their environment and allowing them to see that the root of the American divide comes from ideologies and ideas clashing.

In conclusion, Ross, particularly in the sequences explored above, captures the divide within contemporary American society and culture through his use of contrast within both dialogue and cinematic features. Ross shows the contradictory nature of people, conforming to certain aspects of society when it suits them, whilst rejecting what they can afford to, and also calls into question the moral consequences of Ben's actions against this society and whether American culture is bad enough to justify his them. Ross guides the spectator with the camera, using close-ups to show dominance of character or hand-held cameras to represent the characters being out of their natural habitats or morally grey. This all comes together to make Captain Fantastic a significant reflection of the divide within contemporary American society and culture, bringing these ideas to the forefront of the spectator's mind consistently throughout the film and raising legitimate questions about the nature of division and morality within American society.