Date of Award

2006

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Edith Cowan University

Degree Name

Bachelor of Communications Honours

School

School of Communications and Arts

Faculty

Faculty of Education and Arts

First Supervisor

Tanja Visosevic

Abstract

The aim of this research is to explore the anti-establishment function of the work of Lloyd Kaufman and his film studio, Troma Entertainment. The research focuses on Troma's capacities as paracinema, and examines how in relishing their derided position in the cultural field, Lloyd Kaufman's films represent an anti-establishment cinematic form, combating an institutionalised idea of cultural value. Through challenging the rules of taste, Lloyd Kaufman's films serve to push the boundaries of what is considered valuable in contemporary culture. Films that revel in their 'bad taste' through extreme themes, poor humour and amateurism, make a stand against the mainstream through deliberately positioning themselves as its binary opposite, and positioning themselves as counter cinema through their elevation of different pleasures. The creative portion of the thesis, Dan The Dog Man draws upon the work of Lloyd Kaufman and the films he has released through Troma Entertainment in order to highlight an understanding of how Troma films in particular use bad taste as a weapon against the mainstream idea of cultural value.

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