Types on screen: revisiting Stanley Cavell’s ontology of cinema with Ryan Gosling

Abstract

Following in the footsteps of Bazin and Cavell, this papers aims to revisit the importance of the theory of “types” in our current analyzes of cinema and its philosophy. Remembering that the Cavellian use of “ontology” has a Heideggerian edge, that is, it reports not an essentialist metaphysics, but a historical and social perception of the analyzed phenomena, the theory of types and the acknowledgment of which types are prominent in our culture can be a tool of cultural interpretation. In particular, we will analyze how the actor Ryan Gosling constituted himself as a type and how, in turn, this had a cultural impact on the way his films were received. Such reflections are worked with an indication that these cinema ontology tools can help not only the philosophy of art, but also cross social and cultural analyses.