FEATURE ZUE representation of the normal, everyday life; in many of the television shows mentioned above, cafes are the meeting spots where people get together and talk about, well, life. The cult classic Twin Peaks revolves around the murder of Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) and the eccentric FBI agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) who was sent in to solve the case. This is not your ordinary crime television series as it mixes elements of the supernatural, psychological, and weirdness that only David Lynch can (or is allowed to) pull off. Between the dark secrets of Twin Peaks, odd characters on the verge of madness, and the beautiful dead girl, our hero Coop offered the following advice to the local sheriff, Harry S. Truman (Michael Ontkean): "Every day, once a day, give yourself a present... It could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot black coffee…” What of the films? Pulp Fiction, for instance, centres on the issue of crime and gangsterism in the city. Sure, it's not a conventional reality to a lot of people, but there are still situations that showed a degree of the ordinary. In related scenes in Pulp Fiction, we see glimpses of how normal a person can be in the midst of chaos. In fact, the film opens with a scene in a coffee shop. Two characters, a man and a woman, were presumably having a meal together. The man seemingly declared against the woman as he disagreed with something, saying 'it' is too risky.
it is to make the scenes feel close to home by putting the extraordinary into the ordinary that we are familiar with (and vice versa). This concept also seems acceptable in parodies as they have implemented and sometimes highlighted in the narrative. In an episode of How I Met Your Mother, Barney Stinson claimed that bars are more fun that cafes, while Futurama’s Philip J. Fry serendipitously saved the day after consuming 100 cups of coffee. The act of making coffee as a part of the slice-of-life scenes familiarises them to the audience, hence making them 'typical', or a form of shorthand. Pam Cook, a Professor Emerita in film, mentioned the term 'shorthand' when discussing about the genre/author interplay. She stated that this gives the audience the immediate idea of something without needing a long explanation. Therefore, if the audience get it that coffee is synonymous with our daily lives, it probably is. This concept is similar with the representation theory in media, which explains the depiction of reality in media,
and is commonly concerning the topic of stereotyping and archetyping in media. However, this matter is highly subjective, and needs to be taken with a grain of salt (or a sprinkle of cinnamon). This is because the 'representativeness' of media representation is still far from a perfect portrayal of our lives. We are all naturally biased, after all, and there's no shame in that. Speaking of bias, you may notice that the examples I gave are mostly American. Well, that's because American shows are among the most popular, as are the American films that dominate the mainstream film scene. This begs the question: how much has our lifestyle been affected by American media? Man of Steel, for example, displays an arsenal of American brands, such as Kellogg's, Gillette, Carl's Jr., Sears, 7Eleven, Warby Parker eyewear, and that's just product placements. Let's not forget the actual narrative: Alien turned American dream, out to save the world, o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave, and then some. Of course, that's a whole 'nother story.
Halfway through the film, we see another iconic coffee scene in Jimmie's (Quentin Tarantino) kitchen where a blood-soaked Vincent (John Travolta) and Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) were addressing the elephant in the room over, you guessed it, coffee. In Thor, our eponymous hero was banished from his realm to this one. Here on Earth, in a breakfast scene at a diner, he was served a mug of coffee. To his delight, it appealed to his taste, an appreciation he expressed by smashing the mug to the floor to pay a compliment. So why was coffee placed in these scenes? Like I stated earlier, I believe that 6 | CQ MAGAZINE | #6
IMAGE: CAMILA TAMARA SILVA SEPÚLVEDA / FLICKR
Moments later, a waitress appeared and asked if anyone would want a refill on their coffee. The discussion intensified after the waitress left and finally the couple dropped the bomb on what they were talking about: planning a robbery, and because they thought the coffee shop was a perfect place to rob, their plan commenced within a few minutes.