Orson Welles Citizen Kane: An Individual's Identity

An individual’s identity is shaped through a complex interaction between past and present circumstances which form the basis of one’s values and attitudes (stuff to add: effective textual reflection of this struggle for identity (as a universal human concern) within literature is what elevates certain works above the boundaries of context and allows them to tap into and resonate with the general human consciousness). Orson Welles’ revolutionary film Citizen Kane (1941) examines the psychologically damaging effects of parental neglect and the morally corruptive impacts of an unchecked pursuit for power and influence. However, the prevailing notion posited through the film is that the subjectivity of human experiences negates an absolute holistic

Critical of prominent American media magnate William Randolph Hearst and the Yellow Journalism movement which Hearst promoted, Welles’ satirical newsreel condenses Kane’s life into a series of sensationalised headlines including the epithet “America’s Kubla Khan” while Kane is only portrayed through voyeuristic pinhole shots exploring the difficulty in gaining significant insight into his life. Furthermore, Welles’ non-linear structure framed around several fragmented perspectives conveys the subjective nature of human experience as the perspectives often overlap and contradict one another. For instance, Bernstein’s obsequious portrayal of Kane as a “champion of the working man” juxtaposes with Leland’s criticism of Kane castigating “You don’t care about anything except you” framed by the plethora of Kane posters in the background. The renowned critic Sarah Myers McGinty supports this notion of the impossibility of truly understanding an individual from external experiences in her critique “The film … linguistically deconstructs itself, denying knowledge in the search for knowledge and offering to contradict each reading of its text one after another” (1987) reinforcing the notion that the reporter’s pursuit of insight into Kane’s life is ultimately futile. However , the audience, unlike the characters, gain insight into Kane’s multifaceted nature revealed in the mis-en-scene when Kane trudges past “Echer” styled mirror doorways with his hunched appearance being reflected ad infinitum representative of the many facets that contribute towards Kane’s identity. Hence, though we can also form our own judgement upon another individual’s life, it is impossible to gain a truly objective, complete understanding of another’s