Affect Theory and Emotional Spectatorship

 

Affect Theory and Emotional Spectatorship: Feeling Before Meaning

Introduction

Affect Theory in cinema, rooted in the works of Brian Massumi and Sara Ahmed, focuses on how films make us feel before we think. It explores the bodily, pre-cognitive sensations that occur during film viewing — goosebumps, tears, fear, or euphoria — that precede interpretation or judgment.

Core Concepts

• Emotion and affect are distinct: affect is felt physically before it becomes emotion.

• Cinema operates as an affective machine — transmitting energy, intensity, and sensation.

• The spectator’s body is the site of meaning-making.

Key Points

• Pre-Linguistic Response: Affect occurs before narrative understanding (sound, rhythm, color).

• Cinematic Intensity: Editing, framing, and music manipulate the viewer’s sensory system.

• Collective Affect: Shared emotions in theaters create social connectivity.

Examples

• Gravity (2013) — uses sound and rhythm to induce awe and anxiety.

• Joker (2019) — transforms emotional discomfort into empathy and critique.

• The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) — silent cinema’s raw facial expression evokes pure affect.