KINGSTON, RI – NOV. 26, 2024 – Justin Wyatt, chair of communication studies, published his eighth book, 3 Women, as part of his BFI Film Classics series on November 14, 2024. This series is sponsored by the British Film Institute to highlight analyses of classic films.

“What I find in my film classes is some of the most difficult or thought provoking films are the ones that the students attach to the most,” Wyatt said. “After they see a film, I have them write a reflection, and I’ve been blown away by how insightful and creative and analytical students are. I’ve shown lots of different Altman films, and 3 Women by Robert Altman is the film that the students attach to the most. I found that kind of fascinating because it’s a little bit of a difficult film to watch. So I thought maybe what I should do is write a book about it.”

Altman wrote, produced, and directed the 1977 American psychological drama starring Shelley Duvall, Sissy Spacek and Janice Rule. Set in a dusty California desert town, the film depicts the increasingly bizarre relationship between an adult woman (Duvall), her roommate and co-worker (Spacek) and a middle-aged pregnant woman (Rule).

“There’s somewhat of an exchange of identities of the women over time, but it’s very subtle and also it’s very much a social and cultural critique of American life,” Wyatt said. “Part of what’s interesting to me about this period, people talk about women’s liberation. But if you look at it, sexuality is still very male dominated and male based. It’s all about the male gaze.”

Wyatt earned his masters and Ph.D. in film and TV studies at UCLA, focusing his graduate work on the structure of media industries along with marketing practices. Before becoming a professor at URI (previously tenured at the University of Arizona and the University of North Texas in the 90s), Wyatt worked in marketing and audience research at NBCUniversal, Viacom, and ABC TV.

“When I went to UCLA, one of the things that we studied was the history of American film and this is a period called “The New Hollywood” from the late 60s to the late 70s,” Wyatt said. “And this period where you had a lot of social changes, civil rights, women’s liberation, gay rights all coming to the fore. At the same time, the studios aren’t really sure what to make, and it comes as an entry point for a lot of very interesting movies that were challenging, both in terms of the way that they told the story and also in terms of the content.”

During his studies of New Hollywood, Wyatt was introduced to director Robert Altman. He continued to study Altman’s career throughout grad school and has since written about him academically. 

In 2010, the University of Michigan was gifted Robert Altman’s files (700 boxes of all of his records) by his widow, Kathryn Reed Altman. Each box was filled with a variety of memorabilia ranging from personal papers to scripts to correspondence.

Nearly 8 years ago, Wyatt was on campus giving a lecture and had heard about the trove of archives from Altman. After speaking with the university’s head archivist, he was granted access to these files; over which Wyatt describes he could have spent months going through 2 or 3 boxes alone.

It was through discovering these boxes that Wyatt’s interest shifted from admiration of the director to scholarly research.

The British Film Institute has a series of short books written to provide context and analysis of classic films. Senior Publisher, Bloomsbury Visual Arts/British Film Institute, Rebecca Barden, offered Wyatt the opportunity to write about Altman for their series.

In the classroom, Wyatt drives the importance of art, society, representation, and justice into his lectures with the goal of giving his students the space to form their own opinions with structural tools in mind.

“I’m always fascinated by my students’ perspectives because they’re much different than mine,” Wyatt said. “I want to hear what they have to say, because that’s a gift to me as a teacher is to listen to my students, their perspective and their insights on artwork from a time 40 or 50 years ago…I always learn a lot from my students.”

To purchase Wyatt’s, 3 Women, visit Bloomsbury Academic.

This article was written by Erin Malinn, class of 2028.