Apparatus theory: a reaction

Apparatus theory, as stated by Christian Metz is a study on how the projection of films in the screen affects the spectator within. He said that the distinguishing factor that differs cinema from other arts is that it is a signifier whose presence is absent, thus calling cinema the "imaginary signifier". There is a prerecorded viewing of the object, which is already absent, while the perception of the spectator takes place in real time. Cinema therefore draws us to the imaginary. As quoted by Metz, " it drums up all perception, but to switch it immediately over into its own absence, which is none the less the only signifier present". 

There should be identification when viewing films because there would be no meaning if there is no identification. There is the character in the film which the spectator looks at, this is where identification takes place. But some films have no character, nevertheless, it does not necessarily say that all films that have characters can have total identification. According to him, "even if the characters are present, there cannot be total identification: the screen is a mirror but not in a literal sense". Identification occurs with the apparatus in cinema, such as the projection of the camera and even the editing. The spectator in the film is subjected by the cinematic apparatuses. All the movement of the head and the perception of the spectator are duplicated and projected by cinema, it is the screen which functions as the recording surface for what has been introjected. It acts as the new mirror of cinema.