I remixed Brian's comic.
Brian's:
http://Pixton.com/ic:uhoutceb
Remix:
http://Pixton.com/ic:rb6533jy
Monday, June 6, 2011
True West
After filming our trailer for True West as our final project, I realized how much I liked that play. Kunkle said right before he popped the tape into the VHS that this could be the definitive text of our high school career--it had been for some of his students in the past. And looking back on that play, it wasp probably my favorite text of this quarter.
First of all, it is incredibly entertaining. Lee and Austin's shouting matches are as comical and absurd as they are fierce. I loved Malkovich's lisp and Sinise's whiny shrieks. Even with such an emphasis on chaos, though, Shepard was able to lace a couple of themes in between bouts of drunken rage. True West can be seen as a dialogue on what it means to be brothers, what it means to be "stable" in society, and what it means to be desperate. I guess I didn't appreciate how good of a play that True West was in the moment, but now thinking back, Shepard's play was one of my favorite works we studied.
First of all, it is incredibly entertaining. Lee and Austin's shouting matches are as comical and absurd as they are fierce. I loved Malkovich's lisp and Sinise's whiny shrieks. Even with such an emphasis on chaos, though, Shepard was able to lace a couple of themes in between bouts of drunken rage. True West can be seen as a dialogue on what it means to be brothers, what it means to be "stable" in society, and what it means to be desperate. I guess I didn't appreciate how good of a play that True West was in the moment, but now thinking back, Shepard's play was one of my favorite works we studied.
Persepolis Reflection
Persepolis was my first step into the world of graphic novels (aside from The Arrival which was composed of only images), and I'm still undecided about whether or not I'm a fan of the genre. There are parts in Persepolis that are gripping and interesting, but it also gets trivial at times. I'm not sure whether that is a reflection on the genre as a whole or just this work.
I mean, I like the parts in Persepolis that are concerned with history and regional conflict and Marji's characterization. But the parts that deal with Marji's boyfriends and first kisses seem unimportant to the overall narrative. Perhaps the graphic novel plays into the teenage gossip feel of Marji's social life, making it seem childish. However when the comic deals with big ideas like war and cultural identity, the comic format really adds a lot in my opinion. I guess it all really depends on the content within the graphic novel.
I mean, I like the parts in Persepolis that are concerned with history and regional conflict and Marji's characterization. But the parts that deal with Marji's boyfriends and first kisses seem unimportant to the overall narrative. Perhaps the graphic novel plays into the teenage gossip feel of Marji's social life, making it seem childish. However when the comic deals with big ideas like war and cultural identity, the comic format really adds a lot in my opinion. I guess it all really depends on the content within the graphic novel.
Pixton Comic
Here's the link to my comic: http://Pixton.com/ic:keucbo17. You have to read it clockwise. Enjoy!
Part of a Group
This is a required post that I was absent for and am making up now. This whole quarter we've been discussing works related to the theme of being alone or "the other." For this post though, I looked at the opposite: what it means to be part of a group or team.
Last night was our baseball banquet and with thirteen seniors, it was definitely a tight-knit team. This year was the most positive experience I've ever had on a baseball team. Everyone was willing to make sacrifices for the good of the team. I guess I hadn't really noticed until everyone kept refering to our season in the past tense at the banquet that my time with these guys was really over. I'm going to miss playing with that team a lot.
Last night was our baseball banquet and with thirteen seniors, it was definitely a tight-knit team. This year was the most positive experience I've ever had on a baseball team. Everyone was willing to make sacrifices for the good of the team. I guess I hadn't really noticed until everyone kept refering to our season in the past tense at the banquet that my time with these guys was really over. I'm going to miss playing with that team a lot.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Patton
I will have to follow in Mr. O'Malley's footsteps and choose my favorite war movie, Patton. It is the story of General George S. Patton and his conquest through Africa and Sicily and his leadership of the Third Army in Europe. In many ways, Patton was a divisive character in American history, but Francis Ford Coppolla, who wrote the screen play, does an uncanny job at portraying a Patton that liberals and conservatives alike can relate to.
The movie starts with an incredibly famous image: Patton lecturing in front of an enormous American flag, but I chose a more subtle image to blog about. A side of Patton that Coppolla really exploits is his historic and romantic approach to warfare. This is exemplified in a few scenes that show Patton on an ancient battlefield, incredibly absorbed by the memories of past soldiers and warfare.
The film does more to glorify war than detract from it. Curiously, however, the movie presents some feelings of resentment toward the technological advancement of war. Toward the end of the film, Patton says that he is glad that he will never see the day when war is fought without troops, soldiers, advancements, and retreats. "When compared to war, all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance," Patton proclaims. The movie certainly glorifies the pure, historical nature of war.
This is completely different from Vonnegut's goals in Slaughterhouse-Five. Vonnegut exposes the destructive nature of war where Patton celebrates the old battlefield. Because of this vital difference in authorial intention, Mary O'Hare would undoubtedly hate Patton.
The movie starts with an incredibly famous image: Patton lecturing in front of an enormous American flag, but I chose a more subtle image to blog about. A side of Patton that Coppolla really exploits is his historic and romantic approach to warfare. This is exemplified in a few scenes that show Patton on an ancient battlefield, incredibly absorbed by the memories of past soldiers and warfare.
The film does more to glorify war than detract from it. Curiously, however, the movie presents some feelings of resentment toward the technological advancement of war. Toward the end of the film, Patton says that he is glad that he will never see the day when war is fought without troops, soldiers, advancements, and retreats. "When compared to war, all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance," Patton proclaims. The movie certainly glorifies the pure, historical nature of war.
This is completely different from Vonnegut's goals in Slaughterhouse-Five. Vonnegut exposes the destructive nature of war where Patton celebrates the old battlefield. Because of this vital difference in authorial intention, Mary O'Hare would undoubtedly hate Patton.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
A-llusions...not Illusions! A-llusions!
So Mark O'Malley was over at my house this past weekend, and we decided to watch the classic film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which Mark had never seen. I had seen the movie about five times or so, but when I went to bed later that night, I thought more about what the movie meant. We had just wrapped up our reading of The Metamorphosis and discussion of biblical allusion, and I began to explore what biblical themes were present in Cuckoo's Nest:
McMurphy seems to play the role of Jesus and the other mental patients are his disciples. They follow him in opposition to Nurse Ratchet who seems to play the devil (quiet, sinister, and with hair rolled up to actually look like devil horns). The next part of the analysis will spoil the end of the movie so here is a warning to stop reading if you do not want the movie ruined for you.
At the end of the movie, McMurphy leads his "disciples" in a night of alcohol and sex which may be seen as a sort of last supper. In the penultimate scene, Nurse Ratchet finds the mess and a naked Billy (one of the "disciples") in bed with a woman. When Nurse Ratchet questions Billy as to who put him up to it, Billy takes on the role of Judas and betrays McMurphy by ratting him out to the nurse before being hauled away. In the confusion, McMurphy begins to escape from the hospital when he hears a scream from the next room. At this point he has a clear choice: he could escape out the window or go to see what happened to his friend Billy. He choses the latter, sacrificing himself. When McMurphy finds that Billy has killed himself (just as Judas did), he begins to choke Nurse Ratchet until he is knocked out by the guards.
McMurphy is then lobotomized for his efforts, and the sacrifice is complete. In the final scene, Chief kills McMurphy, not wanting to see him live as a vegetable, and escapes out of the hospital. McMurphy is thus resurrected in the form of Chief.
This seems to fit really well. It's an interesting move comparing McMurphy, a man of multiple vices, to Jesus, the Western symbol of innocence. By the same token, Nurse Ratchet, a "respectable" mental therapist, is portrayed as the devil. This allusion added a whole other component to the movie that I was previously not privy to.
(P.S. for those true Cuckoo's Nest fans out there: the title of this blog is actually a line said by Mr. Harding in the movie. Give yourself a pat on the back if you noticed that before reading this line!)
McMurphy seems to play the role of Jesus and the other mental patients are his disciples. They follow him in opposition to Nurse Ratchet who seems to play the devil (quiet, sinister, and with hair rolled up to actually look like devil horns). The next part of the analysis will spoil the end of the movie so here is a warning to stop reading if you do not want the movie ruined for you.
At the end of the movie, McMurphy leads his "disciples" in a night of alcohol and sex which may be seen as a sort of last supper. In the penultimate scene, Nurse Ratchet finds the mess and a naked Billy (one of the "disciples") in bed with a woman. When Nurse Ratchet questions Billy as to who put him up to it, Billy takes on the role of Judas and betrays McMurphy by ratting him out to the nurse before being hauled away. In the confusion, McMurphy begins to escape from the hospital when he hears a scream from the next room. At this point he has a clear choice: he could escape out the window or go to see what happened to his friend Billy. He choses the latter, sacrificing himself. When McMurphy finds that Billy has killed himself (just as Judas did), he begins to choke Nurse Ratchet until he is knocked out by the guards.
McMurphy is then lobotomized for his efforts, and the sacrifice is complete. In the final scene, Chief kills McMurphy, not wanting to see him live as a vegetable, and escapes out of the hospital. McMurphy is thus resurrected in the form of Chief.
This seems to fit really well. It's an interesting move comparing McMurphy, a man of multiple vices, to Jesus, the Western symbol of innocence. By the same token, Nurse Ratchet, a "respectable" mental therapist, is portrayed as the devil. This allusion added a whole other component to the movie that I was previously not privy to.
(P.S. for those true Cuckoo's Nest fans out there: the title of this blog is actually a line said by Mr. Harding in the movie. Give yourself a pat on the back if you noticed that before reading this line!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)