Vampires

Vampires: Interview with a Vampire

Interview with a vampire tells an intriguing story about Louis, a mortal who became a vampire. The delivery of the story begins with a young fellow interviewing Louis. The story unfolds as the protagonist Louis comments on the tragic events of his life experiences. It covers his gains and losses. In the end, being an immortal vampire only yielded great sorrow for him.

This novel made me reflect upon the idea of what if we could live forever? The novel emphasized the sorrow being a vampire yielded. It stirred up the ideas of never being able to age and ascend to the next level. I thought, wouldn’t it be great to be immortal and have eternal youth? One could roam the world getting the opportunity to experience everything. Since trends and technology are always changing, you’d be able to be constantly learning new things. You would be able to take the biggest risks and reap the biggest rewards. You could live the life you’ve always dreamed of. You could be the person you wished you were or didn’t know you had the potential to become. What would be there to lose?

But then, I realized something though. One could learn all the things there ever was… except for one thing: the lesson learnt upon dying. What is that lesson? You’ll only know when you go.

Kindred

Diverse position Science Fiction: Kindredby Octavia Butler

Kindred was an interesting take on the science fiction genre. It used the genre as a vehicle to explore a theory about human nature. The novel begins in the 1970s and takes us back and forth to the 1800’s through the eyes of a African American Woman named Alice. The novel does a great job examining the topic of slavery and the psyche of human nature.

The two Characters Dana and Kevin are displaced from their contemporary society in the 1970s and thrust into a civilization where slavery is the norm. It was interesting to see how jarred they felt but then Kevin ( the non African American husband of Dana) slowly seemed to come to be more tolerant of it. His experience was that it wasn’t as physically inhumane as he thought it would be but, he failed to see the mental abuse the slaves were being treated with. From reading this novel its seems to suggest that human nature has a tendency to be heavily conditioned by the people whom they reside by, and society around with. The children aren’t rebellious because they grew up being conditioned into accepting enslavement as the norm.

Another example of social conditioning is very prevalent in Kevin. Kevin, who was originally a writer enjoying the modern luxuries of technology later on becomes a different character. He is later transformed into a horseback riding man who has grown his beard out. He becomes more hardened overall. He even has a challenge adapting back to the modern age when he and Dana time travel back to their comfortable contemporary society.

I’m convinced that one’s interaction with their surrounding community contributes greatly into shaping and influencing their personality. I know that coming to a place like Ringling has changed my perspective on the world. Maybe if one wanted to become a different person, they should move to a different place?

Labyrinth

I recently watched the movie Labyrinth. I wasn’t sure to expect except for an adventure filled with monsters and David Bowie. After watching it for the first time, I was entertained. It was a very quirky film filled with goblins, magic, and David Bowie dancing in really tight pants sporting a very powerful mullet hair-do.

I did a little bit of research after the viewing and I was in awe. I found out that the incredible monsters in the film were all puppets! I was surprised at the level of detail in the performance of the characters.

While there was much subtlety in the acting, I thought there were moments when it was overly cheesy. I thought the movie delivered a lot of dialogue to the point where I got bored. I felt like the heroine’s inflections in her voice acting were either nonexistent or fake. While I enjoyed the songs in the movie, I thought David Bowie dancing around in really right pants was very odd. David Bowie’s portrayal of the villain was something like I’ve never seen before. It was a refreshing experience on the archtype.

Overall , I thought the mood and atmosphere of labyrinth was fun. There were some parts where it fell apart for me though. For example. there was a couple of sections where the green screen compositing was poorly rotoscoped and it brought me out of the world for the moment.. I could see the pixely character rotoscope lines (on the dancing head tossing creatures in the forest) were wiggling in the foreground. The lighting on the characters did not match the exposure of the lighting on the set and it read as very fake to me.

Serenity

Space Opera and The Final Frontier: Serenity

I had watched Serenity a while ago and I really enjoyed it. I was originally a fan Joss Whedon’s series that the movie was based off of. I felt that the movie and the world Joss created was magnificent an intriguing. The characters were perfectly developed an each were unique. They served well as foils to each other. The serious Simon is contrasted with the vivacious and playful Jane. The bold hardened leader Malcolm contrasted with timid young River. The movie, in its attempt to conclude the series, was overall very fast paced and exciting. I didn’t find myself bored in the middle of an exposition. They dove straight into the action and let the audience contextually figure out what was happening.

The most intriguing aspect of the film was the world they created. After a great war on earth, only the two super powers, china and the US survived. The two super powers left their influence on society’s culture. Everything, from language to the environment is a robust fusion of the eastern and western culture. Little things like using Chinese words for the harshest curse words make the setting feel much more believable.

BigFish

Mythic Fiction and Contemporary Urban Fantasy: "Big Fish"

Tim Burton’s film “Big Fish” is one of my favorite all time films. I am most fascinated by the story telling, visual style, and message. The film is mostly told through Edward bloom’ dying man’s narrative. He tells stories of his life and captivates his audience. The one person he can’t seem to ever convince is his son, Will. Will question if he can believe anything his father says. He later goes and finds all of the places and people his father talks about but. He realizes that everything his father said was in fact, real. It was just exaggerated. Big fish is comprised of many tall tales that seem much bigger than life.

The lighting and staging creates powerful unique moods. Some of my most memorable moments in the film were depictions of Edward Bloom’s wife. The film uses beautiful lighting and cinematography to enhance the moment of intense wonder and beauty Edward bloom feels. An example of a powerful moment in cinematography was when Edward bloom sees his wife for the very first time. Time froze still and we’re brought to a special place beyond reality. Another memorable shot was when He stands before her window offering her flowers. The lighting on her face was angelic and soft and the atmosphere was incredibly full of love and innocence. Or another time, when the world was gray when Edward’s wife thinks her husband is dead. Tim Burton really moved me with his amazing lighting and cinematography on Big Fish.

The Idea of acceptance and trust is resonated throughout the film. Edward bloom befriends many characters including his wife in which he had to earn their trust. In the end he has to earn his son’s trust. From viewing the film it made me realize how wonderful life is and how much adventure one has yet to experience. It also makes me think about the idea of how everything in our mind is bigger than what they truly are. People have glorious images of places they’ve never been to or things they have never done. Once they do it they realize it wasn’t as satisfying as they imagined it to be. The way the film Big Fish told its story clearly reflects this concept.

Literary Speculation

Literary Speculation: Clockwork Orange I havent read something that disturbed me this much in a long time. The described visuals and psychological torments in the book are gut wrenching. It takes many ideas that society might feel uncomfortable about and weaves it into a disturbing beautiful piece of art. The main character, a twisted sociopath, commits a series of terrible deeds like raping and killing. Then he is arrested and tricked into hypno-therapy which strips him of his freedom to make choices.

The book creates a fascinating world and scenarios with double meanings that just leave the audience wondering. For example, in the beginning of the book, the children are drinking milk. This milk is laced with drugs. It is dispensed from the breast of a female statue. The scenario itself yields a double meaning. The children are receiving breast milk alluding to the dependency of children, but, this milk is loaded with narcotics which is a metaphor of innocence already taken.

The main character is a killer and a rapist. One day, during his mischief, he is caught by the police. Yet the book is able to take his situation and make the audience feel sympathetic for him. In prison ,the main character Alex, is treated with a type of hypnotherapy called the Ludovico technique. It makes him feel sick when he tries to commit crimes or do something bad. Ultimately it robs him of his freedom to do bad. I It made me think about what is the definition of freedom. If one cant choose between right and wrong, then how can one still be human? Would it be ok to rob someone 's freedom to be human, even though they are a stain to society? In doing so , you save many people that would be affected by this stain in society. Morally, I think death would be a less cruel punishment.

Spiritual Education

His Dark Materials
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

The Golden Compass is a interesting book. It is mentioned quite often along side of the C.S. Lewis' Lion, witch and the wardrobe Series. C.S. Lewis's series are sometimes referred to as christian allegories and contain christian motifs but interestingly enough, the Golden Compass tries to be the opposite.

The novel is interesting as it draws upon religious concepts which many are anti-Christian. The Church's General Oblation board is depicted as a tyrannical group in an attempt to sever humans from their daemons using a method called intercision. Daemons' are a visual representation of one's soul . When one is severed from their familiar, it parallels the effect of one losing their soul. They become blank and lifeless.

This act parallels the idea of Religion robbing us of our free will through its implication of limiting knowledge and free will. The context of free will in the novel is humanity it self. It draws parallels to the Bible's story of Adam and Eve, the couple are tempted and fall into sin resulting in their separation from God. All of our flaws contribute to our humanity. If one is perfect then how could we be considered human? Wouldn't we just be a bland perfect creatures ever to live on in perfection?

The novel brought an interesting perspective on the idea of religion and humanity's free will. Should one just succumb to accepting the doctrine delivered by an organization or should one pursue to find his own interpretation of answer? Part of growing up is to take a chance and explore outside of what is declared to be right. Would it be as far as defying authority and trusting your own experiences?