tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3183813057635083582024-02-22T13:36:55.027-06:00Philosophy and Filminvestigating ideas through the art of moving picturesDoctor Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13189506916480012553noreply@blogger.comBlogger134125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-38676574519368290082013-04-20T16:53:00.000-05:002013-04-22T08:40:23.432-05:00V for Vendetta: Rebellion in the Shadows<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Few movies instill more rebellious spirit into viewers than
V for Vendetta. A film that opens with a reference to Guy Fawkes, a 16<sup>th</sup>
century revolutionary, the movie is focused around issues of extreme
governmental control and the amount of power that citizens should have within a
society. The movie focuses on a character, V, that has dedicated his life
towards overthrowing an oppressive government and bringing wrongdoings of
Britain’s leaders to light.</div>
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Of
course, the movie has other draws like good-looking actresses and stunning
action scenes, but the true interest of the movie comes from its ability make
its viewers question their role and their government’s role in the society
which they live in. Is there a point at which government should be limited,
even it is doing good for a large amount of people? What if this good comes at
the expense of a small minority group?</div>
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Clearly,
these are issues that have been brought to light in our society today. With a
government (and a people) largely concerned with terrorism, recent years have
tested the point at which we are willing to bend the laws around which our
country is based in an effort to protect ourselves. Surely, keeping one’s
safety in mind is reasonable and justifiable, and in times of crisis many feel
that there is little else that is important. However, in crisis situations many
people tend to think irrationally, jump to conclusions, and allow our governing
bodies to take action without consulting the rules, regulations and principles
that our society has been built around. The question of “the ends justifying the
means” comes to mind, and it’s a question that will likely never be answered.</div>
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In V
for Vendatta, V, the main character, was the victim of illegal genetic testing
by the government in an effort to further their knowledge about the human body’s
ability to survive epidemics. While V did survive his time in this prison, he
was forever scarred and vowed to bring justice to a government that would allow
such injustices to occur behind closed doors. Throughout the movie, he gathers
the support of a population that is growing more and more dissatisfied with the
amount of control the government has over them, and he takes advantage of a
growing animosity towards power that he eventually funnels into a mass rebellion.</div>
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Throughout
human history, rebellions have seemed to occur without question when a
governing body gains too much power, perhaps a natural safeguard against a
perpetually totalitarian society. However, the extent to which a people must
suffer is largely flexible, and often times a revolutionary figure is necessary
to ignite the people under such a regime into action. V is this character, and
does so anonymously, constantly wearing a mask and becoming a phantom of sorts
in the mind of his followers.</div>
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This
type of anonymous rebellion was scarcely possible through most of history, as communication
between groups of people was largely done in person and an anonymous figure
would have difficulties reaching and inspiring the masses. However, in our
current age of instant communication and technology, rebellions that are
started without the leaders and members being
directly known (and rebellions that remain without the leaders and members
widely known) can occur. Just like V uses masks to cover the identity of his
followers and allow people to protect their personal identities while following
the cause they believe in, people in today’s era are able to mask their
identity over the internet and contribute to a protest anonymously. As many
rebellions are curbed or never begin in the first place due to members being
scared of damaging their reputation or endangering themselves or their
families, this method of anonymous rebellion allows people to voice their true
feelings and not feel frightened that they might be in jeopardizing their
future. Expect rebellions of this sort to be occurring around the world in the
near future as the common person gains more access to organizational powers and
the mask of the internet.</div>
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While V
for Vendetta does eventually succeed, many people are injured in the process,
and he puts a large group of people in danger. Just as he is protesting the “ends
justifies the means” mentality of the government, is he not being somewhat
hypocritical in his methods of protest? His tactics of explosives and other
weaponry might be useful and incite public action, but he nonetheless hurting
possibly innocent people and in turn exacerbating the problem he set out to
fix. Rebellion, like many other social issues, is a double-edged problem, and
not one that can be solved in a simple manner.</div>
Evan Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04633911398247281577noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-43898298229442011882013-04-20T16:15:00.001-05:002013-04-22T08:47:05.051-05:00Muppet Treasure Island Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Because we are allowed to choose any movie for the blog this week, I felt it necessary that my favorite childhood movie (and its genre!) be represented in my last post. I wore the living hell out of my VHS of <i>Muppet Treasure Island </i>as a child- more so than <i>Toy Story</i> or <i>Space Jam</i>, Jim Henson's classic was and still is my favorite kids movie. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=p1rIiGk41Zw">Here</a> is one of the reasons why.<br />
<br />
Recently, as a genre, children's movies have seemed to enjoy a level of respect (from critics) that would normally be difficult to ascertain given their simple subject manner. In the last twenty years, companies like DreamWorks and Pixar have developed sophisticated characters and plot lines in animated films such as <i>Up </i>and <i>Ratatouille. </i>Although <i>Muppet Treasure Island</i> is surely not as complex as the aforementioned films, it has the unique charm that graces all of the Muppet catalogue. It is naturally funny- I remember laughing at that movie harder than any others mostly because my parents were also in tears every time we watched it. Personally, I think that this is the most impressive thing that a kid's movie can do; I've rewatched enough of my childhood shows and movies to know that their humor is usually not applicable to the adult palette. This leads me to a few questions, however: first, how do some children's movies accomplish this level of sophistication? And, why can't they all be that good?<br />
<br />
Some of the highest-rated movies in the past year (on RottenTomatoes.com, at least) have been children's movies. Normally, it would seem unfair to judge a movie that is intended for kids alongside movies that have an older demographic, but I think that exactly what lies in the nature of that distinction can be used as an explanation for the incredible reviews that some of the "best" kids movies have received. The reason why kids movies should me judged less harshly is that they have the unique goal and requirement of displaying their plot in a simple manner. Because the mind of the intended audience has not been fully developed, different ways of representing ideas and themes must be used on-screen, in order for the viewer to gain the most from the movie. In order for a film to fulfill this requirement <i>and</i> successfully entertain adults as well, it must be doing at least one of two things: the movie is either loaded with jokes and situations that have double-meanings <i>or</i> it has portrayed such a deep and abstract concept (e.g.: love, loss, heartbreak) in such simple and graspable terms and pictures that that representation is simply beautiful in itself. Muppet treasure island certainly seems to accomplish both of these goals.<br />
<br />
One concept that I have kept going back to all year is Freud's "uncanny." We learned about the "uncanny" during our section on horror, but I'm not altogether convinced that it does not apply to all "good" cinema in general. I wrote a paper on Music for my Aesthetics class last semester with Grady; the paper asserted that the beauty of music is found in its truth-giving quality- something I believe rings true with all forms of art. Could cinema's truth be grounded in the feeling of the uncanny? While literature, music, and stationary visual art all are felt in both the mind and through one or two sensory experiences (be it, sound, sight, etc.), movies combine dialogue, music, and complex visuals to display whole worlds on the screen. It may be that the very experience of watching a movie is one that is uncanny; one has the familiar experience of seeing a world, however, that experience is paired with the unfamiliar feeling of not being able to affect any part of that world- a true outsider experience.<br />
<br />
Other manifestations of the "uncanny" can be found in children's movies, which are often parodies of classic works of art. <i>Muppet Treasure Island,</i> for example, is a parody of Robert Louis Stephenson's <i>Treasure Island, </i>a book that has been treasured (get it? aaaahahahaha) since its publication in 1883. Aside from the anthropomorphic nature of a puppet itself (which seems like another instance of the uncanny), watching puppets of animals and other creatures act out a story that was written with human characters has familiar and unfamiliar characteristics as well.<br />
<br />
Do you all see the connection between the Uncanny in children's movies, and do you agree with my claim that Freud's term applies to all "good" cinema? Let me know your thoughts! It's been a pleasure reading your blog posts and I hope that we can put a dropbox together so I can see some of the papers that you all have written. This has been by far the best blogging experience that I have had- thank you all for making it a more-than-bearable experience!Henryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06266920256723790723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-20667854800472059072013-04-20T15:56:00.002-05:002013-04-22T08:42:54.596-05:00The Monster Among us in Psycho<br />
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span><i> Psycho</i>, by Alfred Hitchcock, is unquestionably one of the foundational movies in cinema, especially horror. The mystery and repulsion surrounding the character of Norman Bates has entertained for decades. The character of Norman Bates just spawned a completely separate television serious because of this fascination.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> The story in Psycho starts out with the character of Marion Crane, who steals thousands of dollars and runs of to be with her boyfriend. On her way to see him, it rains and she is forced to stop at the Bates Motel, where Norman is the manager. He acts extremely nice and seems very nervous and shy. At this point you like the Norman, he seems innocent and almost child-like. Marion then gets murdered in the hotel shower by what is later thought to be Norman’s mother. As the story progresses and Marion’s sister and boyfriend look for Marion they slowly discover more and more about Norman. In the end, Norman’s psychopathic nature is revealed. He exists in two personalities, himself and his dead mother, who he perceives as jealous and psychotic. The scariest scene is in the end as you finally see him acting out his mother’s personality, saying that she wouldn’t hurt a fly. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span> The scariest part of <i>Psycho</i> is not the violence but the character of Norman Bates. He seems so harmless on the outside, hiding the fact that he is actually deeply disturbed. At first you do not want to believe that he would be capable of that kind of violence since he does seem so innocent. And part of the disturbing part of Norman is that the harmless part of him does exist and is not just a mask. But sometimes his mother takes over and he no longer is harmless. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> While Noel Carroll would argue that the film is not really horror because it does not have a monster in a true sense, we have already discusses how this definition limits horror to an undesirable degree. For as we talked about, the scariest monsters are not necessarily Bigfoot or Godzilla but the monsters among us. A traditional monster is scary because it is unknown and general powerful, we cannot reason with it or come to understand it. This indeed is scary and what Carroll would argues is the basis for horror. </span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> Norman Bates is a monster, but not in the sense that we are used to. To us he is a scarier monster because we implicitly trusted him in the beginning with Marion and he betrayed that trust. He is simultaneously human and inhuman, relatable and repulsive. As he tries to talk to Marion we like him and appreciate him but later when he shows no emotion about the deaths of the people he has killed we are scared because someone who was understandable and normal has become someone who we do not understand. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"></span><span class="s1"> Another factor about why Norman is so scary is that we know he is possible. Most people do not believe things such as Bigfoot or Godzilla really exist or are even possible. People like Norman Bates do exist and live in our society. We may not want to accept this fact or think about it very much, but <i>Psycho </i>forces us to consider it. The whole movie, while not likely, is a possible scenario events which frightens to our core. Most horror films, when we watch them, we may be scared but we do not really believe in their possibility. But this movie presents a completely possible set of events which in my opinion makes it all that much more frightening. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span><i> Psycho</i> clearly is a horror movie, but a different type of horror. Extremely focused on suspense, the film scares us not because it is a idealistic monster but because Norman Bates is a possible, hidden monster. There is no question that Norman Bates is monstrous but he fools us because that is not all of who he is. The frightening thing is that people like Norman exist and could be disguised among us and this is why <i>Psycho </i>stays with you and scares you.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"> </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842418727132765131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-35242465100534867422013-04-20T14:30:00.001-05:002013-04-22T08:43:59.787-05:00Cheating to Lose, While "Winning" Off the Field<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Returning to our sports
week, I found that the film <i>Eight Men Out</i>
(1988) presents a slightly different take on the “winners vs. winning” question
raised by the majority of the other films. <i>Eight Men Out</i> is a
dramatic retelling of Major League Baseball’s Black Sox Scandal, one of the
most infamous conspiracies in sports history. Eight players on the 1919 Chicago White Sox, considered the
best team in baseball at the time, were banned for life for intentionally
losing the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. The film demonstrates how White Sox players were motivated
to throw the series by a mutual dislike of miserly team owner Charles
Comiskey. They are approached by
gamblers who inform them that they could win more money by throwing the series
than they could if they played it out and won. <i>Eight Men Out</i>
follows the scandal from the initial conception, through the best-of-nine
series and to the trial of the eight players after sportswriters and owners
become suspicious.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In
her article “Sport, Education, and the Meaning of Victory”, Heather Reid
discusses the distinction between “winners” and “winning” as well as the
importance of virtue in sport. Reid
takes her analysis back to Aristotelian Virtue philosophy, explain how
participation in athletics was considered to be a demonstration of arête, or virtue. Reid argues that we as a society see
winning as important because of the similar virtues associated with excellence,
such as courage discipline or justice.
However, Reid also mentions how many modern athletic programs only focus
on winning in terms of numbers instead of the character-building aspects. According to Reid, if these values are
seen as unimportant, the pursuit of victory in our athletic programs should not
be as integral a part of our educational foundation. In our
class discussion, after discussing the definition and “point” of sport, we
considered Reid’s points and questioned why winning is seen as so
important. The general consensus
was that an honorable participation in sport helped foster a sense of community
and that everyone should want to win even if it is not the best indicator of a
team or athletes performance. The
drive to win can help us better ourselves for the future, but as <i>Eight Men Out</i> presents, throwing away
those values for a material trophy is useless and detrimental.<o:p></o:p></div>
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However,
<i>Eight Men Out</i> presents a slightly
different perspective than some of the other films we focused on. It seems like much of our discussion
concerns how athletes conduct themselves on the field of play, whereas <i>Eight Men Out</i> is equally about the
players’ virtues on and off the field.
When we talked about “winners” vs. “winning,” we are comparing a
virtuous appreciation of the sport as opposed to purely giving attention to the
final score. However, from a
certain perspective, some athletes purely obsessed with winning might deserve a
slight bit of respect for their drive and determination on the field. <i>Eight
Men Out</i> presents a situation where the “winning” is not even taking place
on the field. It is a similar
situation to a player playing dirty in order to win a game, but instead, they
are sacrificing every bit of their dignity on the field for a slight personal
gain off the field. In today’s
world, some of the biggest names in sports are being accused of using steroids
for personal gain. However, those
athletes are still cheating to win, whether it be for personal numbers or their
team. Instead of cheating to win,
the 1919 White Sox cheated to lose.
Based on Reid’s analysis, there is absolutely no virtue to be found in
the case of the Black Sox Scandal.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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I
think <i>Eight Men Out</i> is a solid,
historically accurate depiction of one of the darkest moments for America’s
National Pastime. Naturally, some
of the characters personalities are emphasized for dramatic effect – Charles
Comiskey is made into more of a villain to demonstrate the players’ unhappiness
with their pay, as are the gamblers.
However, the film does a great job of portraying a lapse in athletic
virtue both on and off the field, taking all the importance of “winning” out of
the actual sport and inserting it into a scenario of pure personal gain. If you like baseball movies, I would definitely
consider <i>Eight Men Out</i>, especially
since the Black Sox Scandal has become such a notorious benchmark for the
sport’s history. <o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676727990776439845noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-65639493435375639012013-04-19T22:33:00.001-05:002013-04-20T10:09:56.418-05:00More Horror for everybody<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9p1IDgZmiNN7s_S-ghaRj34bUqrJCdYxYcNZ3nQbI_Z8aKRnUEssUB456gZKWzWekDMIYfTeLcvDf2DY8erS95owiq71O4zXYYwFxQyBnxjEpeDsmWVXy3vFd9for5e6o2x3NLOMBTRnQ/s1600/l_141598_0374102_514db517.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9p1IDgZmiNN7s_S-ghaRj34bUqrJCdYxYcNZ3nQbI_Z8aKRnUEssUB456gZKWzWekDMIYfTeLcvDf2DY8erS95owiq71O4zXYYwFxQyBnxjEpeDsmWVXy3vFd9for5e6o2x3NLOMBTRnQ/s320/l_141598_0374102_514db517.jpg" width="220" /></a></div>
We have established in our readings and in our screenings that a film's success in capturing our attention (whether this be in comedy, horror, or love and sentimentality) is due to its ability to connect with our emotions. If a film can can somehow arouse our thoughts and feelings, then the audience will have a much easier time experiencing emotion, and thus, a more enjoyable experience. It matters not what this experience is, whether it makes us laugh, cry, or frightened - the emotions are what matter because only they can strike up human feelings. Let us go back to horror.<br />
Carroll has said that we are often attracted by what repulses us. That we are curious about the actions and demeanor of the monster at large. In <i>Open Water, w</i>e may categorize "the monster" as the combination of the jellyfish, the sharks, the temperature of the water, etc into the forces of nature, which are typically powerful and very random. Therefore, due to the unpredictable nature of nature itself, it makes sense that horror buffs (or any individual watching, really) in the audience become frightened in the scenes with sea creatures attacking and nipping at the poor divers. We are kept on the edge of our seats, biting nails, because you never know. It is just as likely that a shark <i>will not</i> bite you as it will, if you stop and ponder it. You can take all the precautions you like, but really, a shark will do whatever it wants. It is a force in nature that can not be controlled or predicted. The acts of terror by the ocean predators are random. As there are more and more scenes with the sharks not attacking, we begin to understand that the divers are at the mercy of everything. That is why it is so frightening. Like the couple, the audience has no idea which attack will be the one to end it all. Even the current of the ocean itself seems to put another random spin on the couple's fate. They might wake up and find themselves within a certain distance of a boat or buoy, or in the swimming area of a pool of sharks. It is this randomness of the "nature monster" that produces the terror in the narrative.<br />
We know the ending - its predictable. The process and the journey however, are full of random waves of events. In my opinion, I believe the most frightening (or at least uncomfortable, if you weren't really frightened) was the scene where the boyfriend was fatally bitten by the shark. It wasn't the bite or the tense music leading up to the bite itself that was scary, rather the line he says, something like, "It just occurred to me that we could really be eaten by sharks out here!" While this line might even have a sense of humor to it, it also calls to light the man's acceptance of his fate - that he really has no idea what could happen to them at this point. Everything that happens in the following hours of his life will be acts of the randomness of nature. It is this revelation the man has, his acceptance of his fate, that puts a damper on the story. When even the character himself realizes how screwed he is, you know there is even more to fear!<br />
Carroll says that the objects or horror are fundamentally linked to cognitive interest, specifically curiosity (175). I think that these cognitive interests include thoughts that both the characters and the audience members themselves have together. Both the audience and the shark-bait diver know come to realize that, yes, literally anything could happen at any time. There is no controlling the randomness of nature in the middle of the cold ocean.<br />
We can believe all we want about predicting the behavior of wild animals. But people are malled by their own pets sometimes. How can we ever hope to predict the actions of those swimming around our ankles? Does comfort just bring you closer to something that could always potentially harm you? Can you say that you could trust and predict your kitty's every move? Nature is a scary force of unbelievable power. I think its forces go unnoticed all the time, especially in a day in age when humans always try and control it.<br />
I like this movie - not because it did a good job of predicting what would go on in the ocean waters beneath you. But because it did a good job of rendering nature and its creatures completely random. Never being able to expect what happens next is a powerful element of arousing emotion in any audience - whether you are watching a story of love, humor, or a horror.Ian Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08727762359619888243noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-88193626024935478472013-04-13T16:40:00.001-05:002013-04-14T10:17:08.079-05:00Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZMrcgWGDqo3y6jCLM2kx-At9O8cnGXJ963C88LXWPrnJ07MDogfzDEVhrITfvkkWydGJJMVtakY5j0zg8wiv53P7FIRnxTAyqPbmIY-nf_i2U7ohB3JtL7i8y-dKT4UIddD6vM23pKP-4/s1600/MPW-33382.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZMrcgWGDqo3y6jCLM2kx-At9O8cnGXJ963C88LXWPrnJ07MDogfzDEVhrITfvkkWydGJJMVtakY5j0zg8wiv53P7FIRnxTAyqPbmIY-nf_i2U7ohB3JtL7i8y-dKT4UIddD6vM23pKP-4/s320/MPW-33382.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Although we probably do not like to
admit it, the majority of people were pretty impressionable in High School, at
an age when many of us were firmly trying to establish ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reflecting back on my time at an
all-males prep. school, it is easy to see how conditioned I was into several
cultural norms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not that I did not
think for myself, but when I saw or heard an advertisement, trailer, or
conversation about romantic films, typically I gave them no thought
whatsoever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I am still not a
huge fan of the genre, I can appreciate why individuals enjoy the emotional
roller coaster present in these fantasies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But more often than not, they are just that—fantasies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tend not to like Romantic Comedies,
Divine Romances, Romantic Tragedies, or any other genre that is centered on an
idealistic yet impossible or at least highly impractical love story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I did or said 1/10 of the things
that the heroes do in Romances, I would get slapped—or at least would come
across as super creepy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is
why the ability to identify with a character in the specific context is so
crucial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Carl Plantinga
explains in his essay, “when we assent to the narrative of a film and become
‘absorbed’ or ‘immersed’, we accept an emotional role.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We entertain the fiction in our
imagination…yet we have a consistent background awareness of its artificiality”
(Plantinga 152).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is why I
chose to watch Dirty Dancing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
film is centered on Fances Houseman (AKA “Baby”), and the summer her family
spends at a mountain resort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
discovers the underground clubs where Johnny (Schwayze), the resort dance
instructor, leads the staff in dirty dancing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She soon discovers that Johnny’s dance partner, Penny, is
pregnant by Robbie, her sister’s unfaithful boyfriend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trying to help, Baby speaks to her dad
(a physician) in confidence and asks for the money necessary for an abortion
and gives it to Penny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Frances and
Johnny practice and perform at another resort and dance well although she is
too nervous to complete the climactic lift at the end of their routine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the abortion goes horribly wrong,
leaving Penny is agonizing pain and eventually forced to be seen by Baby’s
father who helps the young dancer despite his fury and disappointment in Baby
for deceiving him, it leads to Johnny and Baby growing closer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Johnny is accused of stealing a guest’s
wallet and, due to his lack of an alibi, is likely to be found guilty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In an act of defiance, pride, and passion,
Frances announces that she can prove his innocence as she was with him at the
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although Patrick Schwayze is
fired (I mean he <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">did</i> sleep with and
romanticize a seventeen-year-old resort guest), he is so taken aback by Baby’s
selflessness that they become even more in love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This all boils down to the final resort dance of the summer,
in which the couple is reunited, Johnny fires one of Hollywood’s most famous
lines, “…nobody puts Baby in the corner!”, and the two lovebirds dance their
hearts out (to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Time of My Life</i>
incidentally) and finish with the climactic lift they were unable to do
before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
thought it was interesting to read Plantinga’s deconstruction of
‘sentimentality’, or a “false or unearned sentiment” as well as Mary Midgeley’s
opinion that it “…misrepresent[s] the world to indulge our feelings”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I used to hate on romances for
this very reason, after watching Casablanca and speaking about it with friends
who are big fans of the genre, I propose a slight editorial to that
stance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cannot bring myself to
agree with the idea that sentimentality in films is a “howling self-deception”
that leads to a “distortion of the world” (Plantinga 155).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather, I see it as a fantasy film in
which one views a love story that, while impractical, is so ideologically
beautiful that they wish to engage themselves both in the fiction of the movie,
and of the reality that (even if only sliiiightly) there is a chance that
something similar will happen to them someday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Plantinga states, emotion is a process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And for this viewer, emotion can be a
confusing and difficult idea to understand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nonetheless, movies can enduce and elicit sentimentality for
the purpose of critiquing it, (Plantinga 156), realizing it, or just putting it
out there for the viewer to enjoy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Just as screen violence is guaranteed to generate affect, so too does
emotion and sentimentality, especially that of love and affection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I thought the following quotation from Mindy Kaling ends
this post nicely:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“I feel almost embarrassed
revealing this, because the genre has been so degraded in the past twenty years
that saying you like romantic comedies is essentially an admission of mild
stupidity. But that has not stopped me from enjoying them. I like watching
people fall in love onscreen so much that I can suspend my disbelief in the
contrived situations that occur only in the heightened world of romantic
comedies. I have come to enjoy the moment when the male lead, say, slips and
falls right on top of the expensive wedding cake. I actually feel robbed when
the female lead’s dress doesn’t get torn open at a baseball game while the
JumboTron camera is on her. I regard romantic comedies as a subgenre of sci-fi,
in which the world operates according to different rules than my regular human
world.”</div>
Colin McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17533752349769116941noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-49426705961541112342013-04-13T15:48:00.002-05:002013-04-14T10:10:20.134-05:00The Sentimentality of Isolation<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim2eb-KuHEiMvan1LN4jktCcxyT0NcEBLil6jF7m_BmUM4eFwS3MtpfISvs4OshXRleeb3jzzb77ZVUAdfzKzvBgieyuf7a6zj37HvQhAkg5pRtd6l5x0Z5bBt0lT23ChKyUkI9yhx_kfL/s1600/Lost-in-Translation-Posters-lost-in-translation-1041742_1200_1850.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim2eb-KuHEiMvan1LN4jktCcxyT0NcEBLil6jF7m_BmUM4eFwS3MtpfISvs4OshXRleeb3jzzb77ZVUAdfzKzvBgieyuf7a6zj37HvQhAkg5pRtd6l5x0Z5bBt0lT23ChKyUkI9yhx_kfL/s320/Lost-in-Translation-Posters-lost-in-translation-1041742_1200_1850.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
<i>Lost
in Translation </i>(2003) is a movie about two people dealing with the
disappointment and loneliness present in their lives. Bob and Charlotte meet in
Japan, a country where they don’t speak the native language and where they are
separated from their spouses. Bob is an old movie star and Charlotte is a
recently graduated philosophy major, and neither one is satisfied with what
their life currently is. Bob is in Japan for business. He is being paid to
represent a whiskey, which involves commercials, photos, and going on programs
to promote the product. The film follows him through these experiences and
instills a sense of loneliness through its imagery. Parallel to this is
Charlotte’s story. She is a young wife of a photographer who is in Japan to
photograph a band. Even when he’s around it seems he’s leaving her on her own.
When they talk, it is clear they are not really communicating. Eventually he
goes for a few days to shoot on location, leaving Charlotte on her own. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
In Platinga’s essay <i>“</i>Spectator Emotion and Ideological Film
Criticism<i>”</i>, he refutes the idea that
an emotional response to film is something to be ignored so that you may use
only reason to understand the film. Platinga puts forth the cognitive
perspective on emotion. He claims that the emotional experience relies on the
previous experience of that spectator. He presents a case for the agency of
both the spectator and film in the creation of emotional responses.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Romantic comedies and horror films
are well known examples of the manipulation of the spectator’s emotions. They
use very specific music and images to produce the correct feelings for the
plot. This engages the viewer and results in their commitment to the
characters. People often feel that the homogeneity of the manipulations these
films employ is a major flaw in our culture. We mass produce films with the
same songs, plots, and characters. However, <i>Lost
in Translation </i>(2003) is not one of these standard romantic comedies. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i>Lost
in Translation </i>(2003) employs several techniques to produce sentiment in
the spectator. The beginning of the movie follows the two main characters as
they deal with their environment. By setting the movie in Japan, where the two
main characters stick out like sore thumbs, the viewer is already conditioned
to be considering the topic of loneliness and isolation. These are emotions
that most everyone has felt at some point, and so by making our characters
foreigners the film produces a very visible representation of loneliness even
in a sea of people. This is used to condition the spectator, so that later when
it becomes clear that the real problem is that in their everyday lives these
two characters feel loneliness and isolation , even with the ones they love. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I found it very interesting that
while <i>Lost in Translation</i> (2003)
purposefully created a romantic relationship, they did not equate this with
sex. In so many movies focused on romance, they equate love with sex. However
in <i>Lost in Translation</i> (2003), they
focus on companionship and understanding. This is further emphasized by the
overall sense of loneliness and isolation that pervades the film. This allows
the spectator to root for their love without having to go against their morals.
The married status of these characters makes a sexual love problematic, but by
not sexualizing their relationship, the spectator can appreciate and be fully
invested in it. Bob’s affair with the red-haired singer furthers this point,
their relationship clearly superficial though sexual. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Unlike most romance movies, <i>Lost in Translation</i> (2003) does not use
Aristophanes’ view on love from Plato’s <i>The
Symposium</i> to outline the story. There are no two perfect halves finding
each other in this love story. The two main characters are in committed
relationships. In a more typical movie, their unhappiness in their marriages
would be replaced the happiness inherent in finding their true match, the true
second half of their soul. However, that is not what Charlotte and Bob find in
each other. They find companionship and friendship. They find an escape from
their isolation. They find love in each other, but we do not get the impression
that they are each other’s second halves.
They do not leave their spouses for each other. They do not make plans
to see each other. They found understanding and peace within their relationship
in a time when they felt isolation. They are a necessary part of each other’s
story, but their relationship was necessarily brief. The truthfulness found in
their love suggests that the myth of a second half may be just a myth. </div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02886750420579222801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-19186037989964418962013-04-13T14:39:00.001-05:002013-04-14T10:11:18.109-05:00Emotions and Sentimentality<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj815zi70ogR5BSH-A-ElbOZHEZACEp4xWBDAQXlpTBjI3awPKgTStyhoCllVKRD16be8fqXng7rCxaQbOaIVjYF68XlU4aQmA8EaX-UFnOeViumd13yctRTsdGDRN2bs-QfCOIlg0HFUuJ/s1600/MPW-44056.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj815zi70ogR5BSH-A-ElbOZHEZACEp4xWBDAQXlpTBjI3awPKgTStyhoCllVKRD16be8fqXng7rCxaQbOaIVjYF68XlU4aQmA8EaX-UFnOeViumd13yctRTsdGDRN2bs-QfCOIlg0HFUuJ/s320/MPW-44056.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>
At the beginning of the movie, Harry says that no man can have an attractive female friend because the sex that he inevitably wants to have with her would ruin the friendship.<br />
Harry thinks he has everybody and everything figured out. All men think this and all men think that. As Sally listens she is somewhat offended - generalizing people and the relationships between men and women. Although his statements are funny, sometimes we can't help that Harry is a wise-guy who secretly just want to have sex with Sally (as we can predict a foreshadowing in some form). As they separate and get involved again, the two do become friends - being there to talk on the phone at night, double-dates with friends, and enjoying each other's company. Finally, after sleeping together, the two decide that having sex really did complicate things and grew apart again. In each others' absence they realized that they have fallen in love.<br />
The audience needs, as Plantinga says, "a language and a method to enable us to understand better the specators involvement in movies" (151). Plantinga suggests emotion and a certain cognitive undertaking by the audience. I think this is quite appropriate because how we think is directly related to sentiment and sentimentality. If we are able to connect on a level not only with human characters but also their "inferences, appraisals, judgements, hypotheses, etc" we can experience this sentiment and deeply connect to the situations the characters are in. For example, the judgements that Harry makes at the beginning pan out into the relationship between himself and Sally. These cognitive inferences arouse sentiment in the audience by comparing to real life situations. In other words, we are forced to judge on our own whether we think that "sex really does prevent friendship" or any other wise words from Harry. It is the audience's cognitive responses to the characters' judgements that arouse sentiment and aid in the success of the film's bringing about emotion. But! As Plantinga also says, and as many of us know, emotions cloud judgement. How does this complicate what we've just read and watched? Are there fundamentals to our cognitive interests and connections? Or are their only subjective experiences because each person has is or her own relationships qualities, that may differ from others?<br />
<br />Ian Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08727762359619888243noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-63626154253976437062013-04-13T14:07:00.000-05:002013-04-14T10:11:38.623-05:00The Struggle Between Emotion and Obligation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Emotions are a
powerful driving force for many, if not most, people. They can cause us to do
things we normally wouldn't but can also hinder us. Human emotion is an
incredible source for inspiration but this can be overpowered by other things
like the social obligations we make with the people around us. Sofia Coppola’s <i>Lost in Translation</i> is a film which
shows how one’s emotions and obligations can collide. The movie is about a
middle aged actor named Bob Harris who is shooting a commercial in Japan and
the intimate friendship he forms with a young woman named Charlotte. Both
characters are married, Bob having being married for over 20 years and
Charlotte having recently married a young photographer who has been stationed
in Japan. Bob and Charlotte find themselves dissatisfied with the current state
of their marriages and happen to meet in the hotel they both stay at. After a
series of interactions they become close friends, spending time drinking at
bars and singing karaoke. It seems to be apparent that the two of them share a
unique bond that they are missing in their marriages and so this causes a
conflict between their emotions and obligations.<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
Diane Jeske
writes about obligations in her work <i>Families,
Friends, and Special Obligations</i>. Jeske talks about how people have special
obligations to certain individuals, consisting of family and friends alike. Much
of this work discusses the differences and similarities between obligations to
family and friends and shows that familial obligations can be entered
voluntarily as well, even though people cannot choose their family. In
discussing the obligations which we have with friends, she says that there are
implicit and explicit ways of establishing these obligations. Marriage is one
of the explicit ways of doing this because one takes a set of vows which they
are expected to uphold. Breaking these vows, or any obligation which one is
engaged in, makes one morally corrupt (especially in the case of marriage which
are considered sacred/high tier vows). This is the risk faced by both Bob and
Charlotte in the movie. The two of them form an intimate bond of friendship and
it is apparent that there are feelings of desire between them, but they never
act on those feelings completely because of the obligations to their respective
spouse. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
Something that
this movie made me think about was the way in which people take into account
other people’s obligations. When it comes to our friends (and our family as
well) we tend to avoid doing things that cause them to fail in their
obligations to others. I think this is seen in the movie when Bob sleeps with a
woman he meets at the bar toward the latter half of the film. Charlotte catches
him and the two have a quarrel (well Charlotte’s jealousy is shown at least). What
I noticed though is that instead of going to Charlotte who he has real feelings
for he hooks up with a stranger. I’m sure that part of this was due to the
situation of it all and the age gap that exists between Bob and Charlotte but
when following emotions it makes more sense for him to sleep with Charlotte,
who I am sure would not be opposed to the idea. What I think is shown is that
friendship in itself creates an obligation which implicitly demands that one
should not do something which will compromise the other’s obligations. This is
why I believe Bob slept with the woman instead if Charlotte. Sleeping with
either woman would break his obligation to his wife, but if he had chosen to
sleep with Charlotte he would also break the obligation he has to her. In this
example we see that Bob’s emotions are powerful enough to break the obligation
he had to his wife, but not the one he had to Charlotte. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Since I am
talking about emotions I also want to address the emotions evoked in the film. In
<i>Spectator Emotion and Ideological Film
Criticism</i> by Carl Plantinga, he discusses how people should critique the
films they watch to understand “the moral and ideological import of experiences
offered by films” (Wartenberg and Curran 148). In this work he mentions how
some movies can produce manipulative emotions which can cloud the viewer’s
outlook on the movie. I think that <i>Lost
in Translation</i> is a movie which does not produce manipulative emotions; or at
least it does so to a minimum degree. I watched this movie with a friend and we
both couldn't help but notice that much of the movie just seemed to be random
events within Bob and Charlotte’s lives together. To me this movie seemed to
paint a realistic picture of the situation. There are some romanticized parts
but much of it seemed like something I could expect to see in real life. In
conclusion this movie does a good job at portraying realistic characters who,
like the average human, must deal with the conflicts of their emotions and
obligations. <o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-91125093336988901552013-04-13T14:05:00.004-05:002013-04-14T10:12:28.361-05:00Am I sad? Am I happy?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW7kAx99chO4ggD5bCDLcILV9hNhaY75hz4uzz3GImuhPPMmYwXauwPVxmHE7rczGlrAdQShuZPL0msWZX0mnjjIoN0cRgOL4j21IDuTgJRNfe_4gc9QIUz2IOy1bDlC1Yz6Q0NiWYYTgi/s1600/A+Single+Man+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW7kAx99chO4ggD5bCDLcILV9hNhaY75hz4uzz3GImuhPPMmYwXauwPVxmHE7rczGlrAdQShuZPL0msWZX0mnjjIoN0cRgOL4j21IDuTgJRNfe_4gc9QIUz2IOy1bDlC1Yz6Q0NiWYYTgi/s320/A+Single+Man+poster.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1315981/">A Single Man</a>. The words beautiful, amazing, and spectacular
do not even do it justice. From Colin
Firth’s brilliant portrayal of George Falconer, to the stunning visual art and
filmography of director Tom Ford, it seems almost impossible to leave this
movie untouched. However, the feeling
that the spectator is supposed to leave with is impossible to nail down. Carl Platinga’s focus on the experience of
emotion while watching a film rather than any emotion in particular in his
essay “Spectator Emotion and Ideological Film Criticism” is essential to
viewing <i>A Single Man</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As he discusses in his essay,
Platinga recognizes that part of watching a film is that, “we rarely view films
indiscriminately, but decide what films to view in part for the kind of
experience they offer” (154). This means
that although some of emotional power of a movie is in part left up to the
brilliance of the actors and execution of the director, as viewers we make a
conscious decision to see a happy, funny, sad, violent, or action-packed
movie. Much like we have mentioned in
class, advertisements play a roll in influencing our feelings toward movies and
TV shows. For instance, we talked about
the opening scene of <i>Dexter</i> and how
it seems violent, evil, and mysterious.
We also mentioned that the preview for <i>Doubt</i> made the film seem so much more controversial in order to
draw a crowd.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I am assuming that most people who
went to see <i>A Single Man</i> or decided
to watch the film knew what they were getting themselves into. Not knowing anything about the movie other
than its title, I came in with an entirely different perspective. I assumed it was either a happy love story or
a sad love story, or in the words of Platinga, does the movie offer a
self-indulgent sentimentality or does it escape the criticisms of sentiment and
emotion (155-156). To tell the truth, I
have no idea where this movie is on the spectrum of emotions for me. Yes of course the movie does play on
sentiments and emotions and has many depressingly sad moments. Nevertheless, the film has many bright,
happy, funny, and love-filled scenes. I
think generally people walk out of the theater or end the movie in tears. The movie itself, however, cannot tell you
how to feel about this movie.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Platinga mentions that people often
feel certain emotions during a movie based on how or why they do or do not
relate to a character or situation (153).
This relationship with the film does vary throughout the course of the
movie and it can often serve as the sort of catharsis or learning moment in a
movie. <i>A Single Man</i> does not offer one true perspective or emotion to
learn from in this movie. People of all
different backgrounds and situations can connect with so many parts of this
movie. For instance, fear of old age, homosexual/bisexual relationships, relationships
in general, fear of moving on, love, fear of death… the list goes on and
on. These are all emotions and
situations that people can understand, grasp, and feel.<o:p></o:p></div>
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What I am trying to get at is that
this movie offers too many different connections and complications to demand
one emotion. The experience of emotion
is left up the discretion of the viewer. I recall one scene where George Falconer and
Charley (played by Julianne Moore) have dinner and discuss how kids call them
old even though they really are not that old and yet at the same time realize
that they have old memories and do not have that much time left to change their
lives or situation. If I were a middle-aged
parent (more specifically divorced or widowed), then this particular scene
would probably strike pretty close to home.
However, as a young adult, I can only see the emotions of the actors and
sympathize with how those characters are feeling.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Focusing on the experience of
emotion allows us to step away from criticisms of crying or laughing at
inappropriate times. Platinga relies on
the thinking of Bertolt Brecht to discuss this when he says, “that the goal of
the practitioner of epic theatre must not be to eliminate emotional response
but to encourage the spectator to ‘adopt a critical approach to his emotions,
just as [he] does to his ideas’” (149).
I am definitely sympathetic to those of you who may have cried during or
at the end of this movie, but I think this film involves a little more digging
like Brecht and Platigna argue. It is,
naturally, sad that George Falconer dies at the end of the movie but is that
really enough to make it sad? To some, I
am sure the answer is yes. In my
opinion, the answer is too complicated to simply say it is a sad movie or it is
a happy movie. That being said, we need
to focus on the experience of emotion during the movie in order to establish a
forum on which we can determine whether <i>A
Single Man</i> is a sad or happy love story. <o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Sam Mattsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06877740182417949568noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-12505167077235108032013-04-13T11:58:00.000-05:002013-04-14T10:13:45.583-05:00The Value of "Silly Love Songs"<br />
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtA0IYrOunMQJpVDdQxH6T7Dz3u1KVmEIAJA7BDQ7jDQo5tMmyq0PIW81yTuuGfvvGiuq78KZG4CEqVLIIv1pBZOW7U6zZZjqcWRit0-8m3C0P_gqMfxDmhDheMFNKTq7EEq9ko95uRpWb/s1600/moulin-rouge-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtA0IYrOunMQJpVDdQxH6T7Dz3u1KVmEIAJA7BDQ7jDQo5tMmyq0PIW81yTuuGfvvGiuq78KZG4CEqVLIIv1pBZOW7U6zZZjqcWRit0-8m3C0P_gqMfxDmhDheMFNKTq7EEq9ko95uRpWb/s320/moulin-rouge-poster.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;">“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return...”</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;">
<span style="font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;">...or, maybe to walk away when a tragic romance comes on.</span><span style="font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
<span style="font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;">In my opinion (before encountering Plantinga's cognitive theory for considering spectator emotion), the film <i>Moulin Rouge </i>falls into a category with <i>Titanic</i> and <i>A Walk To Remember-- </i>or, “movies that I watch over and over again knowing that I am going to end up a crying mess by the end.” And no matter how many times I see ABC rolling the opening credits for any of these films and think to myself, “Remember, you do not like the way this film ends,” it almost never fails that my entire apartment of female roommates get caught up in these tragic romances. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
<span style="font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;">(SPOILERS BELOW)</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
<span style="font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;">Let us just recall the plot of this 2001 musical love story. Male protagonist Christian is a struggling writer in early 20th century Paris who joins up with a troupe of writers and performers to sell their show <i>Spectacular Spectacular </i>to Moulin Rouge owner Mr. Zidler. Christian, the definition of a hopeless romantic, is drawn into this bohemian revolution based on his devotion to the very concept of love (though he admits his idea of love leaves something to be desired, having never been in love himself). </span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
<span style="font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;">Christian goes to share the story with dangerously beautiful lead courtesan Satine, the “sparkling diamond,” the love story begins. Satine mistakes Christian for the Duke Monroth, whom she is to be seducing so that the Duke will financially support the show. In a rather amusing show of arousal, Christian tries to share his poetry with Satine. What else gets hooks an aspiring actress being forced to work as a courtesan better than a heart-felt poetic expression of love? Unfortunately, just as Satine and Christian connect, the actual Duke Monroth enters. In order to mask the mistake, the performing troupe improvises a plot for <i>Spectacular Spectacular</i> that mirrors the developing love triangle amongst Christian, Satine, and the Duke. As they present this plot to the Duke, he ironically asks, “And in the end should someone die?” thereby foreshadowing Satine’s death. Of course, at this point, it is clear to the audience that Satine suffers from tuberculosis/consumption. As their romance progresses in time with the development of the show, the Duke grows increasingly more jealous and Satine grows increasingly more ill. In the midst of uplifting, sweeping love songs, the audience watches what can only end in tragedy, and indeed does. In the end, Christian expresses his love for Satine in spite of the evil Duke, only to have her die in his arms moments later. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
<span style="font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;">What about this film is so compelling for viewers? It’s pretty clear from the beginning (a quietly crying Christian at a typewriter) that the film is going to end sadly. At this point, I turn to Carl Plantinga’s essay to understand what it is about these films that attract an audience. Plantinga argues that spectator emotion can have ideological value. In his essay, “Spectator Emotion and Ideological Film Criticism,” Plantinga refutes two notions of film criticism that:</span></div>
<ol>
<li style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;">emotions that an audience experiences cloud an audience’s critical judgement; in other words, that critical reason and emotion are mutually exclusive experiences; </span></li>
<li style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;">a critic can make a judgement about the use of a stylistic tool without regard to spectator emotion those tools illicit. </span></li>
</ol>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
<span style="font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;">These ideas he refers to as ideological stoicism, and Plantinga argues that contrary to these notions that insist upon the separation of emotion from experience, that there is value in spectator emotion. He proposes a cognitive approach, involving emotion but also “inferences, appraisals, judgements, hypotheses, etc.” (151) He argues that such a model will “transcend reductive characterizations of emotion.” </span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">It was with this model that I approached watching Moulin Rouge this time I watched the film. I must admit, this film seems much less like a guilty pleasure when I consider the film using this cognitive approach; previously, I was also functioning under the dualistic notion of either critical reason OR emotive response. A consideration of <i>Moulin Rouge</i> is not about what is or is not sentimental, it is about how audiences respond to jealousy, to doomed romance, to tragic illness, and to the things necessitated by desperate circumstances and a drive for success. This film is clearly treating the subject of idealized sentiment, and it is only with an awareness of the emotions elicited and a critical judgement that an audience member can appreciate the com</span>mentary the film makes. </span></div>
Lucy Kay Sumrallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14805337021035047442noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-44866983862453019012013-04-12T13:35:00.001-05:002013-04-14T10:14:05.783-05:00Harry, Sally, and Plato<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8nSmisZm7OGGne2R1oFl57y-pwPpeCYP1iPojKAhVJmwzzW_1Z9VwW6YR1d0EzJW94kJ3-bbbnZPPPuANs8gW7Af2jgg6dxWDYCkvrhujEOieWh4L_SWhpw0qTP5Z4nKamXaDfMQllxtk/s1600/MPW-44056.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8nSmisZm7OGGne2R1oFl57y-pwPpeCYP1iPojKAhVJmwzzW_1Z9VwW6YR1d0EzJW94kJ3-bbbnZPPPuANs8gW7Af2jgg6dxWDYCkvrhujEOieWh4L_SWhpw0qTP5Z4nKamXaDfMQllxtk/s320/MPW-44056.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>
This movie is a classic. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">When Harry Met Sally</i> (1989), is a
romantic comedy about two friends who are try and figure out the age old
dilemma, “can a man and a woman be friends and have sex??” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
movie takes place over a number of years and follows Harry (Billy Crystal) and
Sally (Meg Ryan) as they become friends, drift apart, and then eventually drift
back together at a cliché New Years Eve party. It all starts when the Harry and
Sally share a ride from Chicago to New York City. This is the first time that
they discuss if men and women can be friends and have sex. They decide that
they can’t, and eventually they go their separate ways. However, years later,
Harry and Sally meet again on a plane and they discuss the same question. Both
are now in relationships and Harry is about to get married. Harry ends up
exclaiming that men and women can’t be friends even if they are in
relationships with other people. Eventually they part ways again. THEN Harry
and Sally meet again a few more years later, after Sally broke up with her
significant other and Harry was left by his wife. This meeting happened in a
bookstore and eventually led to dinner. Eventually, Harry realizes that he has
a woman friend (Sally) and it stands against what he originally thought about
men and women being friends. Their friendship develops and through complicated
twist and turns they eventually grow apart BUT they do end up together in the
end. (Hopefully that isn’t too confusing of a synopsis). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Overall,
the film made me think of Plato’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Symposium</i>,
specifically Aristophanes speech. In his speech, he delivers the story of two
halves. “When a person meets the half that is his very own, whatever his
orientation, whether its to young men or not, then something wonderful happens:
the two are struck from their senses by love, by a sense of belonging to one
another, and by desire, and they don’t want to be separated from one another
not even for a moment” (192C). This quote seems applicable to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">When Harry Met Sally</i> because when the
two met, they seemed connected and the fact that they just kept running in to
each other seemed like a work of the gods. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Though
Harry and Sally met long before they became friends or even fell in love, they
dated others and married others before they realized their true half. Aristophanes
exclaims that, “if love is our guide and our commander. Let no one work against
him. Whoever opposes Love is hateful to the gods” (193B). It took Sally and
Harry ten years to realize that they were each others “halves” and because it
took them so long it caused heartbreak and destruction (Harry’s divorce). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
last quote that I want to point out from Aristophanes’ speech is, “these are
the people who finish out their lives together and still cannot say what it is
they want from one another. No one would think it is the intimacy of sex-that
mere sex is the reason each lover takes so great and deep a joy in being with
the other” (192D). Harry and Sally do end up living their lives together and
eventually getting married. Though their relationship was built on an ongoing
friendship, not merely on sexual interest.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px;">Speaking of sex, this is one of the funniest moments of the film:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/F-bsf2x-aeE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-4233445479809728952013-04-12T10:47:00.001-05:002013-04-14T10:14:25.508-05:00The Sentimentality of Lost in Translation <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoQjFfrPj3AtJuZHXKFzzaefXLoaNnvMSHCozNPEcybJO_G_zgt6IEbK7uZ5LxW6eg8881G9wWqFJpE2NXN1Wu9DnzQKgSwGaxqeXsSkJAEdaXHBQRAOFaTGyjW0VB6XKF8Dui7meL8lVe/s1600/Lost-in-Translation-Posters-lost-in-translation-1041742_1200_1850.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoQjFfrPj3AtJuZHXKFzzaefXLoaNnvMSHCozNPEcybJO_G_zgt6IEbK7uZ5LxW6eg8881G9wWqFJpE2NXN1Wu9DnzQKgSwGaxqeXsSkJAEdaXHBQRAOFaTGyjW0VB6XKF8Dui7meL8lVe/s320/Lost-in-Translation-Posters-lost-in-translation-1041742_1200_1850.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
Sofia Coppola's <i>Lost in Translation
</i>(2003) could be described as
tale of forbidden love and ageless attraction found in exotic
locales. The two lead characters, past-his-prime movie star Bob
Harris (Bill Murray) and neglected wife Charlotte (Scarlett
Johansson) are both married, so their “love” <i>is
</i>“forbidden.” Harris is
considerably older than Charlotte, so their attraction <i>does
</i>seem ageless. The whole
narrative takes place in Japan, so the locale <i>is </i>exotic.
Yet those of you who have seen the film know that the description
above misses the mark. This is no Nicholas Sparks story with
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7_F5P5PygM" target="_blank">oft-quoted beach scenes</a> or <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnhZxj6UWRw" target="_blank">soggy, impassioned embraces</a>.
In many ways, the film seems to intentionally step around
sentimentality.
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
In
his article “Spectator Emotion and Ideological Film Criticism,”
Carl Plantinga defines sentimentality as “<i>false
</i>or
<i>unearned
</i>sentiment”
(155) – in the case of films, it is the <i>real
</i>sympathy
or empathy that a viewer feels for <i>fictional</i>
characters in fictional situations. However, Plantinga seeks to
defend sentimentality and emotional responses to films by suggesting
that such reactions can generate important and useful conversations
about the interplay of feeling and reason. He criticizes the claim
that “emotion clouds a certain kind of critical judgement,”
further stating that “the <i>kind
</i>of
emotional experience a film offers, and not emotion <i>per
se</i>,
is a proper target of ideological investigation” (148).
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>Lost
in Translation </i>presents
a unique example: as mentioned previously, much of its content aligns
with more traditional “chick-flicks,” yet the treatment of that
content seems to separate it entirely from that category. To return
to Plantinga's text, the film begins to separate emotions “which
are benign or beneficial from those which are manipulative or
harmful” (151). There have been many instances when I exit a
theater or finish watching a film at home and feel manipulated,
<i>particularly </i>with
respect to romantic movies. <i>A
Walk to Remember </i>(2002)
is an especially pertinent example (and another Nicholas Sparks
creation; guess I've really got a bone to pick with that fellow?).
The film itself might simply irk me because it elicits the intended
emotional reaction, against my better judgment. So yes, I get very
upset when things go south for the characters, when certain
inevitabilities come to light – I would say more, but I don't want
to spoil the surprise for anyone who has yet to experience the
landmark film for themselves. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Yet my primary issue with that film,
like my issue with many other “chick-flicks,” is the unrealistic
expectation it sets. Plantinga states that “our emotional
experience at the movies may affect our ways of thinking and thus
reinforce or alter the emotion schemata we apply to actual
situations” (158). The bad boy changes his ways for the quiet,
church-going girl; the single dad and his son meet the perfect woman
at the top of the empire state building; the blood-sucking vampire is
actually good, and he falls in love with the awkwardly reserved human
girl. These narratives of happy endings begin bleeding into
our approach of reality. Notably, the same argument has been made many
times about depictions of violence in film.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Back
to <i>Lost in
Translation</i>:
unlike the typical romantic-film arcs that I list above, Coppola's
movie offers a more realistic set of situations with subtler
emotional responses. Many critics argue, as Plantinga mentions, that
“emotions must be 'bridled' or 'mastered' to allow reason to
function adequately” (149), as if emotional responses and rational
thinking are mutually exclusive (spoiler alert: in many cases, they
are not). In <i>Lost
in Translation</i>,
Harris does not leave his family to run off with Charlotte due to his emotions. Yet he does not conquer them in any sense,
since he still runs after her at the end of the film; he rather <i>uses
</i>his emotions in conjunction with his reasoning skills. In terms of spectator
response, though, I am a bit at a loss. I have always had difficulty
identifying with the characters in this film, but perhaps that's
precisely Coppola's intention. Perhaps all the interactions between
Harris and Charlotte are intended to be perfunctory, leaving little
long-term impact after the pair leaves Japan or the viewer leaves the theater. Is this film
less sentimental simply because audiences do not sympathize with the
characters as much as they do in more mainstream romances? Is this
simply because Coppola is less manipulative in her emotional
approach? “'Soft' emotions” (149) are certainly present, but a
lot of emotional numbness is implicit in Harris's sexual encounter
with the red-head bar crooner. Do you think this was a
swing-and-a-miss at sentimentality, or is the absence of a powerful
emotional response intentional? </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-72201211123390301832013-04-12T10:40:00.003-05:002013-04-14T10:19:30.964-05:00A Search for the Other Half <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCGLnJsPkFDnxP6An9I7rNV_V0Ydi6-6tebk7rL1rI0wrfwGdOVuUx2iKgcZGcNxjr726lP0onL0OOfW3BdZSxImhGJQibcxLvU3fSw2_Jy6yvRc_gGgMnu21Rz6uBsuIzl0oBxOFKU7Gy/s1600/A+Single+Man+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCGLnJsPkFDnxP6An9I7rNV_V0Ydi6-6tebk7rL1rI0wrfwGdOVuUx2iKgcZGcNxjr726lP0onL0OOfW3BdZSxImhGJQibcxLvU3fSw2_Jy6yvRc_gGgMnu21Rz6uBsuIzl0oBxOFKU7Gy/s320/A+Single+Man+poster.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
<span id="goog_1094174532"></span><span id="goog_1094174533"></span>Tom Ford’s <i>A Single
Man</i> (2009) is the story of George Falconer (Colin Firth), an English
professor living in Los Angeles in 1962. The movie takes place throughout the
course of a day, and opens at the scene of a car accident. We later find out
that the victim of the car accident is George’s longtime partner Jim (Matthew
Goode), and the accident occurred eight months ago. The scene flashes to George
waking up, having just dreamt of being at the site of Jim’s accident. He then
delivers a monologue describing the anguish and depression he has experienced
since Jim’s death, the end of which reveals George’s intentions of killing himself
later that day: ‘Every <i>now</i> is labeled
with its date, rendering all past<i> nows</i>
obsolete, until- later or sooner – perhaps – no, not perhaps – quite certainly:
It will come.” The film continues as a montage of flashbacks of George and
Jim’s relationship, slow-motioned images of isolated events George believes he
is seeing for the last time, and the course of the present day.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Plato’s
<i>Symposium</i> is the recounting of a dinner
party given in honor of Agathon, an Athenian tragic poet. The essay is told
from the perspective of Applodorus, as he relates the event to an unnamed companion.
When the guests are done with dinner, Phaedrus suggests that each guest make a
speech to praise the god of Love. Of all the speeches, Aristophanes’ is
particularly interesting. He tells the story of a time when there was not just
the two sexes, but man, woman, and “the union of the two.” The gods become
angered when man, woman, and the union, attack them. In trying to decide how to
punish them for their actions, Zeus suggests man should continue to exist, “but
[he] will cut them in two and they will be diminished in strength and increased
in numbers; this will have the advantage of making them more profitable to [the
gods].” After doing this, Zeus realizes that each part came together again and
clung to each other not wanting to let go. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
This
anecdote from the <i>Symposium</i> came to
mind while I was watching <i>A Single Man</i>.
The relationship that George and Jim had is comparable to man and his other
half. Later in the speech, Aristophanes says, “and when of them meets with his
other half, the actual half of himself, whether he be a lover of youth or a
lover of another sort, the pair are lost in an amazement of love and friendship
and intimacy…these are the people that pass their whole lives together; yet the
could not explain what they desire of one another.” The flashbacks to George
and Jim’s time together, and George’s visible pain without him, define the bond
described by Aristophanes. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
One
of the brilliant parts of the film is the way lighting played into the story.
When a scene is focused on the present, during George’s suffering without Jim,
the lighting of the film is dull, the color so faint it’s barely discernable
from black and white. However, when the scene switches to a flashback of George
and Jim’s relationship, the screen fills with warm, vivid colors. This toying
with lighting is particularly interesting towards the end of the film when one of
George’s students, Kenny Potter (Nicholas Hoult), walks into the bar that
George is in, the same bar where George and Jim met. Earlier that day, Kenny
showed a particular interest in George, noticing he was acting strange. When
Kenny walks into the bar, color fills the scene. I took this change in lighting
to signify George finding another person to fill his void. In the <i>Symposium</i>, Aristophanes mentions that
once someone’s other half passes, they once again go out in search of another
half, and once they find it, they cling to it. I think Kenny serves as this new
half for George. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
The
film closes with another monologue by George in which he refers to the few
times in life he’s had moments of clarity. He says it is these moments where he
is able to drown out the world around him and actually feel. Yet these moments
are just brief moments in time, “like everything, they fade. I’ve lived on
these moments. They pull me back to the present, and I realize that everything
is exactly the way it’s meant to be.” This particular moment George is
referring to is when he sees Kenny asleep on his couch, clutching the gun
George had intended to kill himself with. It is in that moment that George
realizes committing suicide is not what is meant to be. <b>SPOILER:</b> George walks back into his room and as he’s about to get
in bed, he has a heart attack and dies. Thus although George’s present is
brightened by his relationship with Kenny, Jim is still his other half, and it
is with him that he meant to be. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
SIDENOTE:
This was an incredible movie, and I would highly recommend it to anyone!<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Maria Riccihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13194795725627270465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-67345888199412315842013-04-06T16:31:00.000-05:002013-04-08T16:44:23.880-05:00lol<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm sure everyone has experienced that social feux pas of blurting out what you think is going to be a hilarious joke...and no one laughs. In fact, people start awkwardly shuffling, coughing, pretending they didn't hear what you said. Someone asks, "did you really just say that?" Now, you have to justify your sense of humor, but the fact that you have to do ruins any chance that your joke will click with your audience. In the end, you decide it would be best to never talk again. It happens. Although the existence of humor, according to Critchley, is universal and timeless, types of humor are certainly not. While many individuals found Borat to be a hoot, I don't think a group of nuns would agree. Maybe they would. And that would be funny.<br />
<br />
Arthur, staring Dudley Moore, is somewhat of a corny comedy. A rich alcoholic is told to marry this chick who will supposedly whip him into shape, but, alas, he falls in love with another, poor girl. Imagine Russell Brand playing the role of Arthur (which he does in the remake) and you'll understand the type of humor. Essentially, it's borderline offensive. Conservative viewers might even go so far as to use the word tasteless. While for some people, this sort of crass humor might elicit that "natural explosion" which Critchley goes into much depth about, for others, nothing happens. Instead, in some instances of crude humor, rage, embarrassment, or other emotions exist.<br />
<br />
Generally, people surround themselves with people who, amongst other things, find the same things funny. As Critchley says, "a sense of humor is often what is felt to be best shared with people who are from the same place as us". In order to know that guidos and people from the Jersey Shore are funny, you have to be aware of what culture and society is both broadcasting and making fun of. In order to do so, you have to be interested in it, or at least interested in the critique of it. I coach a team of middle schoolers, and they'll make a joke about something middle schoolers joke about which I am completely ignorant (thank god) of. That ignorance clearly separates me from them and bonds them together. Critchley compares the sharing of jokes to a communal prayer, which I believe to be a very good analogy.<br />
<br />
So, back to where I started, what is happening when you make an offensive or--worse--unfunny joke? You're expecting to elicit a laugh, at least a chuckle. Further, you're attempting to connect with your audience. Even further...for most people, I guess, you're attempting to prove yourself. First, you're trying to prove that you actually are funny, because it's an admirable trait. Second, it shows that you're aware--either of yourself, of the world, society, etc. That awareness, the ability to read what's around you and transform it into humor is something that is cherished in our society. While we might laugh at the character Arthur for being a silly drunk, he makes really smart jokes which we find to be cheeky and funny. The serious, or "unfunny" characters in the movie don't have the same ability to say something smart after someone (unintentionally) sets them up for the possibility of a joke.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lwZrAamm86Y" width="640"></iframe>
Of course, when you hear a joke that makes you laugh, rarely will you be thinking, "I am laughing at this because this individual has touched upon several aspects of society and has critiqued it in a manner which is humorous because X). And the fact that that doesn't happen makes humor and humorous individuals so cherished.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13863781334836786565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-41408057035019231892013-04-06T16:07:00.000-05:002013-04-08T16:45:49.571-05:00French Themed or Fight Club: Appearance vs. Content in Bridesmaids<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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For
this week I watched <i>Bridesmaids</i>
(2011), which is surprisingly one of my favorite recently made films. This was about the sixth or seventh
time I have seen it, but I never thought I would be watching it for a
philosophy class. Marketed as “the
female version of <i>The Hangover</i>,” <i>Bridesmaids</i> follows Annie (Kristen
Wiig), a single woman and former owner of a bakery who is asked to be the Maid
of Honor for her newly engaged best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph). Along with the other bridesmaids, Rita
(Wendi McLendon-Covey), Becca (Ellie Kemper), Megan (Melissa McCarthy), and
Helen (Rose Byrne), Annie and Lillian take part in typical pre-wedding
situations, such as picking dresses, the bachelorette party, and the bridal
shower. However, the constant
competition between Annie and the wealthy perfectionist Helen, as well as the
issues in Annie’s relationship life, lead to disastrous and humorous results at
each event.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I
remember being quite apprehensive before the first time I saw <i>Bridesmaids</i> because at first glance it
looked a little too “Sex and the City” and I’m not generally a huge fan of
romantic-comedy. However, I found
it to be an extremely entertaining and well-written film, almost having more in
common with films of the “gross-out” genre, such as <i>Animal House</i> or <i>Superbad</i>,
than it did with romantic comedy films.
I think the idea that the appearance of the film is different than the
content is one of the reasons why I find <i>Bridesmaids</i>
so successful as a comedy. The
film contains lots of bright colors, and because it is about a wedding, there
is also a lot of white to create a sense of purity. However, the unique personalities of each of the bridesmaids
add a raunchy, unexpected element to a typically refined situation. The one line that leaves me in tears
every time is when the bridesmaids are discussing a theme for the bridal shower
in a Brazilian restaurant while Lillian is in the bathroom. While throwing out ideas, Annie
suggests a French theme to which all the women (except Helen) seem excited
about. Megan then responds, “I’m
just going to snowball off of that and suggest <i>Fight Club</i>.” A bridal
shower where guests beat each other to the ground is a ridiculous suggestion,
but Megan treats it very similar to the French theme. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I
find the effectiveness of this joke, as well as the appearance vs. content
distinction present throughout <i>Bridesmaids</i>,
very similar to the incongruity theory of humor that Simon Critchley discusses
in <i>On Humour</i>. In this theory, Critchley says that,
“humour is produced by the experience of a felt incongruity between what we
know or expect to be the case, and what actually takes place in the joke, gag,
jest or blague.” (Critchley 3).
Another example of this in <i>Bridesmaids</i>
is the infamous dress shop scene, which is by far the most shocking scene in
the film. The women go to a very
chic, pretentious bridal shop, and they can only get in because of Helen’s
influence. The entire shop is
white and every dress they try on is outrageously expensive. However, everyone except for Helen is
struck with food poisoning for the Brazilian restaurant, resulting in Rita and
Becca vomiting on each other in the bathroom and Megan being forced to use the
sink. Wearing a beautiful French
wedding dress, Lillian tries to dash to a gas station but can only make it
halfway across the street before disaster strikes, much to the dismay of the
bridal shop owners.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While
this scene is indicative of the unexpected crudity in typically refined
situations that runs rampant throughout <i>Bridesmaids</i>,
this scene also relates to Critchley’s discussion of the body as a tool for
humor. Critchley argues that what
makes us laugh is “the return of the physical into the metaphysical.” In reference to scatological humor, the
type of humor utilized in the bridal shop scene and the crudest expression of
bodily humor, Critchley says that the “distinction between the metaphysical and
the physical is explored in the gap between <i>our
souls</i> and <i>arseholes</i>.” (Critchley
44). Critchley relates this brand
of humor back to a discussion of animality, and how the very direct physicality
that allows us to think of ourselves as having a body instead of being a body
is what makes us laugh during these scenes. In <i>Bridesmaids</i>,
the fact that the characters are in such a stereotypically pretentious, refined
situation makes the scatological humor that much more effective and shocking
for the audience. I find <i>Bridesmaids</i> to be a very unique and
entertaining take on the “gross-out” genre and it also contains clever writing
and strong comic acting. I would
definitely recommend it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10676727990776439845noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-2120117127463371832013-04-06T15:37:00.001-05:002013-04-08T16:51:53.476-05:00I'm sick and tired of these motherf@#n jokes on this motherf@#n plane! Not...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSSz8mm2hipZLqyG-CMdB_leuUZpFfkeyHeBC3zDfjcxLN-lTlTwef5xX1G5P6LUwPxJRQFWG3k_jlpyM83hkA7tZ18ky3A-Q_dlh6N4GxQR2FyfBIMcuDwC8mgRFt-Ktp_rweRQFGIfBi/s1600/airplane_xlg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSSz8mm2hipZLqyG-CMdB_leuUZpFfkeyHeBC3zDfjcxLN-lTlTwef5xX1G5P6LUwPxJRQFWG3k_jlpyM83hkA7tZ18ky3A-Q_dlh6N4GxQR2FyfBIMcuDwC8mgRFt-Ktp_rweRQFGIfBi/s320/airplane_xlg.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
The movie <i>Airplane</i> is hysterical. I
had heard many good things about it, but did not have a good opportunity to
watch it until now. I do not regret this
decision at all. Sometimes with humor I
find movies trying to overdo the jokes and it is not that funny. However, <i>Airplane</i>
strikes comedic gold, in part due to many of the reasons that Critchley lays
out in his <i>On Humor</i>. I think that the most important connection
that Critchley makes to <i>Airplane</i> is
the key to a joke and its situation.
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
In <i>On Humor</i>, Critchley talks about how a situation is key to the
success of a joke. A good joke not only,
“shows the sheer contingency or arbitrariness of the social rites in which we
engage,” but also, “humor can change the situation in which we find ourselves,
and can even have a critical function with respect to society” (10). Critchley later goes on to suggest that some
jokes, in their situations, can critique society and others can merely point it
out as obvious and there. There are many
jokes in <i>Airplane</i>, but the joke of
the religious zealots and the joke with Kareem Abdul-Jabaar represent the two
different kinds of situational jokes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One major
joke that the movie makes immediately apparent is the annoying atmosphere of
airports. I am going to assume that
there are very few people in the world that actually enjoy spending time in
airports, regardless of cool shops, restaurants, etc. Well one of the first jabs at the situation
of <i>Airplane</i> is the vast amount of
religious zealots pestering people to take their flowers for their church. The main character, Ted Striker (played by
Robert Hays), leaves his taximeter running – a joke about taxi drivers – and
runs into the airport looking for his girlfriend. One of the members of the church tries to pin
the flower to his jacket. Instead of
trying to refuse the flower, Striker manages to slip of his jacket and hand it
to the zealot. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Later on, Rex Cramer (played by
Robert Stack) is in a rush to the airport and has to literally fight his way
through 10 religious zealots. The
fighting is the attempt to bring in a little slapstick comedy, which in this
case, is pretty funny. I think the joke
about the religious zealots is funny only because it describes a real
situation. The slapstick comedy works
here because people usually are in a rush at airports and generally want to
fight people who get in the way. Ted
Striker leaves his jacket in the hands of the zealot because, like most people,
he would rather give away that piece of clothing than have to deal with those
pestering people in airports. This joke
is representative of a critical joke on society. It is, of course, not a very serious
critique, but people do often feel harassed at airports and would generally prefer
not having to deal with distractions while trying to make a flight.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
The next joke that is really tied
to its situation is that of the pilot Roger Murdock… as Kareem Abdul-Jabaar…
played by Kareem Abdul-Jabaar. If you do
not know <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kareem_Abdul-Jabbar">whom Kareem is</a>, shame on you.
Just kidding, but really he is the all-time leading scorer in NBA
history and generally a famous individual all-around. If you do know who he is already, the joke
becomes immediately obvious and causes a casual chuckle. For those that do not know who he is, his
being 7’2 and having a large Afro makes him stick out, but the movie also
clarifies the joke by having him argue with a little kid. The kid recognizes Murdock as Kareem and
begins to talk about how the kid’s dad thinks that Kareem is lazy and does not
play enough defense – a situational joke about star players not playing 100%
all the time. This clarification is
necessary for those who do not know who he is to get the full impact of the
joke. Otherwise the audience would be
stuck without a context for the joke and it would strike them simply as odd to
see a 7’2 man trying to work in a cockpit.
Unlike the religious zealots joke, Kareem offers a joke that revolves on
him just being him in an odd and funny situation.</div>
There are many many many more
hilarious jokes in <i>Airplane</i>. The jokes about the Zealots and Kareem
Abdul-Jabaar may not actually be the funniest jokes in the movie. However, they demonstrate the importance of
the situation and context of jokes and the difference between a critical joke
and the highlighting of an oddity. I am
sorry to those of you who have not seen this movie and I have now ruined two
pretty funny jokes in the movie, because as Critchley says, and we all know
from experience, a joke is ruined once it is explained. Nonetheless I hope you do not wait any longer
like I did many a time, and you watch the movie ASAP. <b></b>
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qaXvFT_UyI8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Sam Mattsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06877740182417949568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-2932967634148933232013-04-06T15:36:00.003-05:002013-04-08T16:41:34.240-05:00Monty Python and Incongruity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="s1"><i> Monty Python and The Holy Grail</i> is undoubtably a classic movie, probably the most famous installment of all of <i>Monty Python</i> series. If you have not seen it, shame on you, for the movie is an excellent example of humor, specifically a British humor. The film is not really a cohesive story with a classic ending, but more like a loosely tied together series of sketches about medieval knights and King Arthur going on ridiculous adventures. </span><br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> In general, Monty Python plays heavily on incongruity for the source of it’s humor. The whole movie sets up a situation and characters that many people are familiar with. King Arthur is an extremely famous figure and everyone has heard stories about medieval knights. Thus they have natural expectations about what will happen in the story. The movie plays on these expectations, setting up something that you think will happen and turning it on it’s head.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> Pinpointing the classic sketch from <i>Monty Python and The Holy Grail</i> is difficult at best. One of the most famous is the Black Knight Sketch, which goes along with the incongruity theory of humor extremely well. In the movie, there is a knight defending a bridge and refuses to let anyone cross. When King Arthur tries to pass him, he forces him to fight. As the fight progresses, King Arthur cuts off the Black Knight’s arm, which would normally signal a fight being over, especially considering the Knight is merely defending a bridge. However, the Black Knight ridiculously claims that “tis but a scratch” and “I’ve had worse”, which of course is completely impossible. The incongruity of his ridiculous attitude continues as he loses all his limbs but continues to not only to try to fight but trash-talk King Arthur. It is the ultimate version of not admitting defeat. If, as Critchley suggests, humor is supposed to teach us something, show us broader ideals about humanity, then maybe this scene shows us that there is always a time to give up. It show us the ridiculousness of the philosophy of “never giving up”. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span><i> Monty Python and the Holy Grail </i>has many other scenes that build on this similar vein of humor. For example, the three questions scene gives a great depiction of the simple unfairness of life sometime in an example taken far over the top. To pass the wizard, the questers had to answer three questions correctly. Comically, the first two questions, instead of being difficult, were: what is your name? what is your quest? For the first asker, the third question was just as easy: what is your favorite color? The next knight approaches confidently, thinking that his passage will be just as easy. But instead, the third question is a useless piece of trivia so random that almost no one would know it off the top of their head. And for not knowing this piece of information, that knight died, unlucky to have gotten the bad question. Comically, the next person, now scared, responded that he “didn’t know” his favorite color, causing his demise as well. On a side note, the casual way that the knights deal with death and danger throughout the whole movie is a subtle source for amusement, for it also does not match up with how most people would react to the death and danger. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> I agree with Critchley that good humor does not merely amuse us, it shows us things about people. I think this can be seen through all types of comedy, from stand-ups to jokes your friends tell around the dinner table. Like Critchley put so well, we make the everyday, ordinary life seem surreal and extraordinary through humor. It allows us to appreciate the little things in life more than perhaps we normally do. But I think one of the most important aspects is it’s communal value. For while you can watch a funny movie and laugh by yourself, it does not compare to the joy that someone gets when watching a movie or sharing a story with friends. Sharing humor multiplies it exponentially, making a humor a very social aspect of our lives. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"> </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"> </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13842418727132765131noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-75289787111695180542013-04-06T15:24:00.002-05:002013-04-08T16:42:27.563-05:00Humor at 20,000 Feet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Humor, as the reading points out, may
be the most elusive forms of the human psyche to study and analyze.
Growing up, my dad had a habit of saying “Humor is like a frog –
once you dissect it, it's already dead.” The statement holds weight
– as soon as one looks directly at humor, puts it under the
microscope, it almost always disappears. How, then, can we study
humor in an academic way? Movies may provide our best options.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Movies, and other pieces of
humor-related art, capture humor in a way that can be experienced
over and over. While some might find a joke or funny scene less
comical after viewing it many times, the original source of mirth is
still perfectly preserved, making movies an ideal place to study
humor without the risk of it slipping away or altering itself while
it is observed.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
One of the most classic humor movies,
Airplane, is a prime example of humor captured. The movie's humor is
based on the absurd, the unexpected, and the classic disconnect
between one character and another. Puns feature strongly in the
movie, and at every turn creative use of juxtaposition creates a
humor in scene that might otherwise seem normal.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
One of the movie's most famous lines is
as follows: A crewmember says to the pilot, “Surely you can't be
serious.” The pilot replies, “Of course I'm serious – and don't
call my Shirley.” The viewer begins the scene from the perspective
of the crewmember, hearing the word “Surely” and seeing it
spelled that way in their mind. However, the pilot's obvious
misunderstanding of the homophone suddenly turns the perspective of
the situation, and the humor lies in how the pilot has focused on an
a seemingly irrelevant part of the sentence rather than the matter at
hand. The pilot's comment also diffuses the serious tone of the
situation. As the reading discusses, humor is considered by some
philosophers (Freud included) to be nothing more than the pent-up
release of emotion, an expression of relief. Indeed, humor can often
ease tensions in certain situations.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Airplane also creates humor through
juxtaposition, and does so quite well. Kareem Abdul Jabaar has a role
in the movie, but many times it's difficult to tell if his role is a
cameo or whether he's playing a character. Perhaps most humorously,
many of the characters don't seem to recognize him as a professional
basketball player (despite him being an obvious misfit). This
suspension of disbelief from the the viewer's point of view is a
source of humor commonly found in all types of comedy.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The movie also creates humor through
use of reaffirming or toying with societal stereotypes, an entire
genre of humor according to the reading. At many points gender roles
are made fun of, and the tongue-in-cheek scenes involving
over-sexualized characters are often the source of the movie's
genius. However, the movie does a particularly good job of presenting
these situations and types of jokes in an ironic fashion, and the
humor is derived from acknowledging that such imbalanced discourses
exist within our society. That said, only some small changes would be
necessary for the humor to be based on reaffirming stereotypes (both
ethnic and gender-related) in order to maintain the power discourse
in our society as opposed to pointing out it's flaws. Humor in this
sense is based on power, the reading notes, and many people have
found it effective in preying on other's weaknesses or by using it as
a tool to leverage themselves higher in the society that they happen
to exist in.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Airplane also focuses on slapstick
humor, or humor based on physical events. Slapstick humor has been a
popular form of humor for centuries, and is often based on watching
others in pain. However, slapstick humor can only work if the pain is
moderate to light, otherwise the viewer begins to feel uncomfortable.
However, the humor doesn't have to be solely based on pain to be
considered slapstick. In airplane, one the most memorable scene
results when the two main character are shown kissing romantically in
the waves. During this seemingly perfect scene, instead of the waves
lapping gently over them, a giant wave full of seaweed drenches them
and ruins the moment. Not only does this occurrence add to the humor
in the scene, but the scene also plays off of making a slight
alteration to a commonly known scene. Because the beach make-out has
been used in other movies in a serious sense, by parodying this
situation through a slightly different outcome the scene becomes far
funnier than if hadn't already been a known cultural icon. Often
times, as the reading suggests, humor is found in taking an event or
phrase usually presented in a serious fashion and changing it
slightly to make it seem ridiculous and therefore play off of it's
initial serious. The humor in the above scene, for instance, wouldn't
work if the scene hadn't began as one that was intensely romantic and
seemingly far from the realm of humor.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Evan Katzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04633911398247281577noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-35212031702714107032013-04-06T14:29:00.001-05:002013-04-08T16:38:18.468-05:00The Dude Abides, Darkly <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMV8e6jJzso8lRSlkArNCLdiNaz8VycvWAYYyPWKd7W8E-jfSYaXZjhVpoKYYswzeWP-jfb_YjhlXNT-Anw78dyd4ugAkVPKzl5Jjcz6JK_eBcv58f6SA38DYkVaOH4uZ8ZeJBjD8ogHMf/s1600/The-Big-Lebowski-Movie-poster.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMV8e6jJzso8lRSlkArNCLdiNaz8VycvWAYYyPWKd7W8E-jfSYaXZjhVpoKYYswzeWP-jfb_YjhlXNT-Anw78dyd4ugAkVPKzl5Jjcz6JK_eBcv58f6SA38DYkVaOH4uZ8ZeJBjD8ogHMf/s320/The-Big-Lebowski-Movie-poster.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div>
<i>The Big Lebowski </i>(1998)
is a classic example of the Coen brothers' characteristically
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallows_humor" target="_blank">dark sense of humor</a>,
depicting grim events in an almost flippant manner. “The Dude”
(Jeff Bridges) shares a legal name with Jeffrey Lebowski (David
Huddleston), thereby creating the perfect context for a
comedy-of-errors. <i>Lebowski </i>sets
itself apart from other simple situational comedies through the
gravity and intensity of the situations contained therein. Simon
Critchley does not specifically discuss dark humor in his book <i>On
Humour</i>, but his three theories
of humor are nonetheless pertinent to an in-depth examination of
<i>Lebowski. </i>First, a
quick summary of the three theories:<br />
<ol>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
We
laugh <i>at </i>others, out
of feelings of superiority</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Laughter
is a release of nervous energy, or a response to an awkward
situation
</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Humor
arises from the difference between our expectations and what
actually occurs</div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>Lebowski </i>includes
all three theories in varying degrees. Audiences laugh at the
characters themselves, as The Dude & Friends are messy,
unemployed bowling-enthusiasts – a perfect recipe for creating
feelings of superiority, it would seem. There is also a great deal of
nervous laughter, especially with regard to Maude Lebowski (Julianne
Moore) and her artwork. The
same could be said for the scene with the ferret and the bathtub,
depending on how uncomfortable small rodents on leashes make you. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/j3HntMTZX0Y?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">It
is the third theory, though, which addresses the majority
of </span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Lebowski</i></span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">'s
humor. Critchley speaks mostly of jokes, where punch-lines depart
significantly from their anticipated direction. He elaborates, saying
that a “</span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">true
joke, a comedian's joke, suddenly and explosively lets us see the
familiar defamiliarized, the ordinary made extra- ordinary and the
real rendered surreal” (10). In </span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Lebowski</i></span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">,
most of the situations themselves (with some obvious exceptions, of
course) are more or less familiar to the viewer. We've seen
kidnapping stories before; we've seen complex tales of mistaken
identities (both <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Comedy_of_Errors" target="_blank">good</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2024432/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">less-good</a>);
we've likely even seen bowling fanatics before, though none with
quite the panache of Jesus Quintana (John Turturro). It is the way
that the Coen Brothers toy with our horizon of expectations that
makes this movie a comedy.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">I
find it fascinating that this film, like most of the Brothers' dark
comedies, could have easily tipped over into the realm of drama with
just a few different stylistic or character-based alterations. Dark
comedy is a hard genre to define, and it is an even harder genre to write within. Yet the Coens have still managed to master it. Consider the bare-bones plot: After a
case of mistaken identity, which led to theft and assault in the home
of an innocent man, that man becomes involved in a kidnapping scheme.
When plans go awry, the alleged kidnappers send a severed body part
to the abducted woman's husband as a threat. The summary could
continue further, but I think you get the point. It sounds like a
drama, yes? It even sounds like a bit of a horror thriller, with
bloody toes being sent via USPS. Yet the disjunction between the
grave situations and the various characters' outlandish (or not
outlandish enough?) responses to their circumstances creates a comedic
effect. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black;">Critchley
does touch on dark humor briefly, even referencing a Coen Brothers
creation: “if there is a coldness at the core of the comic,”
resulting from the distance from everyday life which comedy allows,
“then this can also be disturbing... Consider the Coen Brothers'
1996 film, </span><span style="color: black;"><i>Fargo</i></span><span style="color: black;">,
where multiple murder is treated with a troubling numbness” (88).
To be fair, </span><span style="color: black;"><i>Fargo
</i></span><span style="color: black;">leans
more toward drama than </span><span style="color: black;"><i>Lebowski</i></span><span style="color: black;">,
but Critchley's comment is still applicable. The Dude is so casual in his
treatment of the physical threat on both himself and the
supposedly kidnapped woman, preferring to dwell on his ruined rug. He drinks White Russians and bemoans the loss of a decorative item. So yes, the plot is grim, but the characters are comedic. The same could be
said for </span><span style="color: black;"><i>Fargo</i></span><span style="color: black;">.
</span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black;">Does this “gallows humor” have a clear place in Critchley's
compiled theories? Does it fit in one, or does it seem to combine all
three? Or perhaps it marks a need for a fourth theory? For me, the humor of
</span><span style="color: black;"><i>Lebowski
</i></span><span style="color: black;">is
in large part due to the tension between the viewer's expectation and
the film's “reality,” if you could call it that. We expect a
reasonable, rational human being (though The Dude seemed to trade in
reason and rationality for his unconventional title) to treat a
violent situation with a bit more caution, but we delight in The
Dude's buffoonery. It is a pleasant contradiction to our
expectations. Is this true of <i>all </i>dark humor, though? Or just that of the Coen Brothers? </span></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-70210986443013522822013-04-06T13:39:00.002-05:002013-04-08T16:37:58.644-05:00The Humor of Superiority in The Big Lebowski<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMV8e6jJzso8lRSlkArNCLdiNaz8VycvWAYYyPWKd7W8E-jfSYaXZjhVpoKYYswzeWP-jfb_YjhlXNT-Anw78dyd4ugAkVPKzl5Jjcz6JK_eBcv58f6SA38DYkVaOH4uZ8ZeJBjD8ogHMf/s1600/The-Big-Lebowski-Movie-poster.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMV8e6jJzso8lRSlkArNCLdiNaz8VycvWAYYyPWKd7W8E-jfSYaXZjhVpoKYYswzeWP-jfb_YjhlXNT-Anw78dyd4ugAkVPKzl5Jjcz6JK_eBcv58f6SA38DYkVaOH4uZ8ZeJBjD8ogHMf/s320/The-Big-Lebowski-Movie-poster.jpeg" width="213" /></a></span></div>
Critchley’s<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> On Humor</i> outlines three theories of
humor. The longest-standing one is based upon the idea of superiority, where
the audience feels themselves better than the characters being portrayed. This
is the idea behind racial and sexist humor. Basically it is a humor that
capitalizes on stereotypes and makes caricatures out of its characters. There
appear to be several different studies of this superiority theory within the
movie. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Dude is
our protagonist, and the narrator speaks truthfully of him. He calls him the
laziest man in Los Angeles, but also describes him as someone completely right
for his time and place. He speaks of him as if he is a legend. And on the two
instances the narrator and the Dude encounter each other the narrator treats
him as an equal, or even as someone to be admired. So, the Dude is presented to
the audience as an equal. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Yet, within
the movie, it is clear that the majority of the characters see the Dude as a
complete loser. This is one of the functions of the Big Lebowski. When the two
are introduced, Mr. Lebowski describes the Dude as society must see him. He is
unemployed, not seeking employment, and is, as he puts it, “asking for a
handout.” The chief of police in Malibu is our figure of societal authority and
he makes his opinion of the Dude abundantly clear. He empties the pitiful
contents of the Dude’s wallet and discovers his only form of identification is
a Ralph’s frequent shopper card. The police chief then insults him and assaults
him. In the next scene the cab driver throws the Dude out of his cab because he
does not like the Eagles. The driver perceived himself as superior both in
authority and music taste. A short while later we see a policeman laughing with
superiority in the auto pound scene. Here the policeman, again an authority
figure and our societal representative is demonstrating audience superiority. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Walter’s
character is very interesting because he is the character whose inane actions
grant the audience a sense of superiority and elicit most of the movie’s
laughs. But he is also the embodiment of audience superiority. At every turn,
he is declaring himself better than those around him. He constantly cites ‘Nam
as evidence of this. He believes he can both outsmart and physically overpower
all of his adversaries. His perceived superiority appears ridiculous. In the
words of the Dude, “I love ya, but sooner or later you’re gonna have to face
the fact that you’re a goddamn moron.” He seems to be speaking for the entire
audience here. The audience gets quite a few laughs from Walter’s belief in his
superiority, but it is a parallel feeling of supremacy that prompts amusement. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Interestingly,
by the end of the movie Walter makes good on his claims. When the German
nihlists return to demand payment, Walter overpowers the three of them
singlehandedly. It’s clear that his original plan to grab one of them at the
handoff and beat information out of them would have worked even though it
seemed insane. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
representations of the superiority theory in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Big Lebowski</i> are designed to reveal the falsity of superiority.
What is really funny about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Big
Lebowski</i> is the absurdity of superiority. Those characters who appear to us
as believing themselves to be superior really just seem crazy. Walter is our
overarching example whose function is to turn the idea of superiority inside
out and then to do it again. There are also other smaller examples, one being
Jesus. The bowler wears tight monochromatic bowling suits, lots of rings and a
hairnet. His appearance is ridiculous and his bowling routine disturbing, and
yet it is clear from his mannerisms and trash talking that he is confident in
his supremacy. Walter’s dismissal of the man as a pervert is comical because it
proves him a freak and establishes the audience’s superiority; it also
reinforces Walter’s role as surrogate audience. In the same way, Mr. Lebowski
is not the self-made millionaire he proclaims himself to be. In reality, he is
an old cripple on allowance from his daughter. His claim to superiority is just
as false as everyone else’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Dude is
the only character that never claims superiority, and in the end he is the most
respectable character. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Big Lebowski </i>utilizes
the humor of superiority, but in doing so it highlight’s the construction of
this kind of humor and thus holds a mirror to us, the audience and in the end
forces us to laugh at ourselves. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->edorwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04870325014288581590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-27756261230803324522013-04-06T13:19:00.001-05:002013-04-08T16:37:26.319-05:00The Film as a Joke<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6aWDnHeVFQNzbZn1GWQMKzsbncrlzKlvhMfA7aQHlSYKB51lAQ4KmNB5pmIgLpfQXQ5ieRTNqJ1ldtNvn0pONAK2yHed7BNSJoOJhEMxEa2etss-MG9pLcSftk_0ZpvYbKzpAvoe3fjQL/s1600/spinal-tap-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6aWDnHeVFQNzbZn1GWQMKzsbncrlzKlvhMfA7aQHlSYKB51lAQ4KmNB5pmIgLpfQXQ5ieRTNqJ1ldtNvn0pONAK2yHed7BNSJoOJhEMxEa2etss-MG9pLcSftk_0ZpvYbKzpAvoe3fjQL/s320/spinal-tap-poster.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is Spinal Tap </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">is a mocumentary about a 1980’s band on
tour, dealing with issues prevalent even to today’s musical industry. Where the
credit for the film’s humor lies is mostly with the genre. The mocumentary
formula works very similarly to how Critchley would describe one type of joke.
The film, appearing as a documentary, aims to tell a true, familiar, and
especially believable story, and within the story the fabric of the medium is
often broken. Something not usual, excessive problems or unnatural reactions
will allow the viewer to recognize a specific joke and… well… laugh, either at
the characters or at the situation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">One of the films
resonating jokes deals with the situation they find themselves in with their
set for the song “Stonehenge.” When specifying the details of the size of the
stones that are to descend during the song, Nigel (Christopher Guest), the main
figurehead for the band, accidentally indicates inches instead of feet,
producing some miniature stones. The situation in itself is somewhat a joke,
but the punch line lies in their dealing with the situation. This builds
tension, yet in a way we know that due to the nature of the film we are being
told a joke. Mistakes like these may happen in the industry, keeping us still
grounded in the “real world.” So to end the tension of the situation, instead
of practically dealing with the small stones, they simply have two dwarves come
out on stage and river dance around the small stones. Critchley would say “</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">tension is created in the listener and I follow along
willingly with the story that is being recounted. When the punch-line kicks in,
and the little bubble </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">of </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">tension pops, I experience an affect that can be described
as pleasure, and I laugh or just smile” creating this “phenomenology” of a joke.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Jokes like this one are seen constantly
throughout the film; however, there are also more socially critical jokes at
hand. At one point in the film, the band puts out an idea for an album cover
being a man holding a leash attached to a woman crawling on all fours. The
tension built in this scenario is not so much situational, but social. While
the joke still follows the basic structure and phenomenology, the tension is
released in an almost cynical way. When first being confronted about the image
being sexist, Nigel replies “what’s wrong with being sexy?” Here we are not
only laughing with relief in the situation’s tension bursting, but laughing at
Nigel for having no educated outlook in the problems of sexism during the time.
The joke definitely comments on views most likely held by bands of that time,
but also can be carried into today’s music. In a similarly stupid manner, the
band faces other problems such as racism in suggesting “the Black Album” as an
album title. Other jokes rely heavily on sexuality and a masculine ideal for
competition, even in terms of masculinity… as one member is stopped at a metal
detector for having a cucumber wrapped in tinfoil in his pants.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Again, the genre is a perfect platform
for joke telling, with interviews, clips, and cutaways. We, as viewers, really
go along for the ride of jokes through story telling. “A guy walked into a bar”
type scenarios are constantly being set up, where the outcome and punch line
are completely up to the creativity of the writer and director of the film.
This really makes the film a joke in itself. I’ve had people say, “I thought
that movie was a real documentary” and ultimately say “until that one point
when…” where the tension of buying into the story as reality is broken and you
immediately lose any trust you may have had with the filmmaker. So this phenomenology
as described by Critchley can be carried over to the film as a whole, bringing
up some metaphysical ideas that could be written about in an entirely new post.
Basically it just brings up thoughts about jokes within jokes as well as any
ideas of the construct of perceived reality being broken due to the nature of
any film with the genre “mocumentary.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Overall, I would suggest the film as
the humor is well constructed and at points pretty smart. There is almost a
cult following of the film in that it ties a group of people together by its
quirky sense of humor and jokes that resonate through the film and into real
life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04317891027388571774noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-41869196908659883172013-04-06T13:04:00.005-05:002013-04-08T16:36:34.789-05:00"It's civil rights!"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQOFNz6p61kfu5dNTcbTAO4njIGrn0Cpc1jb6G3q1ECwXF1hA_33P8H8fAxM3Yew2DZC-9ai5lRwKMK13C8nkpx3NoWFnK8-iLBLiO6GW8ogCJD3PRNVnbhqYY8IRcwR_posgW3ggZhke/s1600/bridesmaids_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQOFNz6p61kfu5dNTcbTAO4njIGrn0Cpc1jb6G3q1ECwXF1hA_33P8H8fAxM3Yew2DZC-9ai5lRwKMK13C8nkpx3NoWFnK8-iLBLiO6GW8ogCJD3PRNVnbhqYY8IRcwR_posgW3ggZhke/s320/bridesmaids_poster.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
I've heard "Bridesmaids" been referred to numerous times as "the girl version of the Hangover." Its female-dominated cast is funny, outrageous, and crude much like the men in "The Hangover"- which transforms what might be a typical, uncontroversial rom com into a movie that is much more striking (and humorous), and liberating for women.<br />
<div>
"Bridesmaids" is a story centered on Annie's (Kristen Wiig) difficulties planning her best friend Lillian's (Maya Rudolph) wedding. Annie is at rock bottom in her life from the beginning of the film - her bakery went bankrupt and so did she, she shares her apartment with two creepily close siblings who read her diary, she's hooking up with a mega-douche, and Lillian seems to have a new best friend who is constantly challenging Annie's role as maid of honor. Things get even worse from there as she begins to feel more competition from the new friend, Helen Harris III, loses her jewelry store job for insulting a young girl looking to buy a "BFF" necklace (telling her to "have fun having a baby at her prom"), as well as her apartment, her mega-douche, and her best friend, all while trying to win back the actually nice guy she met.<br />
<div>
"Bridesmaids" has all of the elements of a usual chick flick - there are chicks doing something typically associated with being female, which in this case is obviously being involved in a wedding. There's romance found and lost, then found again. But the way "Bridesmaids" differs from this equation is vital. These women swear, burp, rabble rouse, and even demolish a bridal shop with their food poisoning. They are not "ladylike." </div>
</div>
<div>
In his book <i>On Humor</i>, Simon Critchley argues that humor and comedy can serve a greater purpose than releasing nervous energy or acknowledging inferiors - it can be a liberation of an individual's wills and desires. Critchley states that, "what goes on in humor is a form of <i>liberation</i> or <i>elevation</i> that expresses something essential to...'the humanity of the human,'" and emphasizes the joke should work to change the situation that it occurs in. Furthering this argument, Critchley elaborates that, "the incongruities of humor both speak out of a massive congruence between joke structure and social structure, and speak against those structures by showing that they have no necessity."</div>
<div>
Critchley explains that "the humanity of the human" can be explored through scatological humor (or as he coins it, "<i>souls and arseholes"), </i>as it reminds us of our constant state of both being a body and having a body, what he calls <i>physical and metaphysical</i>. We as human beings are unique in our ability to exercise mental capabilities that stretch beyond our current environment despite our physicality. Scatological humor allows us to acknowledge and laugh at the weirdness of our bodies.<br />
"Bridesmaids" does depend on some scatological humor. One of the trademark scenes from "Bridesmaids," is when the crew gets food poisoning in a bridal shop and soils the place in a very graphic, albeit hilarious, way. Many people think this scene is hysterical, and many think it's disgusting. While it's certainly valid to find scatological humor in general to be foul, it's been said enough by a large amount of people that this scene is particularly gross or unfunny <i>because</i> they're female, and those gender roles need to go. This movie not only brought the comedic double-standard into the public sphere, but also showed that women are allowed to be crude, and can be funny while doing it. In this way, "Bridesmaids" succeeded in Critchley's goal of humor as liberation.<br />
In addition to a fair amount of bodily functions, "Bridesmaids" offers a plethora of swear words, including the ultra-taboo and offensive "c-word", as well as sexual innuendos at a level which doesn't appear in any other "chick flick" or romantic comedy. "Bridesmaids"'s success at the box office and award shows (as well as in the hearts of millions), accomplishes what Critchley argues is the central mission of humor - to elevate and liberate. Hopefully thanks to Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, and their "stone-cold pack of weirdos", we'll be able to move past the scatological double-standard. "Bridesmaids," pushes the envelope and proves that yes, women can be just as crude as men, <i>and</i> just as funny while they're doing it. As far as this equality in scatological humor goes, I'm sure Annie would agree with me that "it's civil rights!"<br />
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Here's one of the funniest scenes from "Bridesmaids":<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02991237369760939377noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-77940789474411608472013-04-06T10:26:00.000-05:002013-04-08T16:35:13.539-05:00Humor Lebowski<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-u-O2Mrn2upOw_Pb15hp7XMsMwcfbvxOGOqsexiXZCaE9m7brBWumLm6-XciuTjRMM5iva3HXUb4K8drfv8fV6algNf8PhWsG_7CFfqIgIkV9em7IY66EMBGrEwswYDeY85xytarg2Ig0/s1600/The-Big-Lebowski-Movie-poster.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-u-O2Mrn2upOw_Pb15hp7XMsMwcfbvxOGOqsexiXZCaE9m7brBWumLm6-XciuTjRMM5iva3HXUb4K8drfv8fV6algNf8PhWsG_7CFfqIgIkV9em7IY66EMBGrEwswYDeY85xytarg2Ig0/s320/The-Big-Lebowski-Movie-poster.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div>
<i>The Big Lebowski</i> is a 1998 comedy about several offbeat middle aged men trying to live average live, but who get mixed up in Debt issues due to the main character, Lebowski, getting mistaken for another Lebowski and targeted by debt collectors. This movie is clearly a comedy, and is considered by many to be an extremely funny movie. But what about it actually makes it funny? Humor is something that we can recognize easily, but is much harder to describe.<br />
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To answer this question, philosophers came up with various criteria of what constitutes humor. One such explanation is the incongruity theory in which humor arises from the difference between the expected and what actually happens, as well as the distance between the two. This can be seen as a major driving force in <i>The Big Lebowski, </i>especially because the very premise is based around Lebowski being targeted while really not having done anything to deserve his treatment. For example, Lebowski is just a guy who likes to lounge around in his robe and drink white russians, but then random people show up to his house, beat the crap out of him, and hold his head underwater in the toilet. The incongruity between Lebowski "the dude's" lifestyle and his collectors is what creates the humor.</div>
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Another theory about what makes up humor is that it is based off of a superiority complex that the viewer gets over the characters. This is even more readily apparent in <i>The Big Lebowski, </i>because the main character and his friends are all pretty messed up in their own way. Lebowski himself is just kind of a bum, and his friend has anger issues. The other characters, too, are stricken with vice, and so while watching the movie the viewer can bask in a superiority complex over every character, and laugh at the absurd situations that stem from the character's lack of integrity.</div>
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But these are just theories, because humor is really not something we can clarify like words. Unlike most things we experience, it doesn't follow any sort of real logic, and so we must resort to more abstract ideas to get a reading on it. If you look though, there are patterns that can be gleaned from what we find funny or not funny, and so generalizations leave us still quite confident we know the basics of what's behind humor.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318381305763508358.post-33417741920142956902013-04-05T09:58:00.002-05:002013-04-08T16:33:39.777-05:00The Humor of Caddyshack<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</style>Caddyshack, the slapstick comedy revolving around a golf
course and the rivalry between the owner, Judge Smails, and the eccentric
guest, Al, played by Rodney Dangerfield, merges perfect two of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the three theories of humor presented by
Critchley. The two theories merged are those of the ancient theory of
superiority humor, and that of the incongruity theory.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
first theory, that of the superiority theory, proposed by philosophers such as
Aristotle, Plato, and Hobbes, states that we find humor in our feelings of
superiority over other people. We find humor in the “suddaine Glory arising
from suddaine Conception of some Eminency in our selves, by Comparison with the
Infirmityes of others, or with our owne formerly.” In Caddyshack, this is
achieved in a number of ways. First, through Rodney Dangerfield’s character. In
his character, we can reflect not only on how civil we are and his antics make
us feel like we are better than him, but also through a more unique way. When
Al interacts with the owner of Bushwood, his antics, though goofy and seemingly
inferior to the self-absorbed “superior” judge, the difference between the two
make us reflect upon our own character and see how we are superior to both,
even though we relate more with Al. Through the character of Al, we get the
feeling of superiority, and within his interactions and challenges of
Bushwood’s owner, we get this feeling even more and the humor within it.<br />
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
second theory of humor utilized in Caddyshack is the incongruity theory. As
Lowell wrote on this idea, “Humor in its first analysis is a perception of the
incongruous.” That is, to say, when an experience of felt incongruity between
what we know or expect to be the case, and the actual outcome of the joke. In
Caddyshack, this is the main operator of humor, whether it be Al’s antics or
that of the battle between the gopher and the groundskeeper, or arguable the
movie’s most famous scene, where one of the characters drops a BabyRuth candy
bar in the pool. Everyone in the pool thinks it is not candy, but a piece of
human excrement, and panic, and pandemonium breaks out. After this, the
groundskeeper is cleaning the pool in a hazmat suit, and when he picks up the
bar, sniffs it, and realizes it is a candy bar, takes a bite out of it. While
this does not necessary cause the incongruity in the viewer, a club member is
watching him do this, and thinking it is a piece of excrement, passes out when
she sees him take a bite. It is this incongruity, between the club member’s
expectations and reality, that causes the humor. Another example of this type
of humor in Caddyshack is the final attempt of the groundskeeper (Bill Murray),
to rid the golfcourse of the gopher that has been plaguing it. He rigs the
gopher’s holes he has dug with dynamite, and ignites it. When he ignites it,
the movie is at a pivotal moment in the golf match between the Bushwood owner
and Dangerfield’s character, and the putt is on the edge of going in, and the
explosions, while ruining the golf course, also cause the ball to fall in to
the dismay of the owner. It is also this twist of unexpected outcomes that
cause humor.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Caddyshack,
in it’s entirety, utilizes the superiority idea of humor, whether it be between
the owner of Bushwood and his new troublesome member, or the caddies
themselves, and the interactions they go through with the club members. The question
I have, then, is whether or Caddyshack also uses the “relief theory” of humor.
While it is true that it does cause laughter, is this laughter the release of
pent-up nervous energy? From the very beginning, Caddyshack is not a stressful
or nerve-racking film, so does it cause the necessary nervous energy or
situation needed for the laughing to be a release of this type of energy, or
does the nature of the film itself prevent this from happening?</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02670068308625654466noreply@blogger.com0