The Thing and Mulvey

I had never seen the movie The Thing before this class. I have a great love for horror movies, so this movie was definitly one I loved during our class. Even though I am not usually a sci fi fan, the story line of this movie was very cool. Dealing with the unknown and figuring out how to exterminate the infecting parasite made me think of Mulvey's reading. I found it very interesting how Mulvey's reading dealed with the idea of observing the unknown.

What does Mulvey's theory of scopophila have to do with The Thing?

Scopophila is the obsession of looking at the unknown. That is exactly what Kurt Russell's group was doing when they were stationed in Alaska. They were trying to figure out how to exterminate the quick moving parasite so it wouldnt effect everyone on the camp.

Where there any apparent patterns of facination like Mulvey disscusses in her essay?

Kurt Russell and his group are constantly snooping and questioning everyone around camp since that is the only way they could tell if someone was infested. They were very interested in that parasite not only because it threatened their safety but because they had never seen anything that could transform into other life forms.

Is gender idenitiy imposed on Ludo?

Ludo knew he was different from other boys and girls at school very early on in his childhood. He made is apparent to his friends and neighborhood that his insides didnt match his outsides. Ludo was always comfortable in his skin, but his parents were not happy with his behavior. I think it was his parents that imposed the "male idenity" on Ludo since they wanted to have a "normal" son, just like every other parent's son. It was clear that Ludo's parents didn't take his lifestyle seriously since everytime Ludo would dress in girls clothes they would tell him that hes to old to "play dress up." Because of his unsupportive parents, Ludo felt it necessary to act on dangerous behavior, such as putting himself in the freezer. Gender idenitiy is imposed since both of his parents try to change him through out the movie.

Fluidity in Indentity in FFH

What was the significance of the Mulvey reading when applied to the film FFH?

Mulvey's piece focuses mainly on the indentified and the objectified. It promotes the idea of man vs. man roles. To Mulvey these roles were very strict with no grey areas. However in this case with the film it became man vs. wife roles.

What was the significance of the Stacey reading when applied to the film FFH?

Stacey's piece disscuses the idea of women holding male oriented roles but not losing their feminine qualities while doing so. You see Kathy slowing picking up more authority as the movie progresses, and not once does she lose her feminine qualities. She is always looking her best whether she is at home or out in public. Even when she is disrespected she stays polite and soft spoken. Those qualities were seen as the "ideal woman" of that period.

How was the male protagonist viewed in FFH?

Personally, I found myself rooting for Kathy throughout the movie. She was practically forced to play dual roles in the household since her husband was constantly falling apart due to his homosexual desires which strayed him from the normal male role. In the begining of the movie Frank had most of the authoritative rule, but he became passive and had Kathy deal with the more male orriented situations. The best example of Frank becoming weak is when he gave his power over in the first place because you have to have power in order to give it away. Due to the exchange of power Kathy began taking on more authoritative role in the house such as disciplining the children and ordering around the servants. One could also think that she took on the emotions of a man because even in hard situations she did not cry or have any outburts. She kept her emotions concieled for the most part, which alot of people associate with male behavior. The best example of this is when she asks Frank if he wants a divorce and not once does she show any emotion about such a serious topic.

Selma's Musical Escape

What is the significance of the musical sequences?

In the movie Dancer in the Dark, Selma deals with a condition that causes her to slowly lose her vision. Selma's blindness is what I concentrated on the most when it came to alot of the situations and events in the movie. I found it to be very interesting that someone who is blind would enjoy muscials so much, since half the fun is watching the charachters move about the stage. But as I watched the movie further I realized the muscials were Selma's way of detaching herself from the hardships of her reality. Her muscials became her way of escape and it almost seemed as if she had her vision back 100% during the dance numbers. Selma later states in the movie that she loves musicals "because nothing dreadful every happens." I found it to be very interesting that everytime a muscial would start it would be during or at the beginging of a very uncomfortable event. The best examples of this happening is when she is alone in her cell, walking to her execution and even right before her execution. Even if she didnt hear music or a beat, she would make her own by stamping her feet or tapping her tooth brush against the jail sink. I also find her choice of lyrics to be interesting. She sings the song "My Favorite Things" in her jail cell which almost could relate to whats going on in her life, since she is in a tiny jail cell recalling on the things that made her happy. These muscials were her own personal comfort.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALB-QEJGkbQ <-- best example of her musical escape is her her jail cell.

What is the significance of Selma's realtionship with her son?

Selma was very dedicated to her son, Gene. Like most mothers, she put him before herself even when she was in jail and in desperate need of expensive legal advice. The thought of using the money for herself brought upon violent crying fits. She worked very hard to save the money for his future operation. I think Selma was so set on making sure that the $2.056. 10 went towards Gene's health, because she wanted him to be able to live a life without having to constantly escape himself and his thoughts.

What is the significance of ragtime influence in Jimmy Courigan

When I first read Courigan I was very confused about how to read the panels correctly. It was not your typical symmetrical panels with the perfectly lined gutters. Not only did the panels not line up but it seemed to me that the content jumped around alot. This was not a comic I found to be a "quick read" by any means. However, once we introduced the idea of ragtime music to the comic it seemed to flow alot better. I found that the way ragtime music jumped around with its high and low pitched sequences was the same way I found my brain taking in the comics information and closures.

Is it possible that music can give a personality to a comic? I found that to be very true since the more I listened to the ragtime clips, the more I found the panels following to the beat of the music in my mind. It seemed to make the panels flow more like a film strip. It also gave it the quirky kind of music that you would assume an old time cartoon would have.

Is it possible that there may be a reason behind the random placement of comic panels? This thought did not occur to me until our group disscussions in class today. One could imagine the gutters of the strip to be the lines of a music scale and the random horizontal and vertical panels to represent musical notes. It takes a little imagination but I think the flow is there. Once I considered this idea it seemed to give alot more movement and noise to the busy streets and buldings of Chicago.

The Significance of the Vendetta Symbol

As we were reading "V for Vendetta" I did some research on anarchy since I was not very informed about the matter. It seemed to be a very popular theme through out the comic. I found it very interesting that the Vendetta symbol is very similar to the universal anarchy symbol. If you turn V's symbol upside down, it looks like an "A" with a circle around it. Is this a coinsidence or V's stamp of approval?

I do believe that it is not a coincidence that V's signature resembles the anarchy symbol. I do think its a symbol of the movement he was trying to push England towards.

Everyone who has read V for Vendetta is well aware of his views on how society and government should work. After reading this text I can see that even though V's actions could be seen as ruthless and terroistic, he was in his own way giving "every man" the voice they deserved. He was showing the people of England that the government shouldn't always have the last say and that "every mans" liberty should be celebrated, even if that meant a little chaos. Isn't that the concept of anarchy?

The concept of anarchy is stressed through out the comic in a variety of ways. I think V would only see it appropriate to link his throughts and actions through this symbol. Isn't that the significance of symbols?. Anyone who sees it would know the whole story and concept behind it. This symbol was a quick and easy way for V to promote his movement around England.

----> this is the GREAT "V" domino trick in the movie!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPfI9oxZuEo ..and maybe one could say the action of the dominos falling could be considered a metaphor for the chaos in England.

The Significance of Cartoons

What is the significance of cartoon illustrations in Maus on a serious and sensitive historical topic?

Spiegelman's approach to drawing the faces of his charachters is very iconic. Throughout the book all of the mice look the same, as do all the pigs and cats. The only way you have a chance of telling them apart is if you pay close attention to wardrobe or flow of dialouge. I think that he did it this way because the story of the Holocaust relates and touches so many different groups of people. He didn’t want it to be about just one person or just another "survival story" of the Holocaust. He also wants to show that all Jews were targeted with no exception by the Germans. I don’t think Spiegelmen drew the Jews as vermin off of his own persnoal opinion, but as the opinion of the Germans during that time period. Germans saw the Jews as dirty vermin so portraying them as mice was the easiest animal to dervie those characteristics from. The Germans were drawn as cats because of cats animalistic nature to hunt mice. The poles were drawn as pigs to show that they were higher rank then the Jews but not as powerful as the Germans. Could someone even go as far to say that the concentration camps could have been seen as the "mouse traps" for the Jews plotted by the Germans?

Spieglman's narration tactic was to allow his readers to hear the same Holocaust story, but from a different perspective. It allows us to let go of our natural senses and see the Holocaust represented differently through the use of animals as main charachters. With the way the dialouge is set up you almost hear the retold story of the Holocaust as a story within a story as Artie talked to his father.

The whole structure and dialouge set up of Maus really relates to Hayden White's essay. White's essay questions why human beings have the need to tell stories. The whole book of Maus is set up for the reader to see a story unfold in front of them. White makes it clear in his essay that the reason humans love to tell stories is because we can all relate to stories in some way. The way Maus is structured it allows the reader to see and feel the story from a different perspective. Just as the mice were victims, someone who reads Maus might be able to relate to the victimized and suppression by a preditor bond.