Samantha Bray - In Class Post 2

Donnie Darko

Donnie Darko was a pretty interesting movie. Not going to lie, that bunny was terrifying! At first I found myself really questioning what this had to do with religion, but then the more I thought about it, I think I started to figure it out. As twisted as Donnie was, I saw him as the Christ-like figure of the film. The jet engine fell into his room, and it caused so many problems throughout all the people in the community. Donnie was able to live through about the next month and see what was happening. He then realized all the trouble he had caused, and decided to sacrifice is own life in order to save all the people he loved in the community. This is just like how Jesus died on the cross for all of his people.

Samantha Bray- In Class Post 1

Wings of Desire

Wings of Desire was a strange movie to me. It was confusing trying to figure out what was really going on. The fact that they used the distinction of color or black and white to determine when it was the angels' view or when it was the people's view was very helpful. I think this story gave me the idea that I should be more carefree and imaginative. The children in the movie were the only ones that could see the angels. Adults are so seriously all the time, and have lost their imagination, so they are no longer able to see the angels. In the end of the film when the one angel finally becomes human, he meets up with another guy who used to be an angel. The guy is clearly a busy-body and almost didn't even have time to stop and talk. I think in this moment they both kind of realize that bring human instead of an angel wasn't all it was cracked up to be. This reminds me of children. When kids are young they always say they want to grow up and be an adult, but what they don't realize is how much work being an adult actually entails. As college students, we are all in this transitional stage of our lives. This is really where we are all realizing how close we are to the "real world" and how scary it is. I've gotten over the wanting to grow up stage and am now at the point where I just want to go back to being a kid!

Paul Meredith- Exploring Film Technique

Bunny:

This film was filled with religious symbolism. The choice of the use of a rabbit as the film’s protagonist is an interesting choice given the serious subject matter of the film. The moths in the film, analogous at times to angels, serve as the primary means of advancing the plot. The importance of the moths in bringing about the conflict reflect a theistic belief, namely that the agents of a higher power are acting in an attempt to influence or decisions in one way or another. This is done by the moths going towards the light and trying to show the elderly women the way to go.  The other concept of climbing into an oven in approaching the afterlife seems to run contrary to the otherwise wholesome values of the film. I thought this was an interesting film because you often see love like this in elderly couples. 

Northfork:

This was an interesting film that consisted of a lot of symbolic imagery. I'm not sure of the overall meaning of the film but the individual clips shown helped to show how framing can portray to the viewer what you want them to see. In the first scene when they show the church against the backdrop of mountain it shows the openness nature can have and symbolizes God's massiveness. It shows we are connected to nature when in fact the irony was they had to pick up their stuff and move elsewhere. Another scene that was interesting to me and symbolizes mainstream society versus those who don't conform was the image of the buffalo and the boy going in opposite directions. Lastly, the coffin on the car gives the viewer a perspective of death that we normally don't see. The mood and scenery was ominous and filled with dark clouds and you could feel despair in the air. The unnaturalness associated with moving the dead after they had been buried, let alone on the top of a car gave a weird feeling, as we were able to maybe see a crossing over from the profane to the sacred in this instance?

Paris, Texas:

This was the best film of the night to me because it was relatable especially in our society today. A simple theme emerged after watching clips from this film: humans desire to communicate, but often times just don't know how to do so. Everything from the dialogue to the panoramic shots supports this claim. Travis walks through the desert, following telephone wires, passing mailboxes, and still he cannot communicate to his brother why he is searching and walking. Many shots from the film focus on mediums we use to communicate--trains, airplanes, cars on the freeway, telephones, etc. Despite the vast number of technologies humans can use to communicate, Travis still cannot express what he wants to say. I think this movie asks viewers to reconsider the barriers we build up that prevent us from communicating with each other- be it cars, roads, houses, etc. A simple face-to-face conversation without any medium can be the best ways to express our thoughts to someone. This is shown when Travis talked to his wife, you were able to see the communication barriers between the two as they couldn’t even face each other when trying to explain how they really felt, but the communication meant so much more because you can see and hear the emotion and meaning of what they were saying to each other. 

The Wall:

The Wall by Pink Floyd clashes religion, music, education and culture through imagery and symbolism. While the images themselves are disturbing to say the least, the meaning behind them is much easier to relate to and understand. The idea of the conveyor belt in the education system argues that students are forced to lose their identity, or creativity, in schools. The headmaster as a puppet suggests that it is not him that is creating these laws, but rather those who control schools—the government. Once children graduate, they are bred to become players in the grand orchestra of imperialism and capitalism. The climactic judgment scene uses music to demonstrate the battle between the main character, Pink, and his surrounding culture. However, the idea that we are encouraged not to think for ourselves, or to rebel against social norms, is not something new to young adults. Further, I believe the confrontational and outrageous imagery not only demands the audience’s attention, it also demands reflection about the self as well as hegemonic ideals. The revolution by the kids is especially shocking because children are expected to adhere by all rules, especially in the classroom.

  

Cabeza de Vaca:

This clip was more difficult for me to follow as the night pressed on and I got more and more tired however there were aspects of it, which I found very interesting. The battle between civilizations as nature was present as the Native Americans were losing their lands to the west expanding whites. That was depicted in the film when the main character talked to the leader of the intruders, as they talked, some ten feet apart, there was a chasm in the ground between them symbolizing the chasm the two men have as people. Again, that is not something I typically would have noticed had I been watching the film and not looking for it.

Patrick Leegan - Donnie Darko

Donnie Darko has always been one of my favorite films for many reasons.  I find Donnie to be an incredibly interesting character,  I think it is hilarious that Patrick Swayze plays a creep and I also just really like the soundtrack.  The first few times I watched it me and my buddies would always argue what the true "meaning" was.   That is an aspect of the movie that I have also learned to love, every time I watch it I also think differently about it or pick up something that I missed before.   Im really happy we got to watch this film in class because it fits into the curriculum perfectly.  Its got an interesting spin on time and a twisted love story.  I also just like how it ended, Donnie "saw" what was going to happen to everyone if he didn't die that night had then sacrificed himself...very cool.

Lauren Rule- Hunger Games (Other Topic #5)

Hunger Games is an awesome movie, but I found out recently it took some (arguably a lot) of its plot from another movie/book.  The movie is set in a future world where a totalitarian government runs the nation.  There are twelve nations and every year one boy and one girl from each nation is brought together to battle to the death.  Katniss is from district twelve and forced to volunteer as 'tribute' when her little sister's name is chosen.  The entire nation was thrown into chaos and the townspeople are trying to live normal lives.  District twelve may have finally found a victor in Katniss.  The young girl is resourceful, smart, and wicked with a bow and arrow.  The down trodden townspeople remind me of the people in need of a spiritual leader.  The Capitol, where the government is located, rules over its people with fear rather than compassion.  It is the compassion and forgiveness of Katniss that brings the districts together in the end.  Unlike the others, she does want to kill, she just wants to survive.  In the beginning, Katniss chose to travel alone, but after a timid girl helped her, they teamed up.  The two went after the aggressive and large group of tributes.  The vulnerable girl met her fate and Katniss quickly avenged her.  Katniss only killed to protect her own life, she never instigated any violence.  The underdog district gave hope to the viewing townspeople.  The president of the districts is upset by the reaction Katniss gets from the townspeople, "Why do we have a winner?  I mean if we just wanted to intimidate the districts why not just round up 24 of them at random and then execute them all at once?  It would be a lot faster.  Hope.  It's the only thing stronger than fear.  A little hope is effective, a lot of hope is dangerous.  A spark is fine, as long as it's contained."  Katniss frees the districts from the fear of the Capitol when she stands them up; both her and the boy selected from the district are declared winners when they threaten to commit suicide together.  I have only seen the movie, but I am looking forward to reading the book.

Treven Meyers- Free Willy

Free Willy is one of my favorite movies.  I absolutely loved this movie when I was younger.  I wanted to be just like Jesse and I wanted to swim with orcas and be a trainer that worked a Sea World.  As I watched the movie again from a older more mature point of view, I saw a lot of values in the movie that I had never noticed before.  I saw more love and learned a lot more about sacrifice.

In this movie, love plays a big role.  It all starts off with Jesse being adopted by a young married couple who is willing to deal with anger, unappreciative attitude, and a host of other bad qualities.  Being able to deal with those poor traits showed how deeply and truly the couple carried for Jesse just because he was Jesse.  Love is also very evident between Jesse and Willy.  They grow to trust each other because of their similar situations.  As I watched their relationship grow and I saw the end result of the movie being that Willy was set free, it was interesting to see that love set them free.  Since they trusted and loved each other, Willy could trust that Jesse wasn't going to harm him but get Willy back to his family.

Sacrifice was evident in the film when Jesse decides to give most of his time and money to buying Willy the fish that he likes to eat.  Instead of buying other things that he could use for himself, he pulls together his resources to buy his whale friend the things that he needs and loves.  Jesses sacrifices his own happiness to make Willy more happy.  I once heard it said that the best type of love is a love that hurts.  This means a love where you have to lose something or do things that you don't want to or give money.  This was very evident in the relationship that Jesse formed with Willy.

Treven Meyers- Donnie Darko

Donnie Darko was a very interesting movie.  It contained many dark and creepy elements within the movie making.  It talked a lot about living in fear and deciding to choose love.  This was an interesting thing push for because throughout the movie, most of the people who said they were living in love, were found out to be living in fear.

The teacher and dance coach was a huge advocate for choosing love of fear.  She pushes all her students to choose love of fear.  At one point in the movie Donnie stands up to her and explains that it is impossible to narrow down life into two categories and that there is more to life than love and fear.  As Donnie explains this to her, I found it interesting that the teacher who did not bother with fear, showed nonverbal cues of fear.  She also shows signs of fear when she ask Donnie's mother to go to the dance competition with the girls.  She shows fear when she says that she is scared about the trial and when she says that the girls need someone to go with them to the competition.

There were a few symbols throughout the movie.  The eye and the ear muffs were two big symbols.  In this movie it seemed that the eye was the key to understanding.  It seemed as if they eye gave away what the future would hold.  In the movie, when Donnie is talking to Frank, his right eye has a bullet in it.  This was foreshadowing of how Donnie would eventually kill Frank.  They eye also gave Donnie the vision to go burn down a house.  The ear muffs seem to be a way to block out words that put down or cause pain.  The chinese girl wears ear muffs and is able to "ignore" the people who make fun of her.  Donnie's sister is told to "put on ear muffs" when Donnie and his oldest sister start cussing at each other.  It's like the ear muffs are way to protect the innocent.