Iran Sugar Caned My Culture

There are a couple of films I have watched recently. One of these films is Persepolis. This is a movie about Iranian culture during the revolution and the war with Iraq. But after this film I really can't say I understand their culture anymore than before the film. I mean we get some insight into the views of the people on the regime, but other than that we don't get a lot of information. I think that it is a good movie to watch. It shows the human condition and the hardships people can face in life. I mean she goes through a lot of pain in life but she is able to bounce back and still find happiness in her life. I think this is a good life lesson to learn. Even when you are going through rough times you can still find love and enjoyment in life. The other film I watched was Sugar Cane Alley. I really enjoyed this film. I thought that this young child went through a lot of poverty and in the end he gets to succeed. I find this extremely motivational. He is faced with many problems and he confronts them head on. Then powers through them. This film really opened my eyes to the problem we have today that we need to feel with today. If anyone would ask me what movie they should watch I can definitely tell you I will be recommending Sugar Cane Alley. 

An InconvenientTruth

Well Hello again. It has been awhile. When I saw the documentary An Inconvenient Truth I was pretty convinced. He was preaching to an already convinced crowd in my opinion however. I agreed with almost all the facts and think that action needs to be done to combat global climate change. And although it is inconvenient and expensive, you know what is also inconvenient and expensive? Death from inhospitable living conditions. The only problem I had with this documentary was that the personal story along with the power point presentation. I find the side story, although interesting, very distracting to the overall goal of the movie. I think the main point of the movie was to inform the world of the problem of global climate change. A strong case could be made that this was made to make him more of a down to earth guy but I don't think that is the sole purpose. The stress and passion put into the presentation conveys this down to earth guy but that isn't the central point. He makes a very persuasive argument to try and stop global warming due to the fact that we are causing it.....and we are one of the main contributors....and we have solutions we can be investing in and using. Like solar power. Or hydro-power. Or nuclear energy. Or bio-fuels. Or wind energy. Or clean coal. These are all solutions that are changes that logistically can be made and could reduce our CO2 emissions to a more manageable situation to combat global climate change.

NOTLD

When it comes down to it, if a zombocalypse happened I would be prepared. I would consider myself kinda like Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory. I am prepared for almost anything. I have plenty of food ready to go to keep me safe for at least, AT LEAST 2 weeks. Not to mention the closeness of my grocery store. SO what this means is that food won't be a problem for me. I also would quickly drive to a military base and take as many guns, ammunition, and supplies I could and I would put them into a tank and drive that back to my house where I would stay and defend my territory! I feel this is a very reasonable plan to accomplish in 24 hours. This would put me ahead of the game. This is how it would go down. I would fend off the zombies in my house as much as I could until I got overrun. If that were to happen THEN I would go to my tank and I would lock myself into the tank and wait them out. And if that didn't work I could always drive off and find more supplies in my tank. OR I could just leave and find a new place to call home. Ya know...whatever works bro.

The Nightmare Before Chirstmas

I think that alot of movies today are made about being yourself and not conforming to what society thinks you should be. The Nightmare before Christmas and Edward Scissorhands are no different. When Jack tries to do something different than what his Halloween society was used to or even wanted to do, they didn't understand or even like the results of what happened. I mean sure they went along with it, but that was just because Jack there celebrity told them to. Jack after he tries to change what he and his town does it all misfires. I think this was the point. I think that although society didn't cast him out the plans didn't work so that we knew that this change wasn't supposed to be. Edward Scissorhands also fits this theme. Once he conforms to what everybody wants him to be and look like everything goes wrong. He gets arrested. He get chased by the police. The town banishes him pretty much. These are all signals that the changing on oneself for the benefit of others is wrong. You are who you are for a reason. WHY CHANGE FOR ONE PERSONS BENEFIT?? Don't. We are all special. Be who you are and the world may be a better place because of it.

Edward Scissorhands

In the very......interesting film Edward Scissorhands there is a lot of weird events. Events that I didn't realize what they really were until they kept occurring. Which led me to think this was an underlining message. That message being either the fact that they are wrong or at least prevalent, gender roles. The most prime example of this is the fact that all the women in the town are stay-at-home moms and all the men are the ones who go to work and support the family monetarily. Another good example of this is the fact that the men are the cookie cutter personality wise for what a man should be; gruff, not very emotionally in tune, kinda dull, and very sure of themselves. They have little doubt that they are wrong in something. They are the very stereotypical middle aged man. And the women. They are all very curious ABOUT EVERYTHING!!! And they know when something is different and/or wrong. They immediately know that Edward is with Peg. Even before she gets home all the women in the town are noticing something different. THIS IS RIDICULOUS. NO one should notice this much of a tiny change SO quickly. Also I noticed that they made the children the typical teenager. Going out, partying, drinking under age, and always getting in trouble. There is no more of a  stereotypical neighborhood. I think Tim Burton meant this. I don't know what he means by this. If he means this is wrong or if it is just always present I can't decide. What do you think?

Obsession???? Word Homie. ▲

Obsession has had many different boundaries. In the film making world, directors love to push the boundaries and let us decide what is too far? What is obsessed? A plethora of movies ask this question. There was the Dark Knight with many of the characters can easily be argued for being obsessed, Singing in the Rain where Don Lockwood was obsessed with his career and image, Proof in which everybody was obsessed with the proof, High Noon an argument could easily be made for Kane being obsessed with being marshal, and most obvious, the Prestige. Borden and Angier were very obsessed with having the best magic trick and each being the better magician. It is these five films that I want to show question what is commitment and obsession.

In the first film the Dark Knight, many of the characters are obsessed. The Joker is obsessed with causing chaos and trying to ruin Batman. Batman is obsessed with stopping all crime and trying to get out of the game. He is also very concerned on getting Harvey in the power he needs to take his role of being the enforcer of justice. Harvey is obsessed with getting in charge and be the hero and leader. Maybe a little too soon for his own good and ready. Another character is Gordon. He is getting heat from the boss about this vigilante running the streets of Gotham instead of the police force. Gordon really wants Harvey to succeed so that was Batman can quit and let Harvey run the good of Gotham. And finally the mob as a whole is obsessed with running Gotham and overall control. This is why they hired the Joker so that they could resume their crime and business activities. The scene from the Joker shows he is obsessed with Batman and evil. Overall, almost all the characters are overly committed to the success of their own side. Good vs. Evil.

In the next film Singing in the Rain, Don Lockwood can very easily be called obsessed. His constant dedication for his career and image makes him oblivious to the problems of his personal life. An example of this could be where he meets the girl that he crushes on, Kathy Selden. When he first meets her she has no idea who he is, or she claims she doesn't. He is upset and shocked that someone doesn't know him or his career. Here's some proof. She starts explaining why she thinks he doesn't have a real occupation. He gets really offended and defensive. A case could also be made for him being obsessed with trying to give Kathy a chance. He risks a lot try and give Kathy a chance to be famous. He risks his relationship with her. He risks his job with the R.F. He throws Lina under the bus, some say rightfully so. He is going to great lengths to try and get Kathy in talkies and her to be recognized as true talent to everybody.

In the literary production Proof, Catherine and her father are both working very intensely on trying to get back into the Mathematical fray. Her father is so over committed to trying to get back to being on top of the math world with a new proof to prove that he is still mentally stable and intelligent. Unfortunately, this causes him to get so wrapped up in this proof, when Catherine reads it to him he realizes he is crazy and will never get better. On the flip side though, I think Catherine is so obsessed with trying to get him better that she subjects him to the false hope of recover. I think this accelerates his mental deterioration. I also think that Claire is a little to committed and focused on taking Catherine away from Chicago. In the end, I feel that the only character that wasn't obsessed was Hal. I feel he was legitimately interested in Catherine and in proving she did write the proof.

In another film, High Noon a strong argument could be made that Kane is obsessed with the job of marshal. Due to the fact that many people don't want him to stay around and cause the fight that Miller was bringing. I know it isn't the best production, however this is the only one i could find. This shows the town is split on whether or not they will help Kane. I believe this shows that Kane is all on his own by a result of his own actions and over commitment. Even his wife forsakes him....or at least we are led to believe so. I think this can very easily be turned into him being obsessed. I personally don't believe he is obsessed. I think he is doing it because no one else will. The town says there is a new marshal coming but I think Kane knows that the marshal won't be there until tomorrow and that's too long. I think if there was the new marshal there that day then Kane would have gladly let him do it but since there isn't he feels obligated to keep the town safe. This shows commitment not obsession in my opinion. I think that commitment turns to obsession when someone can't turn away from it and that is all he/she thinks about. I think that Kane was constipating other things other than Frank Miller. Like his wife, future, and what he was going to do next. I think this shows he is just committed not obsessed.

In the last film the Prestige I think there is a clear indication on both sides that both Borden and Angier were obsessed. I feel that when Angier buried Freddy I think he is fully obsessed and committed to figuring out Borden at ANY costs. I think this is also the point where Borden makes the decision to make Angier one of his sole focuses in life. I think when Borden reacts to Angier burring his brother I feel is the beginning of his obsession as well.  When Angier is willing to spend as much money and time as he needs to figure out Borden's trick I feel is the ultimate indicator of his obsession. Another clear indicator of Angier's obsession is when he is willing to allow a copy of himself to die every time Angier does his trick. I think this shows his willingness to sacrifice human life in order to prove himself better than Borden. I think the fact that Alfred and his brother Freddy were willing to cut off the others fingers so that they can perform ONE magic trick is insane and should be a clear factor is determining someone's obsession. And the fact that each brother was willing to be with each other's significant other is pretty weird and should be another screaming indicator of their obsession. I think the final indicator is the scene where Borden is yelling at his brother to figure out how Angier does the trick. I think the look in his eyes and his intensity proves how overly committed and obsessed he truly was.

So in the end there are many reason and many movies that try and test how far the boundaries extend to being committed or obsessed? There were only five movies I showed examples of which were the Dark Knight, Singing in the Rain, Proof, High Noon, and the Prestige. I bet there are more movies that have some sort of hiding questioning of this theme than you realize. How many more can you find?

the Prestige

In the fantastic film the Prestige a plethora of questions arise. A more central question however is who is actually the victim? Borden? Or Angier? I feel that the director Mr. Nolan did a fantastic job of keeping the viewer guessing. I feel he intentionally makes both Angier and Borden seem like the victim. I think in the end that most people come to realize that Borden was the true victim. Even though, Angier had his wife taken from him by Borden trying to prove himself to Cutter. As the story progresses, I feel Angier becomes less and less the victim and more into the role of the aggressor. I think in the end the competition and the obsession these two men had for each other drove them to lose their loved ones and their fame. When Angier buried Fallon alive I think the whole competition was taken to a whole new level. A level I think both of them regret. This ultimately drove Angier to go to America, develop the machine that allows him to be and show the REAL transported man. This drives Borden to be obsessed with how he does this trick. Leading him to find out the copying that takes place. This causes the demise for Borden because his brother gets sentenced to death. This means Borden's magic career is over. That drives him to the point of desperation to get his daughter back and kill Angier. In the end I feel they are both the victim to each others obsession.