Literature and Activisim

     I still cant get over GIRL by Jamaica Kincaid. I almost feel ashamed having not read most of her other work at this point. There is such fire in her wording. Everything in the piece works so fluidly; the passive aggressive and overly aggressive tone of the mother, the brief spots with the girl herself is allowed a defense. You feel for said-girl, yet she is the one character out of the duo between elder and youth that is given the least amount of attention. It is absolutely fascinating. Not only has Kincaid weaved in commentary but she has done so by way of a fiery experience. This piece, like Shakespeare, is meant to be read aloud. It is a script, an exchange of dialogue between two opposing forces. What is a seemingly endless diatribe of thick-headed elderly advice is a vehicle in which we as the audience are put down and attacked. Female repression in the guise of a performance. 

     At times it reminded me greatly of the work of William S Burroughs. Now I know Burroughs is pretty far on the opposite end of the spectrum where as Kincaid is concerned. But understanding the trauma that young women are put through by forcing us to experience it first hand, reminded me of the first story in Naked Lunch. The opening story is comprised heavily of deep homophobic slurs as though it were the normal slang of the narrator. But given knowledge of Burrough’s identification as queer, it would not be that much of a stretch to assume this is his way of planting our faces deep in the ground of homophobia, amongst a infinite myriad of other messages and ramblings throughout the controversial novel.

     Writing has such tremendous power to convey an idea. Film can do well but is more often than not more preoccupied with hammering away its message an idea. Theater can be the same way, with the risk of loosing the original intention or idea of the script in the directing or acting. The written word therefore becomes the only true vessel in which the idea can be presented in it’s strongest form and interpreted organically. It is Literature like this that brings us experiences like GIRL. 

Response to Documentaries

This is definitely Experimental yet Expository. The film is very distanced from the events it is depicting, by showing only through photographs, mixed media, and automated voices. The avant-garde presentation lends some drama that would otherwise be missing in a traditional expository documentary approach. 

The automation of the voices is quite haunting. It adds an uncomfortable layer of apathy and protects the identity of the narrator as though there is something for them to hide. This makes the documentary feel as though it is something we almost shouldn't be watching. Beneath the surface of the film is an unshakable looming presence of paranoia.

The experimental aspects were the same as mentioned before. Through only photographs, automated speech, and shaky found footage, there are about zero talking head interviews and the sparse inclusion of a true human voice. 

It’s hard to say wether or not the piece is true. I wouldn’t be surprised either way. It makes sense for a small town that birthed a piece of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki to be protected by the Government as well as come to embrace their presence given the time of paranoia that swept the country afterwards. That being said, even if it is fake, the overall presentation and the story it tells makes for a very compelling conspiracy thriller. If this is fictional I would be intrigued at what a feature length approach to the story would entail. 

Metonymy in Texas Chainsaw Massacre

1. Metonymy is another way of identifying a particular thing with something else. Such as "Pencil Pushers" for those who work in government. It contributes to analysis by allowing the viewer/reader to identify metaphors and seek out deeper meanings in what could be considered an otherwise surface piece.

2. New Historicism, just like Metonymy, is another way of analyzing literature. It utilizes studies of the time period that it takes place in as a gateway to understanding the deeper nature of the plot.

3. In "Blood for Oil" the analysis is used to discuss a theory that the piece in the beginning is in fact metaphor for the film. Such as the act of him going to the bathroom is akin to that of an oil pump. Most of the metaphors paint a picture that the film is in fact dealing with the struggle and aftermath of Texas Oil Economics.

4. Corporate signage in genre films is usually not without symbolism. In the film, the particular brand of gas station that Drayton Sawyer uses to bait the teenagers suggests that the particular gas company lured others the same way, masking their own devious agendas.

Tybalt, Prince of Cats, King of Destruction

I had the distinct pleasure of being cast as Tybalt in a production of Romeo and Juliet, so Prince of Cats was a welcome change of pace for an interpretation of the tale of star crossed lovers. Setting it in 80's brooklyn seems like a no-brainer, but the audacity to focus it on an otherwise tragic supporting lead whose number is called before Act 3 ends. Rosalyn's tale didnt quite grab me as Tybalt's but that may just be bias.
Many productions that leave the script in it's original Renaissance Italy do not take the time for a psychological study. Much focus is left on the beauty of the piece and the tragedy of the words. Spinning off from that, you've got modern interpretations that go out of their way to put the words second and really get into the nitty gritty of the character's psyche. Sometimes the families are separated by class, in case of Prince of Cats it is race.
I remember the production I was involved in consisted of a timelessness. The show was pretty to look at, but one could not quite pin down the exact time or place of our otherworldly Verona. Echoes of the industrial era, peppered with a bit of the Renaissance, and a dash of the Medieval. Here the conflict was escalated to simple human emotions. I approached the role so that Tybalt's rage and inability to love were simply a product of his upbringing. The boy had been groomed from birth to be a violent angry machine bent on maintaining the honor of his family name and the destruction of his enemies. His blindness to humanity is what etched his downfall in our production.
It is astounding to see where the characters of the piece keep going with each and every reinterpretation. As the world changes, so will the way we see Shakespeare's characters, not just the title leads, but the countless souls that inhabit their worlds. Friends and Foes alike.

Response to Mazzuchelli

Mazzucchelli’s original breakout was in breathing life into the gritty streets of Gotham and Hell’s Kitchen with muted color palettes and a “take them as they are” approach to the characters that dwelled within these modern gothic hellholes. It is with great irony that today he should be renowned for a work that is practically teetering on the opposite edge of the spectrum. Asterios Polyp is a work that may begin on the streets of a fallen metropolis but by greyhound we are whisked away to a reality perceived in the eyes of those who inhabit it. In the world that Apogee rests in, character’s appearances are defined by their nature. Most explicitly, within our protagonist, Polyp, the crowned architect whose buildings never made it past the page. His obsession with straight lines and structure shape his very being. This is all thrown for a loop when he meets the less rigid Hanna, whose inability for connection colors here in shades that end up more or less completely the rigid outline of Polyp. Their connection is the key to the filling in the visual white noise of the story. From out of their relationship, new colors and forms are born and brought together. This gives completeness to an otherwise minimalist story in both illustration and writing. Sure in the end this can be written off a gimmick, hell even a bit on the pretentious side. But strikingly enough I could not for the life of me think of an artist who had executed this kind of graphic novelization before. The illustrations dont merely give visuals to the text or vice versa, but work hand and hand with the text to deliver feelings and character insights that would be hampered by regular comic conventions. While the story’s culmination may not be the most satisfying it is hard to deny the charm of the book’s self aware experimentation. 

I am a Film Major. Storytelling is what I do. I just let the brain do the narration. Film is a visual medium above all, which like Polyp, provides ways of delivering character and insight without piling philosophical text upon the heads of the viewers. A small man sits in a small chair in a great big empty house. Without even thinking about it, you know so much of this man because the picture told you. Not somebody whispering behind your ear, but your own inner narrator. I like films that excite the inner narrator. The juicy twists, the hair raising suspense, the joyful victories, and the harrowing failures. The real satisfaction comes in seeing the inner narrator of others awaken during one of your own works. A majority of the time, the audience will see the same series of images collectively, but the narration is rarely the same for each member. Everyone in their own little way reacts differently to the images thrown before them. Some will pass over while others will ingratiate themselves into the minds of the viewers and keep that narration going long after the images have extinguished. 

Woman Waiting to Take a Photograph

Woman Waiting to Take a Photograph

by David Eggers

A series of answers in response to the questions posed by said work. 

1. The time frame of the story seems to be contemporary, given it’s references to the character’s Toyota Camry and other details.                                                                                                      
2. The text implies that photography, as well as most forms are art in general, have a dark side. The ending is what makes this point clear. A noble cause for her photography of the poor is never mentioned. Only the action of taking the photo and it’s future in a private collection, signifying that the photographer is the only one that benefits.                                                        
3. The author’s attitude comes off as a bit cynical toward the woman. He mentions that not only is she a woman, but a YOUNG woman. She wants to make a living as a photographer, and that is her only mentioned goal. Im not sure it has so much to do with gender but with her age that he finds tragedy.                                                                                                                                    
4. “Go-Getters” are not the clientele they cater to. “Go-Getters” are the rich, the sucessful, the elite. Those who have gone and gotten it. “It” being the american dream for lack of a better definition. The young woman is in fact a “Go-Getter” by exploiting the slums where she has found herself in by photographing them, satisfying her ego.                                                           
5. The final sentence brings the ideas together that photograph will not in any way help the lower class. It will enhance the reputation of the photographer who has used them to reach the top.      
6. The idea emerges that the young woman’s photograph hasn’t enough heart to be anything more than a what it is. A photograph. A record proving that she took a picture and made her living. It is with great cynicism from the author’s point of view that she has accomplished her goal.